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Stephen Ministry at Healing Waters

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Stephen Ministry offers people in our churches a way to provide one-on-one Christian caring. In Stephen Ministry congregations, lay caregivers (called Stephen Ministers) check in with neighbors who've lost a loved one, people in the hospital or terminally ill, people who are separated, divorced, unemployed, and others coping with a rough time in their lives.

 
 

Our leader group

 

Stephen Ministers are members of our congregations who've been trained to provide confidential, supervised care. Stephen Leaders help organize the program and train Stephen Ministers. Here's part of our first Stephen Leader team. Parish Associate Kim Louwagie, Sara Johnson, and Pastor Allan Johnson took their training at a national Leadership Training Conference Jan. 28 - Feb. 4. Pastor Steve Weston has already been trained as a Stephen Leader -- now we're ready to go!

The bay

Our training was at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas. No suntans this trip! Our windows looked out at the Bay.

Training room

Christians from many different denominations all across the country had come for a week of solid, intensive training by the Stephen Ministries team.

 

Trainers

   
  The program's been growing for thirty-five years now, and the national Stephen Ministries team brings strong practical experience to our training. We learned about how to set up Stephen Ministry for good results and make sure our neighbors get the best caring we can offer them.    
 

Studying

   
  This is a good careful program, so there's lots to learn. Ask any of us about our thirty-five pound manual!    
 

Certificate

   

What we got from the training is the preparation our parish will need to set up a responsible program of authentically Christian care for people in our congregations and communities. Partnership with Stephen Ministries gives us experienced consultation as we get our program running, and a way to train more leaders as it grows. Watch for more news in the next few weeks, and our first Stephen Minister training group by summer!

February 2007

Gathered in faith - Sent to serve