Last fall, the LMC council discussed introducing Stephen Ministry as a way to personally reach more members of our ever-growing congregation who need one-on-one care. This past January the people of LMC voted to include Stephen Ministry training as part of our 2015 budget.
In July, Jennifer Henderson and Carol Mergl spent a week in Dallas completing the Stephen Ministry Leadership Training Course and aquired the skills necessary to developing a successful program at LMC. They learned that it is crucial to follow the carefully structured Stephen Ministry System and to recruit and train members of the congregation who are well suited to the program.
The Stephen Leaders’ next steps here at LMC will be to enlist a few more individuals from within the congregation who are interested in being Stephen Ministers and ask all potential ministers to complete an application and participate in an interview. Jennifer and Carol will set up a table at Rally Day in September to answer questions and recruit interested members.
Training will begin in October 2015 once the ministers are selected. Stephen Ministers will receive 50 hours of training, which will be accomplished by meeting one evening each week for about two and a half hours. Additionally, there may be one or two retreat style sessions on a Saturday in order to cover more material. The goal is to have the entire Stephen Ministry team fully trained and available to meet with care receivers at some point during the winter of 2016.
To learn more about Stephen Ministry click here.
If you have additional questions about Stephen Ministry or wish to apply for the program, please contact Jennifer Henderson (jh6244@hotmail.com), Carol Mergl (cmergl@hotmail.com) or Pastor Tim Brown (pastortimbrown@gmail.com).
Luther Memorial Church of Chicago Council 