PRESS RELEASE: Stephen Ministry Expands Caregiving at Temple Terrace United Methodist Church

Six members of TTUMC were among 383 pastors and congregation leaders at a Stephen Series Leader's Training Course (LTC) held from January 10 - 16 in Orlando, Florida. Pastor St. Clair Moore, Andy Arace, Shields Clark, Samantha Greene, Yvette Moore and Cindy Ross attended the one-week training event hosted by the St. Louis-based Stephen Ministries organization. Participants came from across the U.S. and Canada to learn how to implement and direct Stephen Ministry, a system of Christian caregiving, in their congregations.

"Stephen Ministry gives TTUMC an effective way to train and organize members to provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals struggling with a crisis like grief, divorce, loneliness, relocation, hospitalization, a terminal illness, or unemployment," said Pastor Moore. "The need for this type of care greatly exceeds what pastors alone can provide. All Christians are called to care for and love one another--it’s not just the pastor's job. By equipping laypeople we can help them fulfill their calling as Christians and also expand the amount of caring ministry available through Temple Terrace UM Church."

All our TTUMC participants were trained as Stephen Leaders at the event. One of their next steps will be to recruit, select, and train members of TTUMC to be Stephen Ministers, the ones who will provide one-to-one care. They will then match each Stephen Minister with an individual in need of care and provide the Stephen Ministers with ongoing supervision and continuing education.

Stephen Ministry began in 1975 when Dr. Kenneth C. Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist in St. Louis, Missouri, trained parishioners to help meet the needs for care in his congregation. The ministry was so successful that other congregations became interested, and Haugk founded the Stephen Ministries organization. Since then, more than 10,000 congregations have become involved in Stephen Ministry. They represent over 150 Christian denominations and come from all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 24 other countries.

The Stephen Ministries organization annually hosts six Leader's Training Courses across the U.S. At these courses, more than 55,000 pastors and church leaders have been trained as Stephen Leaders. They in turn have trained more than 500,000 church members as Stephen Ministers. It is estimated that more than one million people have received the formal care of a Stephen Minister, and millions more have been touched in an informal way.