Stephen Ministry

History: Stephen Ministry began in 1975 when the Rev. Kenneth C. Haugk, Ph.D., a pastor and clinical psychologist, trained nine laypersons at his congregation in St. Louis to be Stephen Ministers. They assisted him in providing distinctively Christian care to members of the congregation and community. These trained caregivers were so enthused about their ministry, they encouraged Dr. Haugk to offer Stephen Ministry to more congregations.

Over the next few years, Dr. Haugk traveled to congregations and trained Stephen Ministers. This quickly proved to be inefficient, since he could visit only a limited number of congregations, and these congregations were then dependent on him to train additional caregivers. There also was little organizational structure to supervise Stephen Ministers after they were trained. So in 1978 Dr. Haugk held the first Stephen Series Leader’s Training Course and trained the first Stephen Leaders—representatives of various churches who then returned home to train and supervise their congregation’s Stephen Ministers. Since that time Stephen Ministries St. Louis has specialized in “equipping the equippers” through the Stephen Series ministry system.

Definition of the Stephen Series: The Stephen Series is a complete system for training and organizing laypersons for caring ministry in and around their congregations.

The Organization: Stephen Ministries St. Louis is a not-for-profit, transdenominational, religious and educational organization founded in 1975. The St. Louis-based staff of 45 includes five pastors. Dr. Haugk, who is also a mental health professional, serves as the executive director.

The Name: The name Stephen comes from St. Stephen, who was the first layperson commissioned by the Apostles to provide caring ministry to those in need (Acts 6).

Congregations: More than 9,000 congregations are enrolled in the Stephen Series. These congregations represent more than 100 different Christian denominations and come from all 50 states, 9 Canadian provinces, and 22 other countries.

People: More than 50,000 people (pastors, church staff, and laypersons) have been trained as Stephen Leaders at Leader’s Training Courses (LTCs). These Stephen Leaders have returned to their congregations to train more than 450,000 laypersons to be Stephen Ministers. It is estimated that since 1975 Stephen Ministers have provided distinctively Christian care to more than a million people through formalized one-to-one caring relationships and have used their caregiving skills to touch the lives of millions of others in an informal way.

How the Stephen Series Works: Pastors, church staff, and lay leaders from a congregation attend a one-week Leader’s Training Course (LTC), taught by the Stephen Ministries faculty, to learn how to implement and direct the Stephen Series in their congregations. These trained Stephen Leaders then return to their congregations to set up and administer a Stephen Ministry program.

Stephen Leaders recruit and select laypeople from the congregation to serve as Stephen Ministers and provide them with 50 hours of training in Christian caregiving. Some of the training topics include listening, feelings, assertiveness, confidentiality, and ministering to people in specific situations such as divorce, terminal illness, grief, and childbirth. Stephen Ministers also are trained to recognize when a care receiver’s needs go beyond the care a Stephen Minister can provide and where and how to refer the care receiver for additional care.

Upon completion of the training, these lay persons are commissioned as Stephen Ministers. Stephen Leaders then link each Stephen Minister with a care receiver—a member of the congregation or community who is in need of quality Christian care. A Stephen Minister normally is assigned to only one care receiver at a time and meets with the care receiver for an average of about one hour each week.

Stephen Ministers also meet twice monthly for peer supervision and continuing education. Stephen Ministers initially commit to two years of service, but after those years many recommit to serve additional years.

Terminology: The organization, based in St. Louis, is Stephen Ministries St. Louis. The lay caregiving ministry system congregations implement is the Stephen Series. Once the Stephen Series is implemented in a congregation, it is usually called Stephen Ministry. The pastors and laypersons trained at a one-week Leader’s Training Course (LTC) to direct Stephen Ministry in their congregations are called Stephen Leaders. Those who are trained to provide one-to-one care to those in need are called Stephen Ministers. Those who receive the care of Stephen Ministers are their care receivers.

•Stephen Ministry is a supervised ministry. Stephen Ministers engage in twice-monthly supervision to ensure that they are providing the best quality Christian care for their care receivers.

•Stephen Ministry is a confidential ministry. What a care receiver tells a Stephen Minister remains confidential. Even in supervision, the names of care receivers and specific details are never discussed.

•Stephen Ministers do not make cold calls. They are assigned to people who have agreed to receive care from a Stephen Minister.

Stephen Ministries St. Louis offers a number of ministry systems and resources to enhance ministry in congregations. Besides the Stephen Series, Stephen Ministries offers the ChristCare^® Series—a complete system that provides congregations with the training, resources, and ongoing support they need to direct and grow ministry of Christ-centered, life-transforming small groups.

Stephen Ministries also offers a Breakthrough Leadership Conference to equip pastors and lay leaders to provide strong Christian leadership in their workplace, church, community, and elsewhere in life.

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