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First Stephen Ministry Training Class at TPC is Commissioned

 

 

The first class of Stephen Ministers at Tustin Presbyterian Church has completed their training, and they were commissioned on Sunday February 28, 2010. Sandy Alford, Maureen Orlale, Jeanne Mulligan, Jonathan Stone, Verleen Turner, Lynn Stone, and Amy Glover started this journey in August 2009. By the time of their commissioning they will have completed 50 hours of training, which included pre-class reading assignments, in-class lecture, discussion, and role playing. The trainees have shown great passion for the ministry, dedicating themselves to growth in knowledge and skill.

 

Practicing the skills is an important part of the training. It allows learning that is out of the realm of theory and turns it into something that can be applied. Role-playing can be challenging, and sometimes brings out real emotions and tears. But it is extremely helpful as it prepares the trainee for actual caregiving situations.

 

The group has enjoyed the coming together of community that often happens when skill practice takes place. It surfaces genuine issues from one’s own life. When this happens, the group finds themselves ministering to each other. All of this helps those going through the training to be better caregivers later on.

 

A recurring emphasis of Stephen Minister training has been confidentiality. What a care receiver says to his or her Stephen Minster is held strictly confidential. Even the identity of the care receiver is kept confidential from other Stephen Ministers – as well as everyone else.

 

Once the trainees are commissioned as Stephen Ministers, they will be ready to receive their first caregiving assignments. But even then their training is far from over. The group will continue to meet twice a month for continuing education and supervision. The goal is for Stephen Ministers to continually enhance their skills and learn new ways to care, so as to provide the best care possible for their care receivers.

 

If you are interested in receiving care from a Stephen Minister, please call the church office or Robin Clardy, TPC’s Stephen Ministry Leader.

 

 

History of Stephen Ministry

 

Have you read our Identity Statement or Theological Statement of Faith lately? Or even the statement of “Who We Are”?  All of these statements underscore the nature of TPC. Within them are values of caring, nurturing, compassion, just to name a few. Your Session and Deacons, along with your pastors look for new opportunities for these values to be expressed in the life of our church. To this end we will be offering Stephen Ministry training. Over the summer you will have a chance to attend a couple of the training classes, with the complete course starting in September.

 

For those of you who have not heard of Stephen Ministry, it is an exciting ministry that was started in 1974 by Kenneth C. Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist, when he was the pastor at St. Stephens Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Fresh out of seminary, he quickly became aware that the needs of the church far exceeded what he alone could provide. He did not like the thought of any of his people falling through the cracks. In talking with fellow seminary friends Ephesians 4 came to mind, and the principle of “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.” They realized that God gave gifts for ministry to all people, and that one of his roles as a pastor was to equip others to use these gifts.

 

Haugk returned to St. Stephens with a plan. In the coming months he recruited nine lay people who had the gifts and heart to do caring ministry. He then used his combined backgrounds in theology and psychology to develop a training program in Christian care giving. By March 1975 the nine were commissioned as “Stephen Minister.” Their first care receivers included a widower with cancer, a truck driver forced to retire early, and an inactive member struggling with faith issues.

 

The impact was immediate. People began receiving the focused Christian care they needed. Fewer people were slipping between the cracks, and Haugk found he had more time to perform other pastoral duties. The Stephen Ministers were surprised by the spiritual growth they encountered as they saw God working through them to bring love and healing to others.

 

The story would have ended there, had not two of the Stephen Minister cornered Haugk after a morning service. “This is good stuff,” they said to him. “We’re not going to let you go until you promise to bring this ministry to other churches!” Haugk gave in and agreed to find a way to bring Stephen Ministry to other churches.

 

In November 1975 Haugk and his wife, Joan, founded the not-for-profit Stephen Ministries organization and began bringing Stephen Ministry to other congregations. It spread like wildfire. Tustin Presbyterian Church will be one of more than 10,000 congregations from more than 150 Christian denominations that now have Stephen Ministry. More than half a million people have been trained as Stephen Ministers, a number that grows by tens of thousands each year. More than a million people across the United States, Canada, and the world have been touched by God’s love through Stephen Ministry. And now we at TPC will become part of that legacy of caring.

 

If you are interested in exploring the Stephen Ministry training, please talk with Robin Clardy or call the church office at (714)544-7070.

 

 

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225 West Main Street, Tustin, CA 92780-4319  (714)544-7070  www.tustinpresbyterian.org