Stephen Ministry
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Mission: With God's guidance, Stephen Ministry provides confidential one to one lay pastoral care to individuals in our congregation and community who are experiencing difficulties. Stephen Ministry is a worldwide, non-denominational organization that provides training and support to member congregations.
Vision: Stephen minister proclaim the love of Jesus Christ by striving to be individuals who are:
- full of faith
- compassionate
- trustworthy
- skilled and trained
Stephen ministers provide the Christian care, God gives the healing.
The Stephen Ministry is a relatively new ministry at Hopewell Presbyterian Church. It is grounded in Jesus’ command to love one another. Through one-to-one caring relationships, those who are hurting receive the love and care they need to support them.
Stephen Ministry is a confidential ministry and Stephen Ministers are committed Christians with gifts of compassion, patience, faith, mercy and encouragement who express God’s care to others, receive 50 hours of initial training in caring skills, are committed to confidentiality in caring relationships, and feel called to be care givers. The Stephen Ministers are not counselors, therapists, problem-solvers or casual visitors; they help meet the needs of persons who are hospitalized, terminally ill, bereaved, in a job crisis, new members of the church, disabled, homebound, lonely, in a spiritual crisis or looking for a caring Christian friend.
Our Stephen Ministry Team is led by Becky Ludecke and Suzanne Holdcraft and includes the following Stephen Ministers who have received training and are now actively serving care receivers in our community:
Sue Armington
Martha Camp
Pat Hendrickson
Linda Robbins
Carlana Sargent
Dick Scheetz
Nancy Treible
If you would like more information about our Stephen Ministry at HPC, please call or email .