A Transforming Journey
First Steps
Welcome to this first Stephen Minister training class and to a transforming Journey. This class marks the beginning of a new partnership in the gospel, as Paul wrote in the passage at the top of your Outline and Focus Notes. God is beginning another of his good works in you today, and you can be confident that he will carry it to completion.
All our Stephen Leaders are completely committed to your Ministry as Stephen Ministers. We will do everything we can to make sure that you have a very positive experience, are well trained, enjoy your training and service, and do a very good job as Stephen Ministers.
The first and most important fact you need to know about this training and your ministry is that Stephen Ministry is distinctively Christian ministry. You will focus much more on the Christian dimension of Stephen Ministry in upcoming training modules. From the onset, it is important to realize that the power for this ministry comes from Jesus. An important part of your training will be to learn to do everything you can to stay in touch with Jesus and to put others in touch with his healing power.
Who you will become as a Stephen Minister
Each of you brings your own special gifts and motivation to this training. Each of your caring relationships also will be unique. Some of you will be with people who are grieving a loved one’s death. Others will care for people who are chronically ill, divorcing, dying, or going through other crises or difficult life transitions. There is a story of a typical caring relationship in appendix A on page 7 of the Stephen Training Manual. I encourage you to read that story in order to get a better idea of what it will be like to be a Stephen Minster.
In that story you’ll find some elements of a caring relationship that will probably be part of your caring relationship. Your care receiver is likely to feel overwhelmed by his or her crisis. You may find yourself hurting right along with your care receiver. And you will find yourself counting on God’s promises and help, and your Supervision Group’s support, to continue a good job of caring. Most of all, your caring relationship will require much of you: your care, your commitment, and your faith in God.
God has been equipping you for this ministry throughout your life. Now, this training is the next step in God’s work of preparing you to be Stephen Ministers. The purpose of Stephen Ministry taining is to make you even better able to bring Christ’s healing care into caregiving situations.
This compass shows the character of a caregiver
The first and most important element is the symbol at the center. That is the Chi-Rho, which is the symbol for Christ
Chi and Rho are the first two letters of the Greek work Christos, which means “Christ” Since the early Christian times the first two letters of Christos – Chi which looks like an X and the Rho which looks like a P – have been used as a symbol for Jesus.
This symbol is at the center of the caregivers Compass because Jesus is always at the center of a Stephen Minister’s person and Ministry. Christ guides us along every road we travel as caregivers.
The four points of the compass, point to four very important characteristics of caregivers. Stephen Ministers are compassionate, full of faith, skilled, and trustworthy. God uses caregivers with these characteristics to bring Christ’s healing and wholeness to others.
You will have 20 class sessions in the 50 hours of initial training. The training schedule you received tells when these sessions will be and the topics you will cover.
In addition to learning from the Stephen Ministry Training Manual, and the training presentations, I want to encourage you to learn and grow on your own. While learning new skills is one extremely important part of Stephen Minister training, it is not the whole picture. In addition, you need to grow as people and as Jesus’ disciples, and I have a suggestion for how.
Spiritual Disciplines
Perhaps you are familiar with the term Spiritual Disciplines. If not, let me briefly explain what they are. We all know that some practices lead to good physical health – for example, eating a healthy diet, exercising, and getting enough sleep. When we exercise self-discipline in these areas, we are healthier, we feel better, and we can perform better.
Spiritual Disciplines are exercises people do to stay close to Jesus. Examples are prayer, Bible reading, worship, silence, meditation, and service.
You probably noticed that the word discipline sounds a lot like Disciple. Jesus’ disciples are disciplined learners who live in Jesus’ presence, follow him, and try to imitate the life he lived. Spiritual disciplines are like discipleship vitamins – God uses them to strengthen us to follow Jesus.
We know what God’s love is completely a gracious gift. There’s nothing we could ever do to earn it, but that doesn’t matter because God is eager to give it away. When we practice spiritual disciplines, it’s like getting in line to receive God’s gifts. God gives us his love and works in us to increase our faith and discipleship.
Welcome to this first Stephen Minister training class and to a transforming Journey. This class marks the beginning of a new partnership in the gospel, as Paul wrote in the passage at the top of your Outline and Focus Notes. God is beginning another of his good works in you today, and you can be confident that he will carry it to completion.
All our Stephen Leaders are completely committed to your Ministry as Stephen Ministers. We will do everything we can to make sure that you have a very positive experience, are well trained, enjoy your training and service, and do a very good job as Stephen Ministers.
The first and most important fact you need to know about this training and your ministry is that Stephen Ministry is distinctively Christian ministry. You will focus much more on the Christian dimension of Stephen Ministry in upcoming training modules. From the onset, it is important to realize that the power for this ministry comes from Jesus. An important part of your training will be to learn to do everything you can to stay in touch with Jesus and to put others in touch with his healing power.
Who you will become as a Stephen Minister
Each of you brings your own special gifts and motivation to this training. Each of your caring relationships also will be unique. Some of you will be with people who are grieving a loved one’s death. Others will care for people who are chronically ill, divorcing, dying, or going through other crises or difficult life transitions. There is a story of a typical caring relationship in appendix A on page 7 of the Stephen Training Manual. I encourage you to read that story in order to get a better idea of what it will be like to be a Stephen Minster.
In that story you’ll find some elements of a caring relationship that will probably be part of your caring relationship. Your care receiver is likely to feel overwhelmed by his or her crisis. You may find yourself hurting right along with your care receiver. And you will find yourself counting on God’s promises and help, and your Supervision Group’s support, to continue a good job of caring. Most of all, your caring relationship will require much of you: your care, your commitment, and your faith in God.
God has been equipping you for this ministry throughout your life. Now, this training is the next step in God’s work of preparing you to be Stephen Ministers. The purpose of Stephen Ministry taining is to make you even better able to bring Christ’s healing care into caregiving situations.
This compass shows the character of a caregiver
The first and most important element is the symbol at the center. That is the Chi-Rho, which is the symbol for Christ
Chi and Rho are the first two letters of the Greek work Christos, which means “Christ” Since the early Christian times the first two letters of Christos – Chi which looks like an X and the Rho which looks like a P – have been used as a symbol for Jesus.
This symbol is at the center of the caregivers Compass because Jesus is always at the center of a Stephen Minister’s person and Ministry. Christ guides us along every road we travel as caregivers.
The four points of the compass, point to four very important characteristics of caregivers. Stephen Ministers are compassionate, full of faith, skilled, and trustworthy. God uses caregivers with these characteristics to bring Christ’s healing and wholeness to others.
You will have 20 class sessions in the 50 hours of initial training. The training schedule you received tells when these sessions will be and the topics you will cover.
In addition to learning from the Stephen Ministry Training Manual, and the training presentations, I want to encourage you to learn and grow on your own. While learning new skills is one extremely important part of Stephen Minister training, it is not the whole picture. In addition, you need to grow as people and as Jesus’ disciples, and I have a suggestion for how.
Spiritual Disciplines
Perhaps you are familiar with the term Spiritual Disciplines. If not, let me briefly explain what they are. We all know that some practices lead to good physical health – for example, eating a healthy diet, exercising, and getting enough sleep. When we exercise self-discipline in these areas, we are healthier, we feel better, and we can perform better.
Spiritual Disciplines are exercises people do to stay close to Jesus. Examples are prayer, Bible reading, worship, silence, meditation, and service.
You probably noticed that the word discipline sounds a lot like Disciple. Jesus’ disciples are disciplined learners who live in Jesus’ presence, follow him, and try to imitate the life he lived. Spiritual disciplines are like discipleship vitamins – God uses them to strengthen us to follow Jesus.
We know what God’s love is completely a gracious gift. There’s nothing we could ever do to earn it, but that doesn’t matter because God is eager to give it away. When we practice spiritual disciplines, it’s like getting in line to receive God’s gifts. God gives us his love and works in us to increase our faith and discipleship.
Reading Assignment
•Stephen Ministry Training Manual,
pp. 17–28, “Feelings: Yours, Mine, and Ours” Preclass Reading
pp. 17–28, “Feelings: Yours, Mine, and Ours” Preclass Reading
•Christian Caregiving—a Way of Life, Preface through chapter 7
