Stephen Ministry

Our congregation is a Stephen Ministry Congregation!

In June 2009, congregation member Rosalie Carlo and Pastor Alan Liphart traveled to Orlando for Stephen Minister Leadership Training. It was a very intensive and valuable training experience. Stephen Ministry equips lay people to provide confidential, one-to-one Christian care to individuals in our congregation and community who are experiencing difficulties in their lives. In June of 2010, The Village Church commissioned its first class of Stephen Ministers.

A Stephen Minister is a child of God who walks beside a person who is hurting; a congregation member with gifts for care-giving who is carefully selected to serve in this role; is a lay person who has received 50 hours of training in providing emotional and spiritual care; a caring friend who listens, cares, prays, supports, and encourages; someone who will “be there” for his or her care receiver, meeting faithfully for about an hour each week, for as long as there is a need.

Stephen Ministers care for persons facing tough times such as death, hospitalization, divorce or separation, loneliness or discouragement, spiritual crisis, unemployment, terminal illness, incarceration, aging, birth, adoption, miscarriage, infertility, relocation, recovery after an accident or disaster, and many more. Your personal circumstance will be given the utmost consideration, and we will provide the appropriate response and care given your situation, our capacity to meet your need, and the availability of our Stephen Ministers. If our Stephen Ministry is not a good fit for the care you need, we will work with you to seek referral of appropriate help to meet your need.

Pastor Bob and Pastor Alan will always be on the front lines of care, especially during times of crisis. But there are always many more needs for ongoing, one-to-one care than can be effectively met by our Pastors.

Congregation members and visitors to our Church and website see the above logo ("through the cross, the broken become whole") in many places. There are posters and bulletin inserts, announcements from the pulpit, and postings here on the website. All of these are to help you become familiar with our Stephen Ministry. There is also an opportunity for you to become involved directly in this wonderful program as a Stephen Minister - please speak directly with Pastor Alan if you wish to be a part of this important and vital outreach within our Church community . It is a rewarding ministry and we invite you to become a part of what God is doing right here in our midst.


To see if a Stephen Minister is right for you, you may call the church at 904-940-6768 to speak with Pastor Alan or Pastor Bob, or you may call our Stephen Minister Lay Leader, Rosalie Carlo at 904-940-1067.  You may also fill out the form below:
 

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I would like to see if a Stephen Minister is right for me. (If you wish you may list any additional information you wish to send--optional)

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Would you like to become a Stephen Minister? If so, click here to send your contact information to Pastor Alan:
I am interested in becoming a Stephen Minister