Part of the vision that God has given us at the Church of God of Landisville is to be a safe place for people in need. Stephen Ministry has moved to center stage in our church's vision to allow us to accomplish that.
Our connection with Stephen Ministry began almost eight years ago when one of our then elders Bob Crosby (back row, 1st person on left) first named it as "something that might help us." Then about three years ago the elders began exploring the idea prayerfully. Early in 2008 we determined God wanted us to proceed, but a severe budget deficit and some vision problems within the church caused us to take it off the table for a time. But at the same time we sent two elders and the lead pastor to a Stephen Ministry workshop. This confirmed it to be God's will. However, Stephen Ministry emphasizes quality and training and we determined that God was telling us to wait--commit but go slow as He worked on some issues.
In 2009 we selected our first Stephen Leaders: Barb Sutton (middle row, second from left) and Associate Pastor Barry Sellers (back row, last on right). Barb had recently retired from the Social Security Administration and was seeking God's direction for a new ministry for herself. Barry is the pastoral staff member who oversees our visitation program and bereavement support team. They spent a week in training under the guidance of the trainers from Stephen Ministry. Then they took three months to prepare, two months sharing the vision with our people and interviewing those who responded. In January they began meeting with the Stephen Ministers of a weekly basis for 2 1/2 hours of training. A total of 50 hours was invested in training before we commissioned the class pictured above.
Too often ministry in traditional and inward focused churches is placed almost entirely on a pastor's shoulders. In addition, people are not empowered and equipped to carry a ministry that God is calling them to. We just "hope it will happen.." And too often we rush into ministry, without proper commitment and preparation and those ministries fail. Stephen Ministry now gives Landisville a tool and a model - with the primary blessing of bringing someone the love the Christ in s practical way. Stephen Ministry helps us break of the clergification of the church and to raise the level of discipleship in the Body.
For more on STEPHEN MINISTRY click the link below.
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God's blessings on your church and ministry to those who need to see Christ's love come alive in their life. Your title says it all - by being outwardly focused, we can share the gospel through loving actions. Dave - (a trained SM and SL)
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