Stephen Ministry Begins Caregiving at St. John Nepomuk

Members of the newly formed St. John Nepomuk Stephens Ministry team are
Mariavis Fitzmorris, Irene McAlister, Angel Soriano and Deacon John Teague.

YUKON — Four members of St. John Nepomuk Church were among 368 pastors and congregation leaders at a Stephen Series Leader’s Training Course (LTC) held during June in Orlando, Fla. Deacon John Teague, Angel Soriano, Mariavis Fitzmorris, and Irene McAlister attended the one-week training event hosted by the St. Louis-based Stephen Ministries organization. Participants came from across the U.S. and Canada to learn how to implement and direct Stephen Ministry, a system of Christian care giving, in their congregations.

Stephen Ministry gives St. John’s an effective way to train and organize members to provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals struggling with a crisis such grief, divorce, loneliness, pressures of parenthood, relocation, hospitalization, a terminal illness, incarceration of a loved one, unemployment, etc. Often times these hurts require extended listening time that the priest or deacon cannot provide because other crisis situations come to them and need their time and attention. All Christians are called to care for and love one another, so by teaching laypeople how to give this kind of loving, confidential, prayerful care, we help them fulfill their calling as Christians and enable them to work in partnership with clergy in expanding the amount of care giving available.

The Saint John’s contingent were trained as Stephen Leaders at the event. One of their next steps will be to recruit, select, and train members of St. John’s to be Stephen Ministers, the ones who will provide one-to-one care. They will then match each Stephen Minister with an individual in need of care and provide the Stephen Ministers with ongoing supervision and continuing education.

During their week at the LTC, the team of leaders learned from the presented program as well as from others attending. Many were already trained Ministers, and they were willing to share and teach those less experienced. It was a very busy, focused, well-planned week. Their work begins now, preparing for the next steps ahead to build a strong and prayerful Stephen Ministry.

“No one should have to hurt alone.”