Hyde Park Community UMC is blessed with many wonderful life-giving and transforming ministries. Each and every one of the ministries is a vital part of who we are as a church and who we are out in our community. As the Body of Christ we are to care for one another as a faith community and care for others.
A church ministry that has been doing this for over 25 years is our Stephen Ministry. This ministry equips lay members of the church to provide one-to-one Christian compassionate care to people in our congregation and community who are experiencing difficulties in their lives. Our Stephen Ministers are not trained professional counselors. However, they have had 50-hours of quality Christian care training by our Stephen Ministry Leader Team and a HPCUMC pastor.
These Stephen Ministers companion people through some of life’s most difficult transitions by providing the emotional and spiritual care they need. They listen and help persons process their thoughts and feelings. These relationships are always male-to-male and female-to-female. The Stephen Ministers maintain strict confidentiality with their care-receivers.
This Sunday we will be commissioning four new Stephen Ministers to join our team as they take their vows of Christian service. Stephen Ministry is your ministry. We ask you to pray for the ministry team, to accept care where you have a need, and to refer others to our ministry. No one needs to have to cope through life’s transitions all alone. The Stephen Ministers are here to care and support the congregation and others in the community.
We will be in week four of our sermon series this Sunday titled “Unstuck.” The focus for this week is “Released from Worry.”
Hope you will join us in worship on Sunday.
In Christ’s Care,
Pastor Dave