Stephen Ministers are congregation members trained by Stephen Leaders to offer high-quality, one-to-one Christian care to people going through tough times. A Stephen Minister usually provides care to one person at a time, meeting with that person once a week for about an hour. Once a month, Stephen Ministers gather for supervision, mutual support, and continuing education.

Care receivers are people—congregation members and others in the community—who receive care from a Stephen Minister. These are people struggling through a difficult time in life—experiencing grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or some other life crisis. 

Some important guidelines for this caring relationship protect both the care receiver and the Stephen Minister:

• The relationship between a care receiver and a Stephen Minister is confidential.
• Men are matched with men; women with women.
• When a care receiver’s needs exceed what a Stephen Minister can provide, the Stephen Ministry team makes a referral to an appropriate mental health professional or other community resource.

• Loss of a loved one
• Hospitalization and rehabilitation
• Divorce or separation
• Loneliness or discouragement
• Spiritual crises
• Unemployment or a job crisis
• A terminal illness
• Incarceration
• Aging
• Birth, adoption, miscarriage, or infertility
• A chronic illness
• Relocation
• Recovery after an accident or disaster

To provide a Holy Spirit led, personal “one on one” ministry representing Hope Lutheran Church, assisting the leadership of the church in attending to spiritual, mental, emotional and physical needs of people seeking care, following biblical principles and modeling Jesus so they in turn are able to minister to others. To provide an outreach and life support ministry that helps achieve the vision and goals of Hope Lutheran's ministry plan.