LEARNING TO CARE FOR THOSE WHO HURT
Workshop teaches techniques of Christian-based caregiving
One of the roles of a pastor is to care for the afflicted in the congregation, but there are only so many hours in a day. So what should a pastor do when the numbers just don’t add up?
Stephen Ministry, a Christian-based training organization in St. Louis, will try to do that math on Saturday, March 4, at St. Elmo Presbyterian. Since 1975, the ministry has taught members of a congregation how to be caregivers for people facing one of life’s crisis — illness, divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, depression or loneliness.
In the ministry’s 41 years, more than 12,000 congregations representing more than 170 denominations have gone through its workshops.
But the workshops aren’t just for the church officials.
Stephen Ministry staff member Amity Haugk says a representative will be at St. Elmo Presbyterian to give an introductory workshop for anyone — clergy or lay person — who thinks they might be “interested in increasing the care their church provides.”
Members of a congregation often take the workshop to supplement what the congregation’s pastor or clergy does for people in need, she says, but they also do it for personal reasons.
“Two-thirds of the people who do this are increasing their own skills,” Haugk says.
Katrina Fortune is one of 12 St. Elmo members who have undergone 50 hours of training in the last three years to become a Stephen minister. Having congregants who can help other members with their emotional and spiritual needs has taken a large load off Pastor Cal Boroughs, she says.
“It’s been wonderful for our pastor to know that he has some people he can rely on for long-term care,” she says. “For me personally, I’ve found it meaningful and special to be able to be there for someone and to share in their burden in some small way.”
The program is designed to provide help to someone for as long as it takes, she says.
“We might meet with someone once a week for a long period of time,” Fortune says. “Not all programs allow for that length of time.”
Congregations send between two and six members on average to the sessions and they return home and train fellow church members, Haugk says. About two-thirds of those who go through the program are “busy people with full-time jobs who make the time to do this, she adds.
“Christians have tools at their disposal to help them get the person in touch with God,” Haugk says. “Jesus is working through us. We don’t touch on so much the why [something has happened] as much just the presence of God.”