Several months ago, St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church decided to enroll in the Stephen Series system of lay caring ministry. This program was developed by Stephen Ministries, a nonprofit religious and educational organization based in St. Louis, MO. St. Andrew's will be preparing for this ministry in the months to come. Jody Jenkins and Connie Sayers have already attended a week-long Leadership Training Course in St. Louis in May of this year. There, they received instruction and materials necessary to implement and sustain this program of lay caring ministry.

Jody and Connie will soon be leading a group of laypeople from St. Andrew's through 50 hours of training in Christian caring skills. This training will prepare the participants to care for others, covering such areas as how to listen effectively, how to deal with feelings, how to use traditional Christian resources in caring, how to maintain confidentiality, how to deal with people experiencing crises, and many other areas of concern. A Christ-centered approach to caring and the need to care for the whole person will be stressed throughout the training.

Upon the completion of Stephen Series training, these lay caregivers will be commissioned as "Stephen Ministers" and will become an important part of caring ministry here at St. Andrew's. These Stephen Ministers will provide confidential, one-to-one Christian care for people experiencing challenges in their lives such as hospitalization, loss of a loved one, loneliness, divorce, unemployment, birth of a child, and many other life events for which a person could benefit from an effective helping and caring ministry.

Thanks to the generosity of the Knights of Columbus Council 4584, this ministry will be able to provide those interested in becoming Stephen Ministers with the resources necessary to complete their training. These Stephen Ministers will then be a presence not only for the people of St. Andrew's, but to the local community as well. This will enable us as followers of Christ to "bring Christ's healing love to God's hurting people".

Thanks to each and every one of our Knights of Columbus and may God continue to bless you in your ministry.

Jody Jenkins and Connie Sayers

Stephen Ministry Leaders

St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church