Stephen Ministry is a well-designed program to help churches develop an effective lay caring ministry program for the bereaved, hospitalized, terminally ill, unemployed, and others facing a crisis or life challenge.  Since 1975, Stephen Ministry has provided high-quality and effective training and resources to more than 10,000 congregations from more than 10 denominations.  This coming 2010 fall, in coordination with St. James United Methodist Church, St. Paul's will begin the process of training its first group of Stephen Ministers.   If you are interested in becoming a Stephen Minister and/or want to get occasional email updates on St. Paul's Stephen Ministry, you can contact Susan Vickery-Mercer at 551-9189 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information about Stephen Ministry, you can read online.  Recently, the PBS "Religion and Ethics" news show aired an eight-minute segment about Stephen Ministry. To watch the video online on the PBS Web site, and click on the April 9, 2010, Stephen Ministry feature.