A Stephen Series Caring Ministry Workshop will be held Feb. 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Homewood. The workshop will be led by Michael L. Welch of the Stephen Ministries pastoral staff and is designed to teach lay persons how to care for grieving members of the church and community.
Session one of the workshop, “Ministering to those Experiencing Grief,” will inform participants about each stage of the grieving process and how to appropriately car for grievers during each of these stages.
“We found that the needs for care in our congregation and community were much more than the pastors could handle alone,” said Neal Schooley, associate pastor of Dawson Memorial.
Session two of the workshop will teach how to have a caring congregation by giving an overview of the St. Louis-based Stephen Series System of Lay Caring Ministry and how congregations may get involved in this method of organizing lay persons to care for people facing a loss or life challenge.
“It’s not just the pastor’s job to love and care for people- all Christians are called to minister to one another,” Schooley said.
There are currently 25 active Stephen ministers at Dawson Memorial who meet weekly with a grieving person.
“Being a Stephen minister has been a blessing to me,” said Dwight Ingle. “I have grown so much spiritually through the experience of seeing God work through me to touch the life of my care receiver.”
The third session of the workshop, “How to Care in a Distinctively Christian Way,” will teach the tools God has given Christians to care for others and how to make care distinctively Christian through prayer, blessings and the use of Scripture. For cost or registration information call 205-871-7324.
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