ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH
(The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod)
Alma, Kansas
A family united by faith in Christ gathering around God's Word and Sacraments.
To reach out in Christ-like concern and Christ-borne love to each other and to those without Christ!
In This Month's
St. John Witness
OCTOBER WITNESS
Theology for the Day / Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministry
What is Stephen Ministry? Congregations equip lay caregivers to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to people who are hurting or are experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, job loss, loneliness, disability, relocation, and other life difficulties. Stephen Ministers serve in a one to one relationship of trust, care, and Christ-like concern. If you think you might benefit from having a Stephen Minister, please call Pastor Grimm, or talk with one of these servants of God. - Don Frank, Charlie Gann, Judy Peddicord, Junior Stuewe, Carol White.
If you would be interested in becoming a Stephen Minister, please contact Pastor Grimm.
Below is more information about the Stephen Series & Stephen MInistry.
- Why is it called the Stephen Series?
Stephen was one of the first laypeople commissioned by the Apostles to provide caring ministry (Acts 6). Series describes the steps a congregation follows to implement the caring ministry system, which is commonly called Stephen Ministry.
- How many congregations are using Stephen Ministry?
More than 11,000 congregations are enrolled, with hundreds more enrolling each year. They represent more than 150 denominations and come from all 50 United States, 10 Canadian provinces, and 24 other countries. Many congregations have had Stephen Ministry going strong for 20 or 30 years—or longer.
- What size congregations are involved?
Stephen Ministry congregations range from fewer than 100 members to more than 10,000. Churches of any size have opportunities to care for hurting people in the congregation and community.
- What are Stephen Ministers?
Stephen Ministers are laypeople who commit to two years of learning, growing, and caring. They receive Christian caregiving training in their congregation and then provide one-to-one Christ-centered care to hurting people. Each Stephen Minister typically has one care receiver at a time and meets with that person once a week.
- What types of caregiving situations are Stephen Ministers used in?
Stephen Ministers provide high-quality, one-to-one Christian care to individuals facing a variety of crises or life challenges—people who are experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, financial difficulties, hospitalization, chronic illness, job loss, disabilities, loneliness, a spiritual crisis, or other life struggles.
In addition to caring for members within the congregation, Stephen Ministers can provide care to nonmembers, reaching out to unchurched people in crisis.
- What are Stephen Leaders?
Stephen Leaders are pastors and lay leaders who direct Stephen Ministry in their congregation. They attend a one-week Leader’s Training Course (LTC) where they learn how to effectively lead their congregation’s Stephen Ministry.
- What is the meaning of the logo?
The Stephen Series logo symbolizes that we are all broken people and that we are only made whole through the cross of Jesus.
Since 1975 nearly a half million Christian men and women from all walks of life have trained and served as Stephen Ministers in their congregations. Most decide to become Stephen Ministers as a way to help hurting people in their congregation and community—but very quickly discover that God gives them amazing blessings in return.
- What do people say about Stephen Ministry?
“My faith has grown, my prayer life has doubled, and I know how to really make a difference in people’s lives. I’d encourage anyone who has the chance to become a Stephen Minister.”
George Lund, Architect Prairie Village, Kansas“Being a Stephen Minister has taught me to rely on God instead of always trying to fix things myself. I’ve learned what to say, how to listen, and what to do during a crisis. It’s a great feeling to provide people with the spiritual care and support they need.”
John Eichelberger, Physician Greenwood, South Carolina“The assertiveness skills I learned through Stephen Ministry gave me the courage and confidence I needed to be a more effective supervisor in my secular job—and to be more assertive in my personal relationships. Thank you for helping me develop these vital skills.”
Elizabeth McMillion, Rehabilitation Counselor Madison, Wisconsin
Theology for Today
These excerpts are reprinted from CTCR, March 2026. We will examine this in portions each month.
Proper Administration of the Lord’s Supper
Luther and the Confessions CTCR 2026
SUBSTITUTION OF GRAPE JUICE
FOR ORDINARY WINE
This is not the place to trace the history of how and why grape juice came to be substituted for wine in the practice of Holy Communion.5 We should simply note that the practice came out of Methodist revivalism’s condemnation of all alcohol use and was spurred by Thomas Welch’s (a Methodist minister) development of a way to prevent the fermentation of grape juice through pasteurization.6
Over time the substitution of grape juice for wine was adopted by many Protestant churches and even by some LCMS congregations. Within the LCMS, however, this practice has not involved a total substitution of grape juice for wine. In such cases wine is used by most members and grape juice is available for alcoholics and others who avoid alcohol for medical reasons. Although some LCMS congregations may in some situations substitute grape juice for wine in the Lord’s Supper, the LCMS has taken a long-standing, consistent position against the practice.
[For this reason, although 2023 Res. 5-15 asked the CTCR to take up the three concerns we are addressing herein, the use of grape juice in place of wine can be considered most briefly. The resolution itself reaffirms a 2001 resolution that strongly encourages our congregations to use only wine and not grape juice (see Appendix A for the full text of 2001 Res. 3-16).]
The Synod’s position on this matter predates 2001 and is based firmly on Scripture. It is also consistent with the traditions of the church before the Reformation, of Luther and the Confessions, and of confessional Lutheran teachers who followed.
Throughout this history the term “fruit of the vine” has been understood as a technical term and not a general description. The LCMS and its theologians have with great consistency affirmed that only bread and wine are to be used in the Lord’s Supper. This position can be traced from C. F. W. Walther to Franz Pieper to the faculties of our seminaries to the CTCR.7
In 1998, the Synod convention affirmed this understanding in Res. 3-16B, “To Affirm Use of Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Altar.” In keeping with its title, the resolution included reminders that the Scriptures are unanimous in stating that our Lord used bread and a cup of wine in the Last Supper and that the same were present in the Sacrament at Corinth. Pastors were urged to “remain faithful in their practice of Christ’s institution” so as “not to introduce an element of uncertainty into the Sacrament.”8 As noted in 2023 Res. 5-15, the Synod again addressed this topic in 2001, in Res. 3-16, “To Encourage Use of Only Wine in Administration of the Lord’s Supper.” The convention then addressed congregations that were using grape juice: “That the congregations be encouraged to use only wine for the Sacrament.”9 Once more, in 2023 Res. 5-15, the Synod again reaffirmed its 2001 Res. 3-16 stance, “To Encourage Use of Only Wine in Administration of Lord’s Supper.”10
5 A relatively brief history of the temperance movement in the US is available on the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine. See Paul Aaron and David Musto, “Temperance and Prohibition in America: A Historical Overview,” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216414/
6 See Joe Iovino, “Methodist History: Communion and Welch’s Grape Juice,” United Methodist Church, June 28, 2016, https://www.umc.org/en/content/communion-and-welchs-grape-juice
7 See Walther’s Pastoral Theology (Concordia Publishing House, 2017), 199; Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics, vol. 3 (Concordia Publishing House, 1953), fns 94, 354; also “Opinion of the Department of Systematic Theology,” Concordia Theological Quarterly 45, nos. 1–2 (1981): 77–80; “Is ‘Non-Alcoholic Wine’ Really Wine?” Concordia Journal 17, no. 1 (1991): 4–6; Commission on Theology and Church Relations, Theology and Practice of the Lord’s Supper (The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1983), under 2. The Elements, b. The Wine, 16–17.
8 See The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 1998 Convention Proceedings.
We must add that this consistent position also indicates concern for the communicant who for various reasons cannot tolerate alcohol. The discussions of both seminaries and the CTCR all note the availability of low or non-alcoholic wines that may be used without objection.
There is no reason to question the Synod’s time-honored position on this matter. The elements referred to in Scripture are without question bread and wine. The Synod therefore rightly opposes the substitution of pasteurized grape juice for wine in the Sacrament. Rather, the Commission echoes Concordia Theological Seminary’s “Opinion of the Department of Systematic Theology”: We strongly urge, therefore, lest confusion be multiplied, offense be given, consciences and peace within the church be disturbed, that Lutheran pastors and people continue a consistent practice in support of the Scripturally designated elements in Holy Communion, especially as regards the use of wine, “the fruit of the vine,” which Christ instituted when He gave to His church this new testament in His blood.11
In conclusion, we commend once more the Synod’s long-standing teaching that only bread and wine should be used in the Lord’s Supper, since “the use of an element other than wine is an alien practice in the churches of the Augsburg Confession and brings about doubt whether the Sacrament is offered or not” (2001 Res. 3-16)
9 See The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2001 Convention Proceedings.
10 2023 Convention Proceedings, 157
11 “Opinion of the Department of Systematic Theology,” 80. Earlier in its opinion, the Systematic department offers this strong caution: “Those who simply ‘prefer’ to receive grape juice instead of wine should be led to see that their ‘preference’ is in violation of Scripture’s own clear teaching and that they are thereby making the Sacrament an uncertain matter, if in fact not invalid. Moreover, it is to be feared that such tampering with the Sacrament may in the final analysis involve a deeper error, the relegating of the Lord’s Supper to a mere memorial meal instead of the blessed means of grace that Christ has constituted it to be for our spiritual well-being, for the forgiveness of sins” (80). See Appendix B for the full text of this opinion.
APPENDIX A
RESOLUTION 3-1659 Overture 3-52 (CW, p. 172)
WHEREAS, A number of congregations in the Synod have introduced grape juice for use in the Sacrament of the Altar; and
WHEREAS, The clear statements of our Confessions instruct us that “As the Words of Institution of Christ expressly state: while at the table during the Supper, he distributed natural bread and wine to his disciples” (FC SD VII 64); and
WHEREAS, The use of an element other than wine is an alien practice in the churches of the Augsburg Confession and brings about doubt whether the Sacrament is offered or not; and
WHEREAS, “Since Christ used and sanctified no other element for this Sacrament; since no place in Scripture which treats of the Lord’s Supper mentions even a single other element; since it befits the true disciples of Christ to abide by His ordinance and institution, John 8:31; since the promise of Christ concerning the sacramental reception of His body and blood is expressly dependent upon the bread and wine; and finally, since bread and wine are the essential elements of the holy Lord’s Supper, it follows that under no circumstances can or should one substitute elements, which might be comparable, in place of bread and wine” (Johann Gerhard, A Comprehensive Explanation of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper [trans. Elmer M. Hohle; Repristination Press, 2000], 228–29); and 59 2001 Convention Proceedings, 141–42
.
WHEREAS, Both theological faculties of the LCMS have offered opinions (Gutachten) (cf. Concordia Theological Quarterly 45:1/2 [Jan./Apr., 1981], 77–80; Theological Observer 17:1 [Jan. 1991], 4–6) supporting the use of wine, or reduced-alcohol wine, offering the clear teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church with regard to this matter from the Scriptures, the Confessions, and the teaching of the church; and
