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
MAY 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
Online Technology in the Church
The Commission on Theology and Church Relations submitted a report to the congregations of the LCMS. This is a study document and therefore does not propose an “official” position the Synod should take on these matters. In fact, in most cases of rapidly evolving technologies and their application in church life, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the Synod to take a firm position (the practice of virtual Communion being a notable exception — see 2023 Resolution 5-08A). The CTCR wishes to make this document available for Synod wide study and use.
Over the next few months, St. John will reprint these study materials This month we look at part one:
2. Virtual Multi-Parish Arrangements (“Video Venue”)
In part due to the growing pastoral shortage within The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod,
there has been conversation about whether a single pastor could service multiple
congregations virtually. That is, rather than the traditional arrangement of a multipoint
parish, where a pastor would conduct in-person services at two or more congregations at
different times, conducting services virtually means the ordained pastor would preach in one
congregation and his sermon would be streamed live at the other congregation(s). Also known
as “video venue” ministry, the rest of the service at other sites would be officiated by a layman,
with the exception of the Lord’s Supper.
The practice of multi-parish arrangements is not new to the Missouri Synod. Planting churches
and ministering to churches that cannot afford a pastor have often taken place by way of an
ordained minister serving multiple congregations at a time. In a certain sense, virtual multiparish
or video-venue arrangements are a technologically mediated way of carrying out such
ministries. Rather than having a congregation or church plant hold services at odd hours or on
unconventional days, or the parish pastor traversing snow-covered roads or traveling long
distances, the use of virtually delivered services (preferably synchronously) means a
congregation otherwise unable to afford a pastor would have the benefit of doctrinally sound
preaching from a rostered, ordained and preferably called minister.
There is clearly a need for the Synod — while remaining theologically faithful to Scripture and
the Lutheran Confessions — to be adaptable in how it provides pastoral care for congregations
that cannot procure pastoral service. In its recent Mission and Ministry Principles and Practical
Observations and Suggestions, the CTCR specifically proposed extending the service of the
Synod’s ordained ministers, including the arrangement of more multipoint parish ministries.4 A
virtual multi-parish arrangement might be an example of that. As noted elsewhere in this
document, the Word itself can be faithfully and profitably communicated through virtual means.
The Spirit works through the oral Word (Rom. 10:14–17; Augsburg Confession 5) but is not
restricted to an oral Word declared in the confines of a church building. That digitally proclaimed
Word is also capable of mediating the faith-giving work of the Spirit.
Such an arrangement could obviously not include the Lord’s Supper.5 The pastor would have to
make other provisions for the administration of the Lord’s Supper under the care of an ordained
minister. Arrangements would also have to be made for pastoral care at the virtual sites —
ideally, though not necessarily in every case, by the ordained minister — including visitation of
the sick and the homebound, confirmation instruction, funerals, preparation for and officiating of
weddings, preparation for and administration of baptisms, and so on. Moreover, the conduct of
services by a layman in place of a pastor is no intrinsic obstacle. Specific guidelines for that
practice were laid out by the CTCR in order to prevent confusion with the pastoral office.6
There are also reasonable objections to this practice. In the first place, there may be confusion
about who is responsible for oversight in the congregation. Theologically speaking, the Synod
has understood the oversight (from the Greek episkopos in the New Testament, e.g., Phil. 1:1; 1
Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7, among others) by pastors to be a ministry conferred on him by his call to a
given congregation. He exercises that ministry through his preaching of the Word, administration
of the Sacraments and pastoral care among his flock. While we have the example of vacancy
pastors, for instance, who serve a congregation without a “call” per se, a pastor exercising this
ministry of oversight through preaching, Sacraments and pastoral care ordinarily requires a call,
especially for any extended length of time.
Second, and more pertinently, the ministry of a pastor is not simply one of preaching or
communicating content or data. The pastor is charged with pastoral care, and that pastoral care
entails things such as instruction (not just in a sermon, but individually and in other groups),
private counsel and spiritual nurture of all those in his flock. Part of that pastoral care includes
chance conversations that arise in the course of routine church tasks. In an important sense, a
pastor’s faith and life in general as lived in the presence of his flock are to be an example to the
believer (1 Tim. 4:12; see also 1 Cor. 11:1; Heb. 13:7). While Lutherans have long valued the
preaching of the Word as the principal task of the pastoral office, the pastoral office must not be
reduced to congregational preaching. Nor should the called and ordained minister delegate all
other (or even most) aspects of his pastoral responsibilities besides preaching to another. If he is
called to more than one parish, the pastor must provide care as responsibly as possible to all
those entrusted to him, so far as that is within his power to do.
Finally, given these concerns, it is hard to see how virtual multipoint parishes are preferable to
the traditional model. In the case of severe weather conditions or other immediate challenges that
would preclude the presence of a pastor in other congregations he serves, a video alternative may
be possible. However, such a scenario does not necessitate the permanent arrangement of a
virtual multipoint parish ministry. Under exceptional circumstances, the CTCR has encouraged
the option of a layman reading a sermon written by the pastor.7 If the changing of service times
is considered a burden to the congregation, the CTCR has urged flexibility when it comes to
times and days in order to facilitate regular preaching, administration of the Sacrament and
pastoral care from an available ordained minister.8 Moreover, the opportunity to receive the
Lord’s Supper with some degree of regularity (not to mention corporate or individual absolution,
as well as other pastoral acts) makes the traditional model of multipoint parish ministry a less
problematic option than its virtual alternative. While virtual video arrangements may be used in
emergencies or in hybrid arrangements, such as alternating weekly services (where one is
in-person, the other not), the Commission believes the practice creates more obstacles than it
removes. Under ordinary circumstances, it would urge traditional multipoint parish ministry.
6 Commission on Theology and Church Relations, Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons and Conduct of Worship in
the Absence of a Pastor (2023), www.lcms.org/ctcr-absence-of-a-pastor.
7 CTCR, Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons.
8 CTCR, Mission and Ministry Principles, and Opinion on Lay Reading of Sermons, 6.
https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/ctcr-report-online-technology-in-the-church-
