Stephen Leaders
Sr. Susan Widdel, Barbara Bennett, Amy Hoover, Steve Udelhofen, and Myrna Udelhofen
Our Core Values
- Compassion
- Confidentiality
- Christian care-giving
- Skill in our tasks
- Service
- Prayer
- Constant formation
Our Vision statement
To respond to our baptismal call to be Christ to all by providing compassionate, confidential, faith filled and skilled Christian care giving to the members of our parish and all people beyond.
History of Stephen Ministries
In 1975 Rev. Kenneth C. Haugk, Ph.D., a pastor and clinical psychologist, saw that people’s needs for care in his congregation and community far exceeded what he alone could provide. He developed materials to train nine of his congregation members to provide quality, one-to-one Christian care to individuals experiencing a life crisis. Upon completion of their training, he commissioned them as “Stephen Ministers” and linked them with people with a variety of needs for care. “Stephen Ministry” was so successful in his church that other congregations wanted to become involved. Dr. Haugk then founded the Stephen Ministries organization and developed the Stephen Series, which now has been implemented in more than 10,000 congregations representing more than 150 Christian denominations. More than 500,000 laypersons have been trained as Stephen Ministers, who in turn have ministered to more than a million care receivers.
After more than four years of development, Stephen Ministries launched the ChristCare Series system of small group ministry in 1996. Today more than 900 congregations are using ChristCare Group Ministry.
Contact Us at stephenministry@olih.org
If you would like to join us as a Stephen Minister, please download this Adobe Acrobat form, fill it out, print it, and bring it to the parish office. We will review your application and contact you.
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