In the Bible, a man named Stephen dedicated his life to serving others.
It seems fitting, then, that an organization geared toward training Christian caregivers is named after the biblical man.
Seeking to continue Stephen's goal of ministering to others, Mitchell Wesleyan Church in Mitchell recently joined the ranks of the more than 12,000 congregations participating in Stephen Ministries, according to Aaron Nash.
"I love people, I care about people, and after praying about it, I felt this was the ministry that God has placed for me," Nash said. "This is just another opportunity for me to serve."
Nash, whose father, Keith Nash, is the senior pastor at Mitchell Wesleyan Church, is the volunteer pastor of prayer ministry at Mitchell Wesleyan and an ordained minister. He and three others from the church attended a Stephen Series leader's training course in August in Pittsburgh, Pa.
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Nash, Don Underwood, Janelle Herman and Laurie Yeo attended the seven-day training event hosted by the St. Louis, Mo.-based Stephen Ministries organization, which is a system of Christian care giving. According to information from the Stephen Ministries organization, the ministry began in 1975 by Rev. Kenneth Haugk in St. Louis. It's a nonprofit, nondenominational religious and educational organization.
Training topics include listening, feelings, assertiveness, confidentiality and ministering to people experiencing things like divorce, terminal illness, grief or childbirth. The organization notes that Stephen Ministers, as people who have completed the training are called, are not counselors -- they are trained Christian caregivers.
"My dad knew about the ministry when it first came out in the '70s, but the timing wasn't right," Nash said.
In the last year or so, Nash said he and others were asked if they were interested in attended the training. Now, he and the others who completed the leadership training have been meeting weekly to plan, organize and decide what direction to take once caregivers have been commissioned. He said right now, the plan is to focus on caring for those grieving.
"A significant number of people have had a loss of family or friend in our church," Nash said.
When someone loses a loved one, Nash said a member of the leadership team makes contact with that person. Within three weeks, the person receives a book in the "Journeying Through Grief" series. They receive a new book in the series every three months for a year.
Nash said about 10 books have been given away in the church so far.
The next step is to commission Stephen Ministers, or caregivers. To be a qualified caregiver, someone must complete a 20-week course and complete 50 hours of training. Nash said five people are doing the church's first round of training for caregivers, administered through First Reformed Church in Mitchell. They will complete their training in April, and then the leadership team can match up caregivers one-on-one with people who need care.
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"It is just a wonderful extension of the pastors," Nash said. "The pastors, they see a lot of people, but they can't see everybody."
