Stephen Ministry dates back to 1974 when Kenneth C. Haugk, a pastor and clinical
psychologist, was pastor of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Fresh out of seminary, his
strengths and heart were in caregiving ministry, and he was looking forward to making a positive impact
on his congregation and community by providing pastoral care to all those experiencing divorce,
grief, hospitalization, discouragement, and other life difficulties.
Very quickly, though, he found that the needs for care by far exceeded that which he alone
could provide. He faced one of a pastor’s greatest frustrations: seeing people slipping through the
cracks because their urgent needs were going unmet. He discussed the situation with two
seminary friends, and the conversation turned to Ephesians 4 and “equipping the saints for the work
of ministry.” Haugk realized that God didn’t intend for pastors to monopolize ministry; rather, God
gave all his people gifts for ministry, and one of Haugk’s roles as a pastor was to equip others to use
their gifts in ministry.
Haugk returned to St. Stephen’s with a plan. In the coming months he recruited nine lay
people who had the gifts and heart to do caring ministry. He then used his background in theology
and psychology to develop a training program in Christian caregiving. By March 1975 the nine were
commissioned as “Stephen Ministers.” Their first care-receivers included a widower, a blind person,
a young woman with cancer, a truck driver forced to retire early, and an inactive member struggling
with faith issues.
The impact was immediate. People began to receive the focused Christian care they needed.
Fewer people were slipping through the cracks, and Haugk found he had more time to perform his other
pastoral duties. The Stephen Ministers were surprised by the spiritual growth they encountered
as they saw God working through them to bring love and healing to others.
The story would have ended there, had not two of the Stephen Ministers cornered Haugk on a
hot May morning after worship services. “This is good stuff,” they said to him. “We’re not going to
let you go until you promise to bring this ministry to other churches!” Haugk agreed to find a way to
bring Stephen Ministry to other churches.
In November 1975, Haugk and his wife, Joan, founded the not-for-profit Stephen Ministries
organization and began bringing Stephen Ministry to other congregations. It spread like wildfire.
LCC is one of more than 7,000 congregations from more than 90 Christian denominations that now has
Stephen Ministry. Over a quarter million people have been trained as Stephen Ministers. More than
a million people across the United States, Canada, and the world have been touched by God’s love
through a Stephen Minister. And that is the mark of God’s doing, because finally, the story of
Stephen Ministry is a million stories and more of caring ministry. |
