Stephen Ministry

Our Stephen Ministry is program that equips lay persons to provide one-to-one Christian care to individuals who face times of personal difficulty. Stephen Ministers are men and women of all ages and backgrounds, who have been specially trained to listen, support, and help others. Stephen Ministers are committed to confidentiality and to caring for the emotional and spiritual needs of others who are going through difficult times in their lives.

Stephen Ministers are members of Cottonwood Creek who have completed 50 hours of comprehensive training. They are taught how to provide care to individuals who have experienced a crisis (divorce, grief, loss of a job, hospitalization, relocation, or loneliness). For more information on Stephen Ministry, contact Sandy Prowant at 972.359.7777 x2028.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

How to Become a Stephen Minister

Purpose and Goal:
• Take a care receiver and care for them personally (Care receiver is someone that’s in a crisis) • Process a person through a crisis successfully
• Encourage a care receiver weekly through face to face relationship
• Work with the person as long as it takes
• Wrap up officially at the end of the relationship
• Minister to other Stephen ministers for their needs and the needs of the care receiver

Requirements:
• An active Christ-centered life
• Completion of Stephen ministry application and return to office
• Commitment to finish the training
• 50 hours of training class
• Weekly reading assignments
• A heart to patiently minister to one person of same gender at a time
• Attend a once a month peer supervision meeting
• Cost: $50.00 per month for set of books
• Challenge other to become a Stephen minister

Schedule:
• Every January and September a new training class begins. Contact the church office for more information
• Wednesday nights, 6:30p to 8:00p
• 12 weeks of study
• One training weekend…Friday evening – Saturday – Sunday morning
• Commissioning through a Life Group when finished

Joy of Ministry
• Experience God when He works through you
• See a person through the greatest crisis of their life
• Watch the power of Christ work through His church
• Hear testimonies of those whose lives were changed through this ministry
• Testify all these things to others