Stephen Ministry is a lay-led caring ministry of our church family which reaches out to members of the congregation in time of need. Stephen Ministers are lay persons who, through an extensive training program, learn skills and develop gifts for bringing Christ's healing love to members who are lonely, grieving losses, strangers, ill or experiencing other stresses in life.  In our congregation family this also specifically includes visiting the homebound and our members in nursing homes, taking Home Communion to members who cannot be present for worship, visiting the hospitalized, making follow-up calls when members are dismissed from the hospital, and calling homebound members weekly to check on them. If you would like to speak to someone about using your gifts as a Stephen Minister, call Linda Svec, Stephen Minister Coordinator, 233-0545, misslinda@1stumc.org