The Story of Stephen Ministry

Sep 19, 2021 | by Chris Atkins

Where did Stephen Ministry begin? Kenneth C. Haugk, a pastor and clinical psychologist, was pastor of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Fresh out of seminary and with a heart for caregiving ministry, he was looking forward to making a positive impact on his congregation and community by providing pastoral care to all those experiencing grief, hospitalization, divorce, 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.

In November of 1974, he discussed the situation with two seminary friends over a cup of coffee. The conversation turned to Ephesians 4 and “equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” Dr. Haugk realized that because God gave all his people gifts for ministry, one of his roles as pastor was to equip others to use their gifts in ministry.

Dr. Haugk returned to St. Stephen’s with a plan. In the coming months he recruited nine laypeople who had the gifts and heart to do caring ministry. He then used his combined backgrounds 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. More people began receiving the focused Christian care they needed, and Dr. 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.

They all decided this ministry was too good to keep to themselves. So in November 1975, Dr. Haugk and his wife, Joan, founded the not-for-profit Stephen Ministries organization and began bringing Stephen Ministry to other congregations.

First United Methodist Church of Hurst is one of more than 13,000 congregations from more than 180 Christian denominations that now have Stephen Ministry. Over 600,000 people have been trained as Stephen Ministers, a number that grows by tens of thousands each year. More than one-and-a-half million people across the United States, Canada, and the world have been touched by God’s love through a Stephen Minister. Through all these people—including our own Stephen Ministers and their care receivers—the story of Stephen Ministry continues.