When members of Trinity Lutheran Church are in need of support, encouragement or just a sympathetic ear, their pastor is not the only one they can count on.

They can also turn to each other.

That’s because Trinity Lutheran, 1245 N.H., is one of more than 8,000 congregations that participate in the St. Louis-based Stephen Ministries program, which trains laypeople to become one-on-one, Christian caregivers to fellow church members.

Since 1975, more than 300,000 people from more than 100 Christian denominations have gone through special training and been commissioned as Stephen Ministers.

That training enables them to voluntarily enter into a confidential relationship with another churchgoer — any adult who is suffering hardship, a difficult, life transition or turmoil — visiting him or her regularly to offer Christian support and care.

One such caregiver is Ruth Sarna, who was originally trained as a Stephen Minister in 1982 and helped Trinity Lutheran become a Stephen Ministry congregation in 1998.

Sarna is one of five Stephen Leaders in the church, those who train new Stephen Ministers, supervise their work and keep the lay-caring ministry going. There are 20 active Stephen Ministers at Trinity Lutheran, and the church just commissioned seven more May 23.

“It’s carrying out Jesus’ command to love each other. This training gives people the skills to help those who are having a crisis in their lives and need someone to befriend them or walk by them during those times,” Sarna says.

But Stephen Ministers aren’t professionals, and they are trained to stay within appropriate boundaries clearly set by the program.

“We’re not therapists or counselors,” Sarna says. “We do the care, and Christ does the cure.”

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH STEPHEN MINISTRY leaders from left, Joyce Tate, Karen Frankenfield, Karen Hunt, the Rev. Gary Teske and Ruth Sarna provide caregiving to members in their congregation.

Match made in heaven

Trinity Lutheran isn’t the only Stephen Ministry congregation in town.

First Christian Church, 1000 Ky., has participated in this program for about 10 years. There are more than 20 active Stephen Ministers in the congregation, and two Stephen Leaders, one of which is the Rev. Randy Beeman.

Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt., entered the program in 1988. It currently has five Stephen Leaders and 22 active Stephen Ministers, training a new class of caregivers every two to three years.

“Everybody has an assignment, and once they come free (of helping a care receiver), there’s another assignment waiting. We have more need than we have active Stephen Ministers,” says Marguerite Carlson, one of the church’s five Stephen Leaders.

“It’s an extension of pastoral care, because the pastors can see somebody at the point of a crisis, but they’re not going to be able to spend an hour with that person every week until they don’t need someone to walk alongside them any further.”

Carlson has been a Stephen Leader and Stephen Minister at Plymouth since 1991. She believes in the program’s benefits to those who receive caring from another lay person.

“I’ve seen the great things that it’s done,” she says. “We are listeners; we don’t fix it. We are special and trained friends from the church.”

Stephen Ministers receive 50 hours of initial training in important, caring-ministry skills and concepts. This usually takes place over the course of five to six months, then they’re commissioned in church services.

They pay weekly visits to another adult — called a “care receiver” — offering Christian support and care. They also participate in regular support and supervision under the guidance of trained Stephen Leaders.

Stephen Ministers, who must be 21 or older, are committed to preserving the confidential nature of the caring relationship and are asked to serve in the program for at least two years.

They receive continuing education and skill building throughout their years of service.

Pastors can ask a church member if he or she would like the help of a Stephen Minister to cope with a difficult situation in life, or church members can ask that a referral be made to the ministry.

Then Stephen Leaders will match a caregiver and a care receiver together. Men are matched with men, and women with other women.

“It happens over and over again, and it’s wonderful,” Sarna says. “It’s kind of a match made in heaven. I’m sold on it.”

Distinctly Christian caregiving

Anyone could potentially benefit by receiving care from Stephen Ministry programs offered in Lawrence churches.

“You could be deciding that you’re ready to move into Presbyterian Manor, or you may be sitting at the bedside of a dying spouse. Maybe you’ve just lost a job, or you’re pregnant and you’re not married, or your spouse has just walked out on you,” says Sara Wentz, director of discipleship ministries at First United Methodist Church, 946 Vt.

“Any kind of loss, crisis or grief situation is a place where Stephen Ministers might be helpful.”

Wentz’s church graduated its first class of Stephen Ministers — 13 people — May 9. Wentz is one of three Stephen Leaders at the church, including Linda Penny and Carole Abrahamson.

“What is beautiful about Stephen Ministry is that is distinctly Christian caregiving. Not only have we been trained to listen, but we also have the resources of prayer and Scripture. We aren’t professionals, but we hope that God is working through us,” Wentz says.

“We’re the ‘after people.’ After the funeral, when the tough time starts, or after you’ve discovered you have cancer, it’s a Stephen Minister who can be there every week.”