{"id":8432,"date":"2021-10-04T09:01:07","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T17:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/?p=8432"},"modified":"2021-10-04T12:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T20:06:51","slug":"become-a-stephen-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/2021\/10\/04\/become-a-stephen-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Become a Stephen Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>7 Reasons to Consider Becoming a Stephen Minister<\/h2>\n<p>Is God calling you to become a Stephen Minister?<br \/>\nIn Stephen Ministry, members of our congregation are trained and equipped to meet once a week, one to one, with someone going through a difficult time. Stephen Ministers provide a caring presence, a listening ear, and comforting words\u2014supporting care receivers throughout their journey.<br \/>\nThere are many reasons people become Stephen Ministers. Here are a few to think about as you prayerfully consider whether Stephen Ministry is the right place for you to serve.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As a Stephen Minister, you will&#8230;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Make a real difference in the lives of people who are hurting.<\/li>\n<li>Help our congregation ensure that no one suffers alone.<\/li>\n<li>Learn what to say and do- and what not to say and do- to care effectively for people who are suffering.<\/li>\n<li>Be involved in meaningful ministry that uses your spiritual gifts.<\/li>\n<li>Deepen your faith as we see God at work in your ministry<\/li>\n<li>Be a part of a group of caring Christians who support each other as they care for those who are hurting.<\/li>\n<li>Join a worldwide tradition of caring ministry.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8433\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/2021\/10\/04\/become-a-stephen-minister\/taste-of-sm_logo\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?fit=450%2C426&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"450,426\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Taste of SM_Logo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?fit=300%2C284&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?fit=450%2C426&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8433 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?resize=300%2C284&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?resize=300%2C284&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?resize=24%2C24&amp;ssl=1 24w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?resize=400%2C379&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?w=450&amp;ssl=1 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><strong>Next Steps:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Are you interested in learning more about becoming a Stephen Minister?<\/p>\n<p>Simply talk to one of our Stephen Minister leaders or call the office and make plans to join us for a &#8220;<strong>Taste of Stephen Ministry<\/strong>&#8221; on Sunday, October 31 at noon.<\/p>\n<p>Please RSVP with the office 509-754-3351 or a Stephen Ministry Leader for the lunch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>7 Reasons to Consider Becoming a Stephen Minister Is God calling you to become a Stephen Minister? In Stephen Ministry, members of our congregation are trained and equipped to meet&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gracepoint"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Taste-of-SM_Logo.png?fit=450%2C426&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9J9R0-2c0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8432"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8439,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8432\/revisions\/8439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gracepointephrata.org\/fbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}