Shortly after her parents died, another older person came into Karen Macurdy’s life.

The person recently had lost a spouse to Alzheimer’s disease and was living in a nursing home. Macurdy began spending time with the person every week for years.

Macurdy, a member of Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church, visits as a Stephen Minister.

“It is a lay ministry,” said Gail DiCuccio, a Stephen Ministry leader at First United Methodist Church in Butler.

“A pastor in a congregation of our size doesn’t have the time to deal one-on-one for an extended period of time,” said DiCuccio.

In 1975, Kenneth Haugk, a minister and clinical psychologist, created the Stephen Ministry to enable people with difficulties to meet regularly with a compassionate listener.

In Pennsylvania, 473 congregations have Stephen Ministers affiliated with the Stephen Ministries organization in St. Louis. Worldwide, 165 denominations participate in more than 11,000 congregations.

Rev. Jeff Curtis, pastor of Mt. Chestnut Presbyterian Church in Butler, is a Stephen Minister leader.

According to Curtis, the care receiver is someone who could use a Christian walking with them through the difficult experiences of life, such as divorce, illness, death, incarceration and job loss.

“The pastor is seen as the one to come in and help in crisis situations,” said Curtis.

“People know and learn that their church and the pastor and that we care about them,” said DiCuccio.

“God is the cure giver,” said Macurdy. “We’re just the caregivers. We never pressure a care receiver to get better because we know he’ll do that. We’re not therapists or problem solvers.”

Curtis said usually a few people from a congregation will go to a week’s leader training. Then the leaders use Stephen Ministry materials to provide 50 hours of training to other individuals in their congregation.

The training includes how to manage feelings, listening, distinctive Christian caring and assertiveness and confidentiality.

“It’s an intentional way to care for someone one to one,” said Pat Nelson, pastor for congregational care at First United Methodist Church.

In Macurdy’s congregation, a church minister refers individuals to the Stephen Ministry leaders who then match the individual with a Stephen Minister.

“They know you’re coming every single week,” said Macurdy. “It’s more or less letting them talk it out. A lot of times there’s just an anger there and you reassure them. They feel guilty that they are angry with God.”

Another cause of a care receiver’s guilt may be the feeling that he or she did not do enough for a loved one.

Macurdy said, “Sometimes hearing themselves talk really helps.”

Macurdy has been a Stephen Minister for nearly 13 years. Each minister works with one person at a time, usually for one hour each week.

Macurdy has worked with an individual for several years, although the length of support from a Stephen Minister varies with the situation. It even may be as short as two weeks. The Stephen Minister is trained for ending support and decides that with the care receiver.

The Stephen Minister often prays with the care receiver.

“Depending on what they are going through, we will look up passages that will give them more peace,” said Macurdy.

Stephen Ministers agree to a two-year commitment to help others. Curtis said many continue longer.

Nelson said several criteria are used to choose potential Stephen Ministers, including life experience and the maturity of their faith.

DiCuccio acknowledged a situation can be more than the Stephen Minister can handle alone. At that point, the Stephen Minister may refer the individual to community services for assistance.

Stephen Ministers gather as a group twice a month for continuing education as well as supporting each other.

“One of the things we talk about at the care review meetings is how the Stephen Minister is staying as objective as possible,” said Nelson.

“Even while they develop a relationship with the receiver, they don’t get pulled in to such a level that they cannot be helpful.”

Nelson said, “We provide the care, but Jesus provides the cure. That takes us out of the responsibility of trying to fix what is wrong.”

About 200 Stephen Ministers have been trained at the First Methodist Church over the years.

Curtis said, “It is a very strong foundation of care giving within the congregation. People are intentional about reaching out and caring for others. It could be the grocery line, a neighbor, it affects our lives.”

“People don’t expect other people in the church to care that way,” said Nelson. “When they do, they see that the church is the people and not just the pastor. It’s a lay-driven ministry and that’s what makes it so effective.”