Proverbs 29:18- "Without a vision the people perish."
Stephen Ministry Goal
To provide a Holy Spirit led, personal “one on one” ministry representing Bozeman Evangelical Free Church, assisting the leadership of the church in attending to spiritual, mental, emotional and physical needs of people seeking care, following biblical principles and modeling Jesus so they in turn are able to minister to others.
Provide an outreach and life support ministry that helps achieve the vision and goals of the E-Free Church Strategic Plan.
What do Stephen Ministers do?
E-free has been involved in Stephen Ministry since 2003. Stephen ministers come alongside those in need and in times of crisis. The needs of our church and community are great and we network with other ministries to encourage complete Christian care to those in need. Our Ministry is not a replacement for Christian counseling from the Pastoral Staff or other professional counselors but a support ministry to those services.
Priority needs of our Care Receivers (based on our first 5 years of providing care)
- Emotional Support for a variety of life challenges
- Coping with a Family Crisis
- Medical Conditions and Hospitalization
- Spiritual Support
- Divorce or Marriage Crisis
- Financial Concerns
- Addiction Recovery and Accountability
- Death and Dying
Stephen Ministry accountability sessions and training are held every 2 weeks (with a short summer break) to keep care givers on task and capable.
Accountability is achieved through facilitated group sessions and strict confidentiality is maintained during these sessions.
Stephen Ministry at E-free completed its first Strategic Plan in 2008 to guide us through the next 5 years. Copies of the plan were submitted to the Elders for review.
Who are the E-Free Stephen Ministers?
In the period, 2003-2008, we have trained 25 Stephen Ministers not including Glenn and Lyla Lehrer who provided excellent leadership. There are 13 Stephen Ministers remaining in the program including 5 men and 8 women. Several have moved away from the area and 6 are inactive for now due to time constraints or personal reasons.
93 cases were referred to our ministry since 2003.
- 17 Active cases in 2008
- 76 Completed cases 2003 through 2008
We provided 323 months of ministry service since 2003.
Ministers made 1281 individual face to face or phone contacts with care receivers.
An average case was 8 months long but they range from 1 month to 34 months of care giving.
On average caregivers contacted care receivers 28 times with a range of 2- over100 times during the course of care giving.
Who are our care receivers?
- Marital Status of care receivers.
24 Divorced
20 Single
44 Married
5 Widowed
Ages ranged from 21-86 years with an average age of 42.
- Sex of the typical care receiver.
63 female care receivers
30 male care receive
68 care receivers were from within the E Free Body while 25 were from outside our church body. We received care referrals from several other churches and organizations including: LDS, Grace Bible, Journey, Lutheran, Methodist, Love Inc, Salvation Army, Christian Reformed, Belgrade Alliance, Holy Rosary, Belgrade Community Church. We also provided care to10 unchurched care receivers.
Where do Stephen Ministers Serve?
73 of our care receivers were residents of Bozeman while 20 where from outside this community. We provided service to other communities included: Billings, Boulder, Belgrade, Big Timber, Shields Valley, and Gallatin Gateway.
Stephen Ministry Contacts
Keith Aune 406-522-0234
Cindy Aune 406-522-0234
Ann Rossmeier 406-587-4334
If you are interested in a Stephen Minister contact us or the church office or Pastoral staff.
What are our Future Plans?
Anne Rossmeier is attending leadership training to enhance the skills she brings to our leadership team.
We are planning a training session to add up to 12 more Stephen Ministers if we can successfully recruit willing men and women.
Stephen Ministry will continue its rigorous training schedule and support its ministry team to equip them for this ministry.
Stephen Ministry will work with the Friday Night E-free Recovery Program to provide mentors for recovering addicts.
Our ministry seeks to coordinate and integrate our services with other important ministry programs in our church body.
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