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Stephen Ministry is lay persons caring for those going through a difficult time in their lives.  Stephen Ministers complete a fifty hour training program to learn how to improve their listening skills, be a friend, get their care receiver to talk about their feelings, and much more.  The greatest of these skills is listening.   Stephen Ministers offer no advice nor promise any cure but they will be there to lean on.

If you can be a friend to a person in need, try Stephen Ministry.  If you have questions or would like to get involved, talk to one of our Stephen Leaders (Curt and Myrene Hepner – 764-2914 or Kathy Gardner – 413-8525).  They would love to have you in their next class.

If you are going through a tough time and could use a caring friend, contact Pastor Jan at 764-2429 and she will match you with one of our trained Stephen Ministers.
       
Feel Free to download the Stephen Ministry Brochure to learn more about Stephen Ministry.

Missions

In our Mission Statement we say that our mission is to "be witnesses, proclaiming near and far the saving and healing power of Jesus Christ and serving our neighbor with love and compassion".

We strive to do just that in a variety of ways.  We are involved in local missions some of which include supporting Love In the Name of Christ of the Greater Canton Area, hosting the Lincoln County Food Pantry, serving twice yearly at The Banquet in Sioux Falls, worshipping at St Dysmas in the South Dakota Penitentiary, and participating in Habitat for Humanity projects.  We participate in the Church World Service's Crop Walk each fall as well as support the Food Resources Bank's Amaizing Grace Project.

We provide Christmas gifts and a party for Native Americans that reside at the Milk's Camp Indian Reservation west of Bonesteel, SD.  In addition to the gifts we have often provided blankets, heaters, school supplies, and food vouchers to the local grocery store.  One year we participated in a building repair project for a family on the reservation.

We are involved with the The Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope in Nicaragua.  Members have been traveling there yearly to bring school supplies, food baskets, crop seeds, electric lighting, and much financial assistance.  We see first hand that faith can and does grow and flourish in situations of poverty and social hopelessness  

We also support the Lutheran Church in Camaroon, Africa.  One member helped with roof building several years ago.

Our Youth have traveled to Jamaica to visit various orphanages, to the inner cities of New York, Boston, and Chicago, as well as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in western South Dakota.

We have supported ELCA missionaries in a variety of locations such as Tanzania, Africa and are currently supporting Rev. John Peter in India and Anne Bjerke, the ELCA Representative in Nicaragua's Church of Hope and Faith.

Our Amaizing Grace project has raised funds to help the farmers of Africa by providing them with machinery and seeds so that they might "feed their families and their neighbors" into the future.

Through our faith we are asked to "serve our neighbor with love and compassion".  These are but a few of the ways that we try to live out our mission.