Stephen Ministers: The After People by Lynn Armstrong Stephen Ministers are there: …After you’ve washed and returned the last casserole dish. …After the divorce papers have been served, and the bottom falls out of your life. …After the last child honks the horn, waves, and drives away – and the house suddenly seems incredibly empty. …After you arrive home following the funeral service, and the emotions you’ve held at bay come crashing in on you. …After the relationship has ended, but the wounds are still bleeding and painful. …After the doctors have said, “There’s nothing more we can do.” …After you realize the hands on the gold watch you received at your retirement party move more slowly th
Living with Change by Patty Rankin When I was younger, I thought our world was somewhat changeless. The sun rose in the morning; the seasons would come and go in the same rotation; my family had a stability that spoke of constancy. Now that I am older, I know that the one thing you can count on is change. I remember how the fact that the earth would one day disintegrate and would no longer exist shocked me, rocked my world view. How could that be? Would God really allow that to happen? There is talk these days about how the church is changing. The old days of the stability and constancy of the church in our lives have gone. There is little loyalty to a ‘home’ congregation. People come and go
