The Stephen Ministry was established at St. Nicholas Church in 2011 and now serves St. John XXIII. It’s part of a nationwide organization that prepares parish leaders who, in turn, prepare others to provide pastoral accompaniment for those experiencing life’s difficulties.

Care receivers might be hurting from illness, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, loneliness, isolation, miscarriage, infertility, stresses of immigration status...any challenge that it’s hard to go through alone. Ministers meet with their care receivers regularly over the course of a year or more, as long as a need exists.

Ministers go through a fifty-hour training program and meet with every two weeks for group supervision.  The names of the care receivers are not shared during these sessions.  

To explore either becoming a Stephen Minister or having someone accompany you through a hard time, please contact one of our ministry coordinators:
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• Deacon Chris Murphy, Pastoral Associate, at 847.864.1185 x242 or cmurphy@archchicago.org
• Barbara Soricelli, at (m) 312.218.9446 or bsoricelli@sbcglobal.net