St. James is a Stephen Ministry church. Lay people are equipped to provide one-to-one Christian care to people in our congregation and community who are experiencing difficulties in their lives. We all experience challenges in life - - times when we could benefit from care and support. Stephen Ministers can provide the emotional and spiritual care we need when faced with a crisis or difficulty.

EUCHARISTIC VISITORS

Supposed you had planned to go to a big family party, and at the last minute you became ill and were not able to attend. Imagine how disappointed you would feel! The rest of the family would also be disappointed, feeling said that you could not be a part of the festivities. Someone at the party suggests that they take you a piece of cake from the family celebration, hoping that this would be a way to make you a part of the celebration, even though you couldn’t be there physically with the rest of the family. Imagine how wonderful you would feel about being included in a special way.
This is exactly the purpose of the Eucharistic Visitor Ministry. We at St. James do indeed have a big “family celebration” every Sunday, and when someone is unable to be with us physically we feel the loss. We try to make them feel included by taking a part of our feast from Sunday morning directly to them.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER GROUP

As Christians, we all realize the power of prayer. An Intercessory Prayer Group has been established at St. James to promote this process. The purpose of this group, which is open to all members of St. James, is to have a venue for the immediate implementation of an intercessory prayer request. The way it works is quite simple: when a Prayer Request is received by St. James, notification is sent via email to everyone in this group. Members of the Intercessory Prayer Group then pray for that person and their need. The only requirements of this group are:
1. Be willing to pray for people in need.
2. Have a viable email address so that you can receive the information.

GRIEF BOOKLETS
In support of anyone who has experienced a significant loss, St. James provides a series of booklets designed to help people with the grieving process. This series, “Journeying Through Grief”, is a set of four short books sent to people at four crucial times during the first year after a loss. While these books can’t tell a person exactly how they should grieve, they can help someone understand how grief works. These booklets may be requested by any member of St. James for anyone they know who has suffered a loss.