InStep Ministries

InStep Ministries is a 501C3 faith-based nonprofit ministry dedicated to serving the community by providing practical, Biblical resources, support and counsel to single, divorced and remarried individuals, their families and the churches who minister to them. InStep is pro-marriage not pro-divorce. InStep is a resource member of AMFM (Association of Marriage and Family Ministries).

Our Vision: to equip singles, single parents and stepfamily members for healthy, authentic relationships as they live-out their faith and impact their culture for Christ.

Our Mission: to empower individuals, families and churches through training, mentoring, counseling and practical, Biblical resources.

Our Goal: to connect the community of singles, single parents and stepfamilies with the local church.

Empowering Today’s Leaders

Training: We can equip, train and coach staff or leaders. InStep provides ongoing training and support for all our resources.

Resources: We provide training materials, needs assessment, curriculum, program design and evaluation, and a ministry development plan that fits the mission and core values of your local church or ministry.

Experience: We understand the complexities of today’s families and the challenges and opportunities they represent. We care and can help.

Equipping Today’s Families

Counseling: Helping individuals and families heal from life's hurts, develop authentic relationships and experience the joy, peace and freedom that God intends.

Remarriage Preparation: Preparing stepcoupolpe for life. Most remarriages occur before adults or children are ready. We prepare couples and their children for remarriage.

Mentoring: Training and coaching mentors and assist couples in connecting with mentors.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

InStep regards accepts the Scriptures as the revealed and authoritative Word of God, the all sufficient rule of faith and practice and, for the purpose of maintaining general unity, adopts the following statement of faith:

1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, authoritative Word of God (II Timothy 3:16).
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin conception, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to God the Father and in His personal return to power and glory.
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Sprit is absolutely essential.
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
6. We believe in the community of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and that counsel, support and transformation happen in the context of this community.
7. We believe that God calls us to a life of faith, wherein we derive meaning from our circumstances and respond in obedience
8. We believe that the goal of counsel and support is life-changing transformation; Christ being formed in us
9. We believe that the Body of Christ, which reflects unity in diversity, is the model for Christian stepfamilies.
10. We believe that seeking wise counsel during times of distress is part of God’s provision.

InStep’s Philosophy Of Ministry

Ministry is personal. Caring for individuals and families is a Paraclete ministry (John 14: 25-27). Our role is to “come along side” as an authentic guide. In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen wrote, “Every Christian is a minister. Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one’s own search for God, with all its moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join the search but don’t know how.”

Ministry is about change. The goal of ministry is spiritual transformation-change. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is (Romans 12:2 NLT). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is being formed in us. The result is spiritual growth as evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). As we let go of the things that keep us from moving toward the cross, we are transformed into the image of Christ.

Ministry is about reconciliation. God, through love and grace is reconciling us to Himself (II Cor. 5:18-21) and we in turn are to be ambassadors of reconciliation.

Ministry is about restoration. Jesus mission statement is in Isaiah 61: 1-3. He came to “bind the brokenhearted” “to proclaim freedom for the captive” and “to comfort those who mourn.” Through God’s Spirit and the power of His Word, the lives of families and individuals are healed and restored.

Ministry is about hope. God is the God of second chances (Jonah 3:1; Hosea 3:1; Joel 2:12-13; Romans 8:1; I Cor. 6:9-11; I John 2:1; II Tim. 2:21). God meets us at the point of both are despair and our need. He graciously forgives, redeems and restores. As believers, we can celebrate the truths of our redemption. We are holy, accepted, blameless, complete, heaven-bound and totally forgiven.

Ministry is about freedom. In Galatians 5:1, Paul reminds us Christ came to give us freedom. This gift of freedom is from our hurts, habits and hang-ups, but also the freedom to love and be loved. Only when we trust that Christ truly loves us for who we are can embrace others in love and humility.

Ministry is grounded in God’s Word. (II Tim. 3:16). God’s word is authoritative and the final standard for all counsel and spiritual direction.

Healing happens in the context of community. (Acts 2: 42-47; Hebrew 10: 24-25). Community is the real context for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, who gifts each individual so the body of Christ “may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 12-13). Community is where we experience relationship of trust and environments of grace. Support, counsel and spiritual direction are God’s provisions for maturing the body of Christ and equipping members of the body for service.

About The Directors:

Jeff and Judi Parziale have been married over sixteen years; each bringing three children into the marriage. The challenges of working through the issues of remarriage and stepfamily life led them to start InStep Ministries. Their vision was to offer hope and encouragement to single parents and stepfamilies by sharing their own successes and failures. Jeff and Judi believe the journey should never be taken alone. Out of their gratitude for what God had done in their lives, they have developed a number of seminars and workshops, and have written several books and resources.

Jeff is a family pastor, author and counselor. In his thirty years of counseling and ministry, he has witnessed not only the impact of death and divorce but also the challenges of singles and single-parents and the struggles of remarrying couples that were not fully prepared for stepfamily life.

As a research health psychologist, Judi understands the immense challenges facing today's families. Together, they are excited about what God is doing in the lives of singles and stepfamilies. They affirm that God is a God of second chances, as seen in the lives of Jonah, Peter, Moses, Paul or David. They believe the church, the Body of Christ, is a wonderful metaphor for today’s families, unity from diversity. They see the church as a place of grace and healing. The vision of InStep is to connect every single, divorced or remarried person to an accepting and vibrant, community of faith.

Jeff and Judi are passionate about equipping today’s families for life and empowering churches to effectively minister to these families in their congregations and communities. The principles they share in their books, seminars and workshops come not only from ongoing study and research, but from the crucible of their own family experience. They know first-hand the struggles and successes of single-parenting and stepfamily life.

InStep is committed to:
• Providing practical resources, counseling and encouragement to singles, single parents, divorced and remarried individuals in the community.
• Developing programs and resources to facilitate connecting individuals and families to a community of faith.
• Informing, assisting, and encouraging Pastors and Christian leaders as they minister to singles, single parents and stepfamilies in their congregations and communities by providing accurate, Biblical information and resources concerning the realities and challenges of single life, remarriage and stepfamilies.