What disability ministry is (insights from the Accessibility Summit)

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One of the workshops I attended at the Accessibility Summit last week was titled Built to Last – Sustaining a Disability Ministry. It was a panel discussion featuring four directors for special needs ministry at different churches. While I gained several great takeaways from it, these points from Connie Hutchinson from First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, CA must be shared. (The points, bolded and italicized, are hers; the commentary on each comes from me.)

Disability ministry is...
  1. ...not a numbers-driven ministry. She pointed out that it's not about how many families with special needs come to your church. It's about being a welcoming place, reaching out to your community, and serving those who come. Another way of wording this is found in my church's core beliefs, the emphasis on faithfulness over fruitfulness. We're called to be faithful; God is the one who brings forth the fruit.
  2. ...not cost-effective. We're not just talking about money here. The human cost in terms of volunteers needed is higher in special needs ministry than in other ministries.
  3. ...long-lasting. It's a lifetime commitment. A lot of churches only have special needs ministry programs for children, maybe even youth. But you know what? Those children and youth grow up. The adult special needs ministry at our church began at the result of one of our kids growing up and her family stepping forward to create a meaningful and welcoming place in our church for her and others. (And you don't need to wait until the children with special needs at your church grow up; there are adults with disabilities in your community already!)
  4. ...a mission field. I've seen estimates that as many as 90% of people with disabilities are unchurched. I've never been able to find good sources for these numbers, so I'm not sure if that figure is fully accurate, but it is well-documented that church involvement of individuals with special needs is not high. If you want to share the good news of Christ with all people, then this is a good place to start!
  5. ...relationship-driven rather than program-driven. This is true of any ministry. However, special needs ministry requires it more so than others, at least in my experience. When I was a youth ministry leader, it was possible to run all our weekly programming without getting to know students well. That wouldn't be effective ministry, but I've seen it happen before. In special needs ministry, though, it's about the individual not the disability or the program.
 And, finally, I would add one more: It's worth it.

mulletified

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Once upon a time, a little four-year-old girl who had brown hair past her shoulders found scissors. And cut that brown hair shorter than her brother's hair. Short enough that she was regularly mistaken for a boy and that her momma had to scotch tape bows to her scalp.

{I can't find the pictures right now, but I will post 'em once I dig them up.}

Well, that little girl grew up and had a little blond girl. Who today, at age four, found scissors. And gave herself a mullet.

Yesterday, she looked like this at the AWANA Wacky Olympics. (Thanks, Heather, for posting this on Facebook!)


And here are a couple shots of her being silly last night before she left.
























And here she is now.


The long strand in the middle shows you how long the rest of the front had been.


Heather, remember when we were talking about having you take some family pictures of us?


Um, I think we might wait on those.


She tried to pin the blame on Napoleon, suggesting that he cut her hair.


She finally 'fessed up.


Evidently, her bangs were getting in her eyes, and she didn't like that.


I don't think that's going to be a problem again for a long time.

Notes from the Children Desiring God autism workshop (one more fantastic link!)

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I love it when friends share special needs ministry articles with me! (Thanks, Kim!)

Here's one that I didn't catch before my post yesterday, but it's another must-read related to autism and special needs ministry. Sojourn Kids has graciously posted the notes from the Children Desiring God conference's breakout session titled "Disability, Autism, and the Tender Mercy of God," led by Brenda Fischer, the Disability Ministry Director for Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN. Go HERE to read them!

great reads on the web - april 6, 2011

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While I have a list of 15-20 blog posts that I'm excited to be writing in the near future, I first want to pause to point out some phenomenal ones written by some incredibly talented people. Many of them are related to autism because this is Autism Awareness Month, and I think each one is 100% worth reading. (That's why I changed my usual title for this sort of post from "good reads" to "great reads." Because these are fantastic posts by some folks I truly respect.)

First, Amy Fenton Lee at The Inclusive Church has written an insightful series titled "5 Things to Know about the Mother of a Child with Autism." I am sometimes hesitant about recommending a resource about parents of children with a disability that isn't written by a parent of a child with a disability, but Amy has spent countless hours interviewing mothers, and the response to this series has been outstanding (deservedly so!). Of course, every mother - just like every child - is different, so these might not apply universally, so please pay attention to Amy's note about that on the first post in the series. Without further ado,
Katie Wetherbee has written two great posts this week about welcoming families with a child with an autism spectrum disorder. This one today describes some ways that the Philadelphia International Airport is proactively accommodating families affected by autism and what we, as the church, can learn from it. Recently at our church we did a Saturday walk-through of our first-grade Bible day rally (which was held the following day) with a child with Down syndrome, similar to what Katie suggests here, so please keep in mind that this sort of previewing of church activities can be helpful for kids with other special needs as well!

And this post from Katie provides great pointers for preparing your church to be a welcoming place for children with autism. (And might I add that Katie is one of the kindest online friends I've met? 'Cause she is.)

And this post from John Knight isn't autism-specific but it is a good reminder that God equips those He calls to special needs ministry rather than simply calling those who are already equipped. (And while I am incredibly humbled that he shared some writing from this blog there, that's not why I'm recommending it!)

So click through and read these great posts! You won't be disappointed. And, assuming the pesky head cold I've been fighting calms down by tomorrow, you can be expecting daily posts here for the next couple of weeks.

funny faces for difficult days

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One of the blessings of our family is that laughter isn't an option. It's just part of life.

For example, look at the pride in these two faces as they headed to Crazy Tie Night at AWANA a couple weeks ago.


Or consider Jocelyn's major concerns about heaven:
  1. It will be too bright, and she won't be able to sleep because it never gets dark. And then she's be cranky and cry a lot. {Yes, we've tried to explain that she won't need sleep. Her response? "But I like sleep, and even if I don't need it, I will very much miss it."}
  2. She will have to have a new body, and she really, really, really likes the one she has. I kid you not that it took about 45 minutes to calm her down when she learned that she wouldn't get to keep the body she has now. {And if you've read much of anything over here, you know that I'm psyched about the new body thing. A chance to discard this worn, broken flesh with eroded joints, dead thyroid gland, and ineffective liver in exchange for a defect-free model? Yes, please!}
And can you look at this without a smile?


Or consider how Robbie managed to wear this much of his pizza without a smirk?

 
And this extends to adoptive families as well, like the family of my high school youth leader who welcomes us into their home, both the weekend of the picture below and this past weekend as they conveniently live less than 10 minutes from the site of the conference I attended. We can't spend time with them without laughing, and how sweet that time can be!


And while this last picture doesn't make me laugh, it does bring a smile to my face as I see this sweet image from our dinner Bible-reading time. How I love the leadership of my godly husband!


A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
{Proverbs 17:22, ESV}

So thankful for the blessings God has placed in my life to bring joy to my heart!