Children {with disabilities} being welcome in worship

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Yesterday one of my favorite blogs featured a guest post titled Children In Worship - Let's Bring It Back The author writes, "As the church, let’s be open to the idea of inviting our children into worship again. Let’s be patient, deliberate, and wise, but let’s encourage families to have their children in worship as soon as they are able."

As he acknowledges that each family will approach this with different timetables, he provides clear reasons for why it is beneficial to include children in worship. I've pasted that section below.

But first, consider this as you read them: you can replace "children" with "people with disabilities," and it still remains true. As you read the rationale below and make the mental replacement, I think it will become clear why the inclusion of individuals with special needs matters.
Why should children attend the worship service?
  1. Our children are members of the covenant community (the church):Corporate Worship on Sunday morning is the primary activity the covenant community engages in together (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25). Therefore, our children as members of this community should be included in this crucial aspect of covenantal life.
  2. Our children will be present in the midst of the means of grace: Our children benefit by being where the Word is preached (Romans 10:14), the sacraments are administered (Matthew 28:19-20), and corporate prayer is practiced (Acts 2:42-47). These are the chief means by which God pours out grace upon His people. Why knowingly rob our children of this blessing?!
  3. Our children will be present in the midst of the entire congregation:Our children benefit greatly by being in the presence of Christians of various ages. They are able to see that the faith of their parents is not a faith that they own alone, but is a faith that is important to all of these people who are gathered around them on Sunday morning. This only reinforces what Mom and Dad are modeling and teaching when they see this incredible gathering of people reading the Word together, praying together, confessing together, and singing together (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). They need to see the body in action.
  4. Our children will be present with their parents: Worshipping together as a family helps to counter the current trend in our society  of fragmenting our families. If our children join us in worship from four years of age until they are eighteen they will worship with their parents in 780 Sunday morning worship services! Think about the cumulative effect of a family worshipping together, in the midst of the means of grace, meeting with God for 780 Sundays in a row.
  5. Our children will witness their parents worshipping: It is the Biblical role of parents to disciple their children in the faith (Deut. 6; Psalm 78; Eph. 6). What a benefit there is when children witnesses their mother or father singing with conviction, praying in reverence, listening intently to the sermon, or receiving the Lord’s Supper in joy. In these moments a child witnesses the importance of faith and worship. There are few greater encouragements to a child’s faith then seeing their parents worship God with reverence and joy. (Exodus 12:1-28; Deut. 4:9-11; Deut. 6; Psalm 78; Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 12:43; Joel 2:12-17; Acts 16:33).
  6. Our children will learn the rhythms of church life: Teenagers in our culture often balk at attending corporate worship. But how many of our teenagers have we setup for this reaction, because we did not consistently include them in worship until they were a teenager? If attending church for years has always meant coloring Bible pictures, singing songs to a cd, playing games, and doing crafts—then we should not be surprised that our young people find worship to be odd, uncomfortable, and even boring. I love good children’s songs—they ring through my house. I love good children’s Christian crafts—they decorate my study. But if this alone is the rhythm of church life we have set up for our children week in and week out, we have done them a great disservice. They must see, know, and learn that the singing of the great hymns of the faith, the preaching of the Word, reading of confessions, corporate prayers, etc. is anything but boring. It is the gathered life of the community of faith. It is our weekly rhythm—appointed by God, designed by Him, established for the ages—this is what we want them to know, because we want them to know and worship Him.
In today's post at the same blog, the author will be offering tips for including children in the worship service, and some of those will work for individuals with disabilities too. I'll be writing a follow-up post once his goes live.

As we ponder this, I want to suggest that becoming a church that welcomes kids in worship is taking a vital first step to welcoming people with disabilities. How? Consider a church that accepts children in worship, knowing that they might make noises at odd times or demonstrate other "atypical" church behaviors. As this becomes part of their church's culture, those behaviors will become "typical" as the congregation becomes patient and understand toward those who are learning to worship and who may express their praise in different ways. As that happens, these churches often become places that are more likely to welcome people with disabilities and any "atypical" church behaviors they might bring.

And then the definition of "typical" changes once again, as the church's culture will change to consider those individuals with special needs to be vital members of their body, embracing the words below:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
{1 Corinthians 12:12-26}

Let those words be true of our churches.

 Amen.

disability ministry weekly round-up {3-5-12}

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The big news of last week was that all our adoption paperwork is in route to Taiwan, with a short stop for approval at an office in Atlanta. Yippee! {Update! Our paperwork has already been received in Taiwan, several days earlier than expected. Praise God!} We'll be bringing Zoe Amanda home sometime between late May and early August - praying it's sooner rather than later! :)

And in other news, I'm trying a slightly different approach to the round-up with a linked title, a quote from the link, and a question to ponder. Let me know who you like it - I'm thinking this might be how I do it from now on!

In Defense of Down Syndrome Children... Like My Son "Down syndrome children pose a different kind of threat to society -- the in-your-face reminder that our aspirations for "perfection" may be flawed. People like Cade disrupt normal." {What can we do to make sure that we're exalting God instead of the idol of human perfection?}

Don't Forget About Me... Being a Special Needs Sibling "She has always tried to understand his special needs, why he can't talk, why he needs extra time to accomplish little things so many others take for granted and why he was made just a little bit different than all her friend's brothers and sisters." {Are we teaching a biblical theology that helps our kids love and interact with those who are different, including in their own families?}

Tears of a special needs sib "Once again, he had to take the back seat to a kid with special needs, and once again his mom just assumed he'd suck it up, (and he's got his own issues going on with PANDAS and he's extra sensitive lately), and he simply could not take it anymore, always having to be the one who bends." {How can the church support and love these siblings who often take a back seat?}

A Special Needs Mom's Heartache: Not What You'd Expect "It isn’t the people inside my house that make life difficult. It’s the world outside." {How can we, as the people of God, make that world outside better for these families by sharing Christ instead of pity or hurt?} 

 Prom held for special needs children at Wofford "'It started out as a church movement to incorporate special needs population into churches and when that started happening it just caught on fire, it's really gone out of control,' says co-organizer and Wofford student Callie Taylor." {How do you celebrate God's creation of every person, regardless of ability or disability?}

 RELIGION: Fulfilling the spiritual needs of special-needs kids Okay, this one I can't just quote. You need to read the whole thing. It describes that amazing special needs ministry set-up at a church in San Bernardino. Just read it. {How can you excel in serving all members of families affected by disability on Sunday mornings?}

 'Groundbreaking' new ministry caters to families with autistic families  "Karen and Paul Schmid know what it’s like to watch an autistic son struggle with sitting through a mass and they wonder about other families who avoid church altogether, because it’s just too hard." {What can your church do to make it easier for the Schmids and other families like them? And how can you reach out to the families who are already avoiding your church because they expect it to be too hard to come?}

our Creator does not faint or grow weary, and neither will we {Isaiah 40:28-31}

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Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

{Isaiah 40:28-31}

so what's the adoption timetable?

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On Facebook, I mentioned that all our adoption paperwork went to TECO a couple days ago. (TECO = Taipei Economic and Cultural Office; you could think of it as the Taiwanese consulate or embassy.)

thanks to Robbin, who is adopting from the same place on a similar timeline, for the picture!
They should approve the paperwork and send it to Taiwan by the middle of next week.

For those of you who are wondering, paperwork for this adoption included: two copies of our home study in English (both notarized and then authenticated by the Secretary of State), three copies of power of attorney for our adoption coordinators to represent us in court (notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption contract (with a certified English translation; then notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption agreement (with a certified English translation; notarized & authenticated), one copy of our waiver for the adoption coordinator, and one copy of our photo pages which represent who we are and where we live to the judge in Taiwan.

Then what?

Well, according to the timelines provided by our adoption coordinator:
  • 7-10 days for notification of a court date 
  • 4-6 weeks til court from notification of date 
  • 4-8 weeks for first court decree 
  • 10-25 days til final decree 
  • 7 days for translation of all material and sent to AIT (think of it as the US Embassy-like entity in Taiwan) for review 
  • ~3 weeks later: travel to Taiwan!
That timeline would have us traveling to bring Zoe Amanda home at the earliest about 15 weeks from now (around my birthday on June 10) and at the latest 24 weeks from now (around August 10).

Based on the actual experiences of several families who have gone through this process in the past year, it is unlikely that we would have to wait until August and more likely to be mid-June. The range in my little sample from paperwork arriving in Taiwan until travel dates to bring their child home was 5 months (the longest by far, and everyone said theirs was an odd case), 3.5 months, 3.5 months, 2.75 months, and 3.5 months. If ours lines up with the shortest in that sample, we will be traveling near the end of May; if it matches with the median value of 3.5 months, then we're looking at mid-June; and if we end up with an odd longer case, it'll be August.

We will have more paperwork to process for Zoe Amanda's visa and citizenship around the time we travel, but now we can focus our efforts on fundraising, preparing for her arrival, and selling our home. Oh, and preparing for a special needs ministry conference I'll be speaking at in April and coordinating volunteers for Joy Prom on April 27.

As I told one friend yesterday, "now that our paperwork is off, our life is semi-calm-ish. With an emphasis on semi- and -ish." :)