by jphilo | Nov 29, 2010 | Different Dream, Special Needs Ministry, Spiritual Support
Consider this blog post an early Christmas gift. Because Key Ministries is a gift to parents of kids with special needs…and for the churches that want to support them.
What Is Key Ministry?
Key Ministries was created by Dr. Steve Grcevich as a resource for churches. It equips them to support families with members who have special needs. According to their mission statement, “Key Ministry’s mission is to equip churches to welcome and include children and families affected by hidden disabilities in all aspects of the life of the church. We’re uniquely positioned to do this; our staff and volunteers are professionals in fields such as psychiatry, special education, psychology and ministry. We hope that the resources you discover here will be useful to you in ministry within your church and possibly within your family as well.”
Who Is Key Ministry?
You can read about the people who work at Key Ministries – Dr. Gcevich, Rebecca Hamilton, Harmony Hensley, and Katie Wetherbee – by visiting the staff page at www.KeyMinistries.org. After meeting Katie and Rebecca at a recent conference, I can tell you they are caring and compassionate professionals able to offer churches and parents tested and practical advice.
Key Ministry Is Free
While you’re at the staff page, surf the entire site. It is packed with resources and information. And it’s all free. That’s right, free. Pretty amazing, don’t you think? Be sure to visit Steve’s blog, Church 4 Every Child, where you’ll find enough reading material to keep you busy for a month. Then, cruise on over to Katie’s blog, which is full of tips about how to help kids with special needs succeed at Sunday school.
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by jphilo | Oct 18, 2010 | Different Dream, Special Needs Ministry, Spiritual Support
Since google alerts first brought the Inclusive Church website to my attention, it has become one of my favorite websites.
Amy Fenton Lee, Creator
Launched Amy Fenton Lee in April of 2010, it quickly became the go to place for those who coordinate special needs ministries in their churches. As the mom of a young son with special needs, a former marketing executive, and the daughter of a pastor, she is uniquely equipped to work in this field.
5 Reasons to Visit the Inclusive Church Website
If you haven’t been to Inclusive Church, here are 5 reasons you need to visit:
- You can read interviews with people who run successful special needs ministries all around the country. Fenton Lee has interviewed a number of leaders in the field. You’re bound to find one that resonates with your particular set of circumstances.
- Fenton Lee reaches across denominational lines and into the public domain for best practices and materials that advance the inclusion of people with special needs in churches. How refreshing!
- The website addresses practical issues like safety (see the recent series on safety in children’s ministries) and prickly ones, too, like how to delete the “R” word.
- Though the primary audience for the website is children’s ministry leaders, there is a category dedicated to issues of interest to parents.
- Parents can educate themselves and intelligently approach their churches with suggestions about starting a special needs ministry. At the site, there’s information about where to start and how to approach church leaders. Best of all, when they ask where to find resources, parents can point them to www.InclusiveChurch.com.
Do You Like What You See?
So head over to the Inclusive Church and take a gander. Then come back here and leave a comment about your favorite blog posts. Or describe how you will use the information available there. New ideas are always welcome!
Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop up box and the second at the bottom of this page.
by jphilo | Jul 28, 2010 | Different Dream, Special Needs Ministry, Spiritual Support
As I mentioned in the previous post in this series, God has been nudging me about beginning a special needs ministry at my local church. After all, the new building is completely handicapped accessible, so we will soon have the facilities for such a ministry. Our town is full of families who could benefit from it. All that’s missing is someone to spearhead the efforts, kinda get things going.
I’m Too Busy
That would be me.
The problem is I’m not very comfortable with the idea. In fact, I don’t like it at all. See, I’m a busy woman. I have a new book contract, with lots of research to complete and interviews to do, and a deadline. I have a full schedule of speaking engagements. All this advocating around the country on behalf of parents whose children have special needs takes so much time.
I’m No Expert
But, how can I call myself an advocate for families around the country if I refuse to advocate on behalf of families in my town? The more I think about it, the more hypocritical I feel. It’s painful, the kind of nudge I can’t ignore.
So here’s the deal. Even though, I’m reading up on the subject and have interviewed the coordinator of a stellar special needs ministry at Valley Evangelical Free Church in West Des Moines, Iowa, I’m not sure how to begin. Maybe some of you can help.
Calling All Experts and Wannabees
If you’re a lurker with experience starting a special needs ministry from scratch, your expertise is needed. Please leave a comment or send an email about books, programs, resources, or people who assisted you. Tell us your ministry’s story so we can follow your example.
If you’re a wannabe like me, leave a comment or question about what you want to know about starting a ministry. Maybe someone out there will have an answer.
I’ll Keep You Posted About the Pain
Since I’m asking you to get involved on this subject, I promise to keep you posted about my progress, too. We probably won’t move into our new facility until September, so until then it’s research and waiting expectantly for your ideas. Please, please, please start sharing them. I want to stop feeling like a hypocrite real soon!
Part 1
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by jphilo | Jul 26, 2010 | Different Dream, Special Needs Ministry, Spiritual Support
After almost 10 years of meeting in a high school for Sunday morning worship my church family, Grace Community Church, will soon move into a new building. We’re excited about how God will use us and the new building to reach out to people in our small town.
Uneasy and Uncomfortable
Lately, God has been nudging me about starting a special needs ministry at our church. So I wrote a column about the idea for our June newsletter. You can read it below.
And He answered and said to them,
“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
Luke 7: 22
Lately, God has been pushing me in a direction that is neither comfortable or easy. The closer our building comes to completion, the harder He pushes. When I ask Him to stop, He keeps pushing. When I ignore Him, He gets in my face.
The shoving match began when Hiram and I, curious about the construction progress, walked through our church building awhile back. The building’s handicapped accessibility – no steps, wide halls and doorways, handicapped bathroom stalls – pleased me since I remember how hard Mom worked to get Dad and his wheelchair into my childhood church. That’s when God started pushing. Could our church reach out to disabled people in Boone?
About the same time, I spoke at a church with a bang-up ministry for families of kids with special needs. I interviewed the program director, thinking her expertise would be a valuable addition to a chapter of my new book. The more she shared about their ministry, the more God pushed. I asked Him to stop, but He pushed harder. Families in Boone could benefit from such an outreach at Grace.
Next, I interviewed Dr. Jeff McNair, a professor of special education who also teaches a Sunday school class for disabled adults. I began reading his book, The Church and Disability, which says things like this. “Rarely are children with disabilities included in Sunday school to the degree such children are present in the community. In interactions with Christian kids at church, I have asked them where they have had experience with children with disabilities, and most often they will say in their class at public school.”
When I tried to ignore what God was saying, He got in my face, using McNair’s words again. “All levels of Christian education are wrong…because they overlook some of the most needy, the poorest, the most disenfranchised people in the world. How could any group that claims to be Christian be so blind as to miss this group? To miss such a group in the light of the gospels and the example of Christ is so wrong.” Could Grace Community Church help right that wrong?
Our church could, but do we want to? Right now, I want Him to let us rest. After 9 years of unloading a trailer every Sunday and doing Sunday school in hallways, don’t we deserve some time to rest instead of reaching out to people who require a great investment of time, energy and discomfort?
But I suspect He didn’t provide the building of this church so we could rest. And I suspect He’ll keep pushing us until the most compromised of Boone’s citizens have the gospel preached to them. After all, our new church building is equipped to welcome the blind, the deaf, the lame, and intellectually disabled. But are we?
Oh God who provided a building, would You please equip our hearts?
Come Back Next Time
If you’re interested in starting a special needs ministry at your church or have already done so, please come back for the next post in this series. Maybe we can put our heads together and figure out how to begin.
Part 2
Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop up box and the second at the bottom of this page.
