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...
Disability ministry is...
- ...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.
- ...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.
- ...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!)
- ...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!
- ...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.