what do our Sunday mornings look like? (in general)
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Every church looks a little different on Sunday morning. As I share what we do, I'm not trying to put forth our model as the only model worth considering. Next week, I'll be sharing some links to information about what other churches do.
As you minister to and with people with special needs, you need to consider the needs of each individual and the setting in which you serve. Because the individuals and settings at your church won't be the same as any other church, you need to prayerfully determine what works best for your ministry. In other words, it is incredibly helpful to know what other churches are doing, but you will probably find yourself pulling together ideas from different churches and your own experiences rather than exactly replicating what another church is doing.
As for our church, let me start with the basics:
Our worship service attendance is about 2000 each Sunday across three morning services, 8:00am, 9:30am, and 11:00am. In addition to seating in the worship center, we also have additional seating in our amphitheater with the service projected on screens; this smaller setting is sometimes preferred by families with children who are young or have special needs, but those families are welcome in the worship center as well. We have Sunday school classes for adults and children during each service. For sixth-twelfth grade students, we offer Sunday school classes by grade level during the 9:30 hour and one multi-grade class at 11:00. (We used to have a youth class at 8:00, but attendance was almost non-existent!) For the last two services, we have classes by age for preschool-aged children and infants and by grade for kindergarten to fifth grade, with most ages/grades split into more than one class depending on how many attend that hour. For the first service, some grades/ages are combined, since that's our service with the lowest attendance.
Because our church building used to be a hotel, our facilities are a little different from most churches. For example, our worship center used to be the hotel ballroom, and one of our other large rooms was the hotel bar. Also, many of our regular classroom have bathrooms in them, because they were once hotel rooms. However, some areas have been extensively renovated, and our children's building was only built a couple years ago, so some areas are more hotel-like and others more church-like.
So how what does it look like for the ~30 adults with disabilities and ~15 children/youth in special needs ministry?
It can be hard to write out every we do without missing something, so please let me know if I left anything out or if you have any questions. And come back tomorrow to find out about what Sunday mornings look like for me and my husband as we coordinate special needs ministry each week!
As you minister to and with people with special needs, you need to consider the needs of each individual and the setting in which you serve. Because the individuals and settings at your church won't be the same as any other church, you need to prayerfully determine what works best for your ministry. In other words, it is incredibly helpful to know what other churches are doing, but you will probably find yourself pulling together ideas from different churches and your own experiences rather than exactly replicating what another church is doing.
As for our church, let me start with the basics:
Our worship service attendance is about 2000 each Sunday across three morning services, 8:00am, 9:30am, and 11:00am. In addition to seating in the worship center, we also have additional seating in our amphitheater with the service projected on screens; this smaller setting is sometimes preferred by families with children who are young or have special needs, but those families are welcome in the worship center as well. We have Sunday school classes for adults and children during each service. For sixth-twelfth grade students, we offer Sunday school classes by grade level during the 9:30 hour and one multi-grade class at 11:00. (We used to have a youth class at 8:00, but attendance was almost non-existent!) For the last two services, we have classes by age for preschool-aged children and infants and by grade for kindergarten to fifth grade, with most ages/grades split into more than one class depending on how many attend that hour. For the first service, some grades/ages are combined, since that's our service with the lowest attendance.
Because our church building used to be a hotel, our facilities are a little different from most churches. For example, our worship center used to be the hotel ballroom, and one of our other large rooms was the hotel bar. Also, many of our regular classroom have bathrooms in them, because they were once hotel rooms. However, some areas have been extensively renovated, and our children's building was only built a couple years ago, so some areas are more hotel-like and others more church-like.
So how what does it look like for the ~30 adults with disabilities and ~15 children/youth in special needs ministry?
- For young preschoolers and under: Most of our young preschoolers and infants (younger than three) with special needs are too young to be very different developmentally from other kids their age. We provide training and support to the regular class teachers, occasionally staffing that class with an additional adult or teen helper. In one or two cases, we may put a child in a younger class (for example, a three-year-old in a two-year-old class), but we rarely do that and make each decision about that based on the child's needs, the developmental appropriateness of the setting, and the size of the child (because a large, strong three-year-old, for example, wouldn't be as good a fit in a twos class as a more petite child).
- For older preschool, elementary, and middle/high students: What we do varies from child to child based on the best way for him or her to encounter Christ in a meaningful way. So far, we have not had the need to have a separate class for children or youth with special needs. We do one of three things to include all individuals in each class.
- Train and support teachers to accommodate the child with special needs in the class without extra in-class assistance.
- Assign an extra teacher to the class to assist in general. That teacher and the other teachers work together to facilitate learning for all students in the class, with no single teacher assigned specifically to the child with special needs.
- Provide a one-on-one buddy for the child. Unlike the extra teacher in #2, this volunteer is specifically there to shadow one child and help him or her be fully included in the class.
- For adults: At 9:30, we offer the Joy class, which is a class for older teens and adults with special needs, mainly intellectual disabilities. The class has about 30 members, not including teachers and helpers, with an average attendance of 15-20. One or two of the couples who help teach the class also provide transportation for some of the class members each week. I know we have other adults with special needs - for example, Asperger's or ADHD - integrated in other classes and worship, but I have no idea how many.
It can be hard to write out every we do without missing something, so please let me know if I left anything out or if you have any questions. And come back tomorrow to find out about what Sunday mornings look like for me and my husband as we coordinate special needs ministry each week!