Special needs ministry weekly round-up {9/26/11}
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Happy Monday! I hope you're having a great day. I'm heading out to my pastor's farm today with the rest of our church's Family Discipleship team to plan and play and pray together. Would you mind taking a moment to pray for us, that God would make our time fruitful? Also, today I will hopefully find out the results of Saturday's MRI on my knee; pray not only for the results but also for my reaction to them to glorify God.
And, now, notable links related to special needs ministry that I came across this week...
I've linked to her before because her content is consistently among the best of special needs parenting blogs, but Ellen at Love That Max has a post about disability ministry: Worshiping with children who have special needs: Help me, G-d The post and comments represent a wide swath of religious perspectives, and all of them are helpful reading if you want to understand the need for and challenges of disability ministry.
Parents, are you hindering your children? This article, drawn in part from Joel Beeke's latest book, Parenting by God's Promises, breaks down six ways that parents can hinder their child's spiritual growth, such as, "We ourselves do not go to Jesus. If we do not go to Jesus, how can we expect our children to do so?" A tough read, but a good one.
When are kids most at risk of aggressive behavior at church? The title is self-explanatory, and the post will help you consider Sunday morning in a new way for kids prone to aggressive behaviors. (By the way, this blogger - Dr. Steve Grcevich from Key Ministry - has two series on his blog right now: one announcing the line-up for Inclusion Fusion, a free web-based conference for special needs ministry, and one on this topic. I think it would be wise for you to subscribe to his blog for both.)
Jacynthe is a 26-year-old Canadian woman works for an autism advocacy group, mentoring individuals with autism. She also helps organize and prepare for communion at her church. And she herself has autism. This article about her work and the award she'll be receiving, the Community Achievement award at the second annual International Naturally Autistic People Awards and Convention, is a great reminder that those with disabilities have a lot of contribute to their local churches. We are missing out if the church is not a welcoming place for Jacynthe and others with special needs!
My friend Katie posted about an awesome way that God used writing, disability, and parenthood to weave lives together in a way only he can.
You know I'm a big advocate of special needs adoptions, so I loved seeing this blog post about one family's experience. My heart went pitter-pat at this line: "We adopted a special-needs child, not because he was the best we could do, but because he was an amazing child, who happened to have some special-needs."
And here's another special needs adoption story. This stood out to me: "...Diane felt a connection and found a member of staff who could tell her more about the girl. ‘Trust me,’ the member of staff told her, ‘raising this child will be a lifelong struggle. You just don’t want her.’ But they did. ‘If you tell Bernie and I that we can’t do something, we will do everything in our power to prove you wrong,’ says Diane. ‘And we just knew that she needed us.’"
The time I've spent resting my knee this week meant I caught up on some blog reading, including this gem from Jeff McNair at disabled Christianity: Helping those who may not realize they're being wounded
Six Reasons to Be a Faithful Member of a Local Church: Which could also be considered six reasons that we shouldn't create boundaries to involvement for families with special needs.
One more safety consideration for your ministries: Study find that having ADHD doubles a child's risk of injury. The more you know about successfully including kids with ADHD, the safer your church will be.
He Got the Picture, But At What Price? The picture that held the answers behind the tragic plane crash at a flight show recently was taken by a boy with autism who had become fixated on both airplanes and photography. His mom writes about the bittersweet experience, including what they've learned and how you can pray for them.
The How-To's of Accessibility: This lengthy but insightful article covers a lot of bases and a lot of religious angles, including other faiths, and it's worth the read, especially for the South Park reference at the end.
The fake thing we sometimes pray for: Jon Acuff is the most witty Christian with a unibrow I've ever not met. In other words, I'm a fan. He wrote last Wednesday about our tendency to turn to pray for clarification as a stall tactic for not going out and doing what God has already commanded. Should we include people with disabilities in our congregations? Scripture is clear that the answer is yes. We don't need to pray for God to clarify if we should. As Jon writes, "if you’re like me, chances are, there’s something you’ve been holding back on. Some call, some action, some step you’ve got to take. And today is the time to stop asking for clarity and instead start asking for courage. The courage to get started."
What is a worship disruption? Mark Stephenson, the disability ministry blogger for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, writes about news stories and his own family's experience of worship with a child with a disability who can, at times, be disruptive.
And speaking of possible disruptions, this post from a mom gives solid tips so that you don't complicate a child's outburst.
And some news stories of churches who are rolling out the welcome mat for people with disabilities:
And, now, notable links related to special needs ministry that I came across this week...
I've linked to her before because her content is consistently among the best of special needs parenting blogs, but Ellen at Love That Max has a post about disability ministry: Worshiping with children who have special needs: Help me, G-d The post and comments represent a wide swath of religious perspectives, and all of them are helpful reading if you want to understand the need for and challenges of disability ministry.
Parents, are you hindering your children? This article, drawn in part from Joel Beeke's latest book, Parenting by God's Promises, breaks down six ways that parents can hinder their child's spiritual growth, such as, "We ourselves do not go to Jesus. If we do not go to Jesus, how can we expect our children to do so?" A tough read, but a good one.
When are kids most at risk of aggressive behavior at church? The title is self-explanatory, and the post will help you consider Sunday morning in a new way for kids prone to aggressive behaviors. (By the way, this blogger - Dr. Steve Grcevich from Key Ministry - has two series on his blog right now: one announcing the line-up for Inclusion Fusion, a free web-based conference for special needs ministry, and one on this topic. I think it would be wise for you to subscribe to his blog for both.)
Jacynthe is a 26-year-old Canadian woman works for an autism advocacy group, mentoring individuals with autism. She also helps organize and prepare for communion at her church. And she herself has autism. This article about her work and the award she'll be receiving, the Community Achievement award at the second annual International Naturally Autistic People Awards and Convention, is a great reminder that those with disabilities have a lot of contribute to their local churches. We are missing out if the church is not a welcoming place for Jacynthe and others with special needs!
My friend Katie posted about an awesome way that God used writing, disability, and parenthood to weave lives together in a way only he can.
You know I'm a big advocate of special needs adoptions, so I loved seeing this blog post about one family's experience. My heart went pitter-pat at this line: "We adopted a special-needs child, not because he was the best we could do, but because he was an amazing child, who happened to have some special-needs."
And here's another special needs adoption story. This stood out to me: "...Diane felt a connection and found a member of staff who could tell her more about the girl. ‘Trust me,’ the member of staff told her, ‘raising this child will be a lifelong struggle. You just don’t want her.’ But they did. ‘If you tell Bernie and I that we can’t do something, we will do everything in our power to prove you wrong,’ says Diane. ‘And we just knew that she needed us.’"
The time I've spent resting my knee this week meant I caught up on some blog reading, including this gem from Jeff McNair at disabled Christianity: Helping those who may not realize they're being wounded
Six Reasons to Be a Faithful Member of a Local Church: Which could also be considered six reasons that we shouldn't create boundaries to involvement for families with special needs.
One more safety consideration for your ministries: Study find that having ADHD doubles a child's risk of injury. The more you know about successfully including kids with ADHD, the safer your church will be.
He Got the Picture, But At What Price? The picture that held the answers behind the tragic plane crash at a flight show recently was taken by a boy with autism who had become fixated on both airplanes and photography. His mom writes about the bittersweet experience, including what they've learned and how you can pray for them.
The How-To's of Accessibility: This lengthy but insightful article covers a lot of bases and a lot of religious angles, including other faiths, and it's worth the read, especially for the South Park reference at the end.
The fake thing we sometimes pray for: Jon Acuff is the most witty Christian with a unibrow I've ever not met. In other words, I'm a fan. He wrote last Wednesday about our tendency to turn to pray for clarification as a stall tactic for not going out and doing what God has already commanded. Should we include people with disabilities in our congregations? Scripture is clear that the answer is yes. We don't need to pray for God to clarify if we should. As Jon writes, "if you’re like me, chances are, there’s something you’ve been holding back on. Some call, some action, some step you’ve got to take. And today is the time to stop asking for clarity and instead start asking for courage. The courage to get started."
What is a worship disruption? Mark Stephenson, the disability ministry blogger for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, writes about news stories and his own family's experience of worship with a child with a disability who can, at times, be disruptive.
And speaking of possible disruptions, this post from a mom gives solid tips so that you don't complicate a child's outburst.
And some news stories of churches who are rolling out the welcome mat for people with disabilities:
- the story of a local autism advocacy group's kickoff event ... that will be held at a church
- the story of a man's volunteerism being acknowledged ... including when he and others from his church went to a school for kids with autism to help them with spring cleaning
- the story about one family's challenges and blessings due to ADHD and autism ... whose book signing will be held at a local church
- the story of a mom with two sons with autism ... who credits her pastor as being the most supportive person in her life
- the story of a church that designed an entire service for people with special needs
- the special needs ministry webpage for a church that just opened a self-contained class in response to the needs of the children at their church