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I is for Inclusive
I have given myself a challenge for the next 26 days – post the complete A-Z of Ministry to Children.
I… Igloo, ignoramus, ice age, itinerant…
I is for Inclusive - This year at our annual Hillsong Conference, we made our most concerted effort to include children with special needs. It held, and still holds many challenges but I believe that God has called the Church to lead the way in making sure the most vulnerable people in our communities have a place, and in many cases that is children with neurological and physical disabilities.
Don’t put it in the too hard basket, don’t relegate it as someone else’s job. Prayerfully consider just what you need to be doing in this important area.
I am not a expert by any means, but I have a couple of experts on our team. The best resource I know of is a new blog called The Inclusive Church. It’s written by Amy Fenton Lee… in her words:
I am not a credentialed professional from the education or medical field. I am not the parent of a child with special needs. I am not on staff at a church. I AM a children’s ministry volunteer, the daughter of a church pastor, a writer, and a passionate Christian who believes that the bride of Christ, the church, is still the most effective instrument for developing and discipling Christ followers. And out of my desire to equip churches, this blog was born. This is the passion that fuels every post.
I don’t know Amy personally, but there is a lot of great content developing at the blog, so check it out.
Special needs issues are affecting churches of every size. Congregations with a regular attendance of 80 and 8000 are both impacted as children with neurological and physical disabilities seek inclusion.
Amen!
I met up with Amy at a ministry conference earlier this year. Glad you folks “Down Under” have discovered her. She’s the real deal-a relentless networker passionate about connecting families with the church and resourcing the local church to serve families impacted by disabilities. It’s pretty remarkable to see how God’s using the new technology to connect His followers on opposite ends of the globe.
As a child psychiatrist in the U.S., we get the sense that the epidemics of ADHD, anxiety and autism we’re experiencing are a uniquely American phenomenon. Is the church in Australia struggling as much as the church in the U.S. to welcome and include kids with emotional or behavioral differences? I’m excited at the possibilities as the church comes to understand more about designing welcoming environments for families of kids with “hidden disabilities,” reaching families who have become disconnected from the church and working with parents to overcome the obstacles such conditions pose for spiritual growth.
Stephen, thanks for dropping by. I can only speak for my own Church. It doesn’t appear to be what I would call an epidemic, but in every service we face the reality of the issue.
I do think that providing for these families is one of the easiest ways to reach out to your community though!
Dave
As a parent of a child with multiple physical and intellectual disabilities, as well as a director of our special needs ministry at our local church,; I would like to say how truly impressed I am with the words Amy Fenton says about her ministry. I can’t tell you how important it is for those without disabilities or a direct connection to someone with a disability to be involved in ministry and action towards inclusion and opening our churches in ways that they’ve never been open before. I think the key word is accessibility, whether it be for a child with a hidden disability, who may need some extra guidance for understanding, or making sure our churchs our physically accessible through structure changes and so on. God calls us to be ministers to ALL people and without inclusion there is exclusion…praise God for your ministry as well as the wonderful ministry of The Inclusive Church.