Disability Ministry is Not Just to Those With Disabilities

Disability ministry is extremely important. Churches must be reaching out to those with disabilities. But that should not be the only goal for disability ministry.

While not taking away from the needs of those with a disability, disabilities affect the entire family. Much of the contact that I have is with parents of children with disabilities. I know from experience that it is not easy. There are all sorts of financial, physical, emotional and spiritual challenges that go with being a parent. The same is true with being a sibling.

If your church wants to become disability-friendly, you need to take a wholistic approach. Yes, provide a safe and welcoming place for the person with the disability. But consider how you can minister to the rest of the family as well. You can really make a difference.

What If Your Church Can't Start a Disability Ministry?

There are some large churches that have very organized and well staffed disability ministries. They have a sizeable budget and may have a specific pastor or other staff member overseeing it. These are the ministries that we often hear about.

But what if you are at church like mine? We are a small church with one pastor and not enough resources to have a specific disability ministry. We have two people with autism in our congregation and it would be difficult to build a ministry around them, especially since once is a child and the other an adult.

I want you to hear this one thing:

YOU DO NOT NEED A DISABILITY MINISTRY TO MINISTER TO THOSE WITH DISABILITIES!

Think about it this way. Our church does not have a specific men's ministry and yet we minister to the men in our congregation. Ministry does not have to mean separating one group away from the others. We minister to the men, the same way we minister to everyone in the congregation.

The same is true for those with disabilities. I care for the people in our congregation with autism, not because they have autism, but because they are a part of our church family.

Now I understand that disabilities can produce some unique challenges. Physical disabilities are accommodated by making the building wheel chair accessible and having elevators. Developmental disabilities will need their own accommodations.

I will not go into details about how exactly to do that, as there are many posts on this blog, as well as my book, How to Make Your Church-Autism Friendly, which give practical tips.

The main thing is that a church not turn away a person with a disability just because they don't have a disability ministry. We would not turn away men because we don't have a men's ministry. You minister to people with disabilities the same way you minister to anyone, by loving them, treating them with respect and pointing them to Jesus.

Life to the Full Conference

I am really excited about an incredible conference that is coming up on October 28-30, 2016 in Niagara Falls. It is called Life to the Full. How can you go wrong with a name like that? Life to the Full is a conference that will help the Church embrace and minister with people with special needs.

Who should attend this conference?

Pastors and church leaders would definitely benefit from this conference. Parents and other family members of those with special needs would also enjoy this. And those with special needs will appreciate the time together. In fact, just about anyone should attend this conference.

We are at a time when churches need to take disability ministry seriously. It is not just about having a formal disability as one of many programs. It is about being aware of special needs and being willing to minister in loving and respectful ways.

Life to the Full has some incredible keynote speakers and breakout sessions. You can tailor your learning to your goals and context.

The tagline for the conference is ability - belonging - community. It is as easy as ABC.

Please consider attending this conference. You can find all the information here.

How People with Disabilities Strengthen the Church

Disability Ministry as the Church's Mandate

In this video from Lausanne Movement in Capetown 2010, Steve Bundy challenges to the church to take the initiative in reaching those with special needs.

What is Disability Ministry?

What is disability ministry? For some churches, that may be a formal ministry with their own budget, volunteers and pastor. For smaller churches that may look much different. I recently wrote a post for the Disability and Faith Forum (which is a resource you really need to check out) on this very subject.

Here is part of the post:

I recently encountered a comment by a church leader who was asking if it was worth having a disability ministry since they “only” have about four children with special needs in their church. To be honest, this statement shocked me.

I understand what the person was saying. They were asking if that is enough children to have an organized ministry that was aimed solely at children with special needs.

But is that the definition of disability ministry? Does disability ministry require its own staff person or volunteers? Does it require its own room and time to meet? As a parent of two children with autism, I would just assume that any church that we attended would provide ministry even if there were no other children with special needs.

You can read the rest of the article here.