Faith Formation for People with Special Needs
Principles & Practices
A Place for Me: Special Needs Ministry
|
Ministry to children and adults with disabilities shouldn't be optional at church, and yet many church leaders think it is. When special needs families are treated like typical families, they draw near to - not away from - God. Sometimes they need a hug. Never grow tired of listening to or praying for these brave kids and parents. Involve the whole congregation in serving people with disabilities. This article provides a variety of ways to get started and enhance ministering to families who have children with special needs.
|
Affirming Presence: Spiritual Life and Friendship with Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities
|
Benjamin Conner explores how to nurture spirituality in adolescents with developmental disabilities. His article advocates the practice of friendship as one important Christian model of spiritual connectedness that finds its origins in the initiative of God and addresses the fundamental human experience of loneliness and fear of negation. By participating together with adolescents with development disabilities in Christian practices, especially the practice of friendship, we open up spaces where their spirituality and ours will be nurtured.
|
Educating Toward Full Inclusion in the Body of Christ: People with Disabilities Being Full Members of the Church
|
Brett Webb-Mitchell moves us beyond the first step or stage of welcoming people with disabilities into congregations in general—particularly with segregated programs and activities or “main-streaming approaches” for people with intellectual disabilities—toward the full inclusion of people with disabilities into the rich, active life of a church.
|
Dimensions of Faith and Congregational Ministries with Persons with Developmental Disabilities and the Families
|
The Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have developed an extensive bibliography and listing of resources for clergy, laypersons, families, and service providers on congregational ministries with persons with development disabilities.
|
Ministry to Kids With Special Needs: Overcoming the Challenges
|
Many places of worship are considering and implementing ways to include people with special needs. And more churches are pioneering a path (beyond mere "accommodation") as they engage persons with special needs and their families. However, for the average church with no special needs ministry or one still in its infancy, many obstacles remain. Lee reports on her interviews with pastors and lay leaders who have chosen to champion special needs outreach.
|
Power Up! Apps for Kids with Special Needs and Learning Differences
|
Common Sense Media has develop a guide with offers children and families with a host of fun, well-designed apps that were recommended and tested by field experts. They can become a part of your toolkit as families work with their children.
|
Refusing to Ignore Teenagers with Special Needs: Five Ideas for Inclusion
|
Amy Fenton Lee has been helping churches successfully include children with special needs. She has conducted interviews with ministry leaders and visited churches across the U.S. to see what's working. A number of best practices continually resurface in her research.
|
Welcoming All: Intergenerational Faith Formation for People with Disabilities
|
Sharon Urbaniak presents a working model of faith formation she created for people with disabilities and their families, and the whole community. Her program, God’s Family: Learning, Loving and Living Our Faith—a monthly faith formation program for people of all ages with disabilities and their family and friends—has won awards for its innovative model of ministry and learning.
|
Welcoming People with Disabilities So All May Encounter Christ: A Guide for Parishes
|
The Office of Ministry with People with Disabilities developed a practical guide to welcome and foster the inclusion of parishioners with disabilities in churches, so that they can experience being fully a part of the one family of Christ.
|
