Our ministry is called REACH (an acronym for Reach EAch CHild). Reach started from a little seed of an idea planted when a parent at a local special needs preschool told of the difficulty they were having finding a church home that would welcome their son who has autism. She asked if there might be a place for him at Cascade Covenant Church and if it would be OK to bring him. Wow…if there’s any place families should feel welcomed, accepted and loved, it’s our churches! It dawned on us that we’d been hindering this whole population of kids and Reach was born. Our theme verse is “Let the children come to Me and do not hinder them.” Continue Reading »
Posts tagged ‘Disability Ministry’
Making Church Communications More User Friendly
Newsletters, web pages, projected slides, and bulletins can enhance or hinder communication depending on how they are formatted and the colors used. Lighthouse International has produced guidelines for print, electronic, and web communication that will help anyone who wants to make their church resources more useful. Continue Reading »
The Risky Business of Serving Jesus
How one church stepped out of its comfort zone and discovered a joy-filled ministry. Continue Reading »
Ministry for Youth with Special Needs
Debbie (not her real name) is a teenage girl in our church who has Down Syndrome. She and her mom are relatively new to our church. Each Sunday morning, Debbie sits in the front pew with me before worship begins. Her mom has told me that one of the reasons Debbie enjoys sitting with me is because she likes to sing with me as we sing several worship songs each week. Because Debbie cannot read, she relies on me to hear the words of each song, so she can “echo” them. Continue Reading »
Ministry with People with Special Needs
A new family in our congregation is made up of a single mom and her two sons. One of her sons has autism. For several weeks, these three newcomers would sit in the very back, so that the mom could take her son out if he became disruptive. In recent weeks, several of the women in our church have offered to spend the worship hour with this boy with special needs, so that his mom and brother can participate in worship. Continue Reading »
Be Hospitable to People with Disabilities
“How should I treat persons with disabilities?” The answer is this…like Jesus did. Throughout the Bible, Jesus encounters persons that we might say today have “special needs.” What did Jesus do in these situations? Continue Reading »
Finding God in Autism
We have several families with children who have special needs in our church. We used the book Finding God in Autism: A Forty Day Devotional for Parents of Autistic Children, by Kathy Medina (Tate Publishing, 2006). Several families in our church were given an opportunity to participate in this devotional. It was a wonderful way to embrace these families and help the church better understand both the challenges and opportunities Continue Reading »
Un-Disabling the Church
This is a sermon given by Jim Swanson, the chair of the Disability Ministries Committee (ECC) in a chapel service which actively involved people with a variety of disabilities. It was woven into the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin from Luke 15. Continue Reading »
Disability Resource Manual: A Practical Guide for Churches and Church Leaders
This guide was created by Ashley Peterson. It includes definitions of different disabilities, suggestions for relating to that person, and accommodations that can be made within the church. Continue Reading »
Special Needs Confirmation Class
This article comes from a blog post by Hartmut Kramer-Mills of the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and describes how he and his wife and co-pastor created a meaningful confirmation class for an autistic student at their church. Many of their techniques could be used for other students with disabilities. Continue Reading »
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