Comments on: The Friendship Station: A Special Needs Ministry

By: Nina Ornt

Nina Ornt — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:30:16 +0000

My name is Nina. I am the mother of a special needs child, a special education teacher, and an advocate for individuals with special needs.
I have worked very hard on inclusion of special needs children in church ministry. Our church has started having special needs services. We have had three very successful services to date, one for Christmas, one for Easter, and one this summer. A mother of a child with autism sends out a social story (paper and video) which previews what the children will be seeing ahead of time. I make picture schedules for the children showing step by step what is going on in the service as we go along. We have an occupational therapist who sets up a sensory take a break room for any child that might want to take a break during the service. The main theme of the service is simplified and shown in the form of a short simple pageant. After the service we have a cookie reception with gluten free cookies included for those on a special diet. We sometimes have special visitors such as the Easter Bunny and a live bunny at the Easter reception. The environment is filled with love and acceptance.
I am trying to get word out to special needs families that these services exist. I would also like to know the religious needs of special needs families. For instance would you be interested in attending a church that offers special needs services and special needs Sunday School? I want to pass your interests and needs on to our Bishop in the hope of getting more churches involved in welcoming special needs children into their ministries. I would love your input. Please share with me your ideas of what a special needs ministry should include.
You can email me at nko7@rochester.rr.com
Thanks, Nina

By: Amy Fenton Lee

Amy Fenton Lee — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:41:48 +0000

Your readers may be interested in the new blog launched specifically to help churches successfully include children with special needs. We take questions from children’s ministry teams across the US (and some from the UK) and find the best resources to provide answers and best practices.

Check out “The Inclusive Church” Blog at
http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/

Thanks!
Amy Fenton Lee
The Inclusive Church

By: Tracy Shea-Lewis

Tracy Shea-Lewis — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:17:11 +0000

I am so excited to see so many churches seeing the need out there for parents, like myself, who have children with special needs. I am beginning a ministry at our church for parents of children with special needs. My passion as a mom and a teacher is for children with special needs. Keep up the good work. God is moving mountains.
In Christ,
Tracy Lewis

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By: Trish

Trish — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:46:44 +0000

JoyMama, I actually attend a pretty large church, with over 800 members and several hundred more who attend but aren’t members. At this point, we have less than 10 kids identified, of whom only 3 use the special needs room at this point, with the rest in regular classes.

I am hopeful that as people become more aware of our desire to be supportive, both our parent group and the number of kids who attend will grow. Thankfully, there are several other churches in this area who are also reaching out to families with special needs children.

It sounds like you have an awesome group of people in your congregation who are really willing to go the extra mile for each person who has a special need. Blessings to you!

By: JoyMama

JoyMama — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:00:54 +0000

Trish – if I may ask, how large is your congregation? And, how many special-needs kids are involved with the program?

I love reading about what your congregation is doing. Inspiring! At our church, we’re under a hundred in attendance at Sunday service, and right now only have two school-age kids with special needs (and mine is the only one attending regularly). So things are a lot more ad hoc, but there’s a lot that can be done that way too. One example that worked for a small congregation that would be hard in a large one: we had a young man – since moved away – with autism whose sensory triggers were really tripped by congregational applause. So the whole congregation took up using the ASL applause symbol instead of clapping. Also, we’ve got several people with special dietary requirements, though not related to learning disabilities… so the group committed to bringing along detailed ingredient lists with our potluck dishes, so people can reliably avoid what they need to avoid.

Thanks for sharing what your church is doing!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:50:06 +0000

It makes me so happy to see churches addressing this need in their congregation! It sounds like your church has a great program in place! We now attend a very small start-up church, but I’m hoping one day our church can offer a similar ministry.

By: Maddy

Maddy — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:39:04 +0000

Good grief! I’ve heard of going the extra mile, but I haven’t witnessed it in reality. This is so inspiring. I’m delighted to hear such a positive story.
Best wishes

By: Another Piece of the Puzzle » 5 More Minutes for Church - Special Needs Ministry

Another Piece of the Puzzle » 5 More Minutes for Church - Special Needs Ministry — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:01:17 +0000

[...] we are doing to welcome the children with special needs, and their families, to our church. Please visit me there to find out more! Share and [...]