At Mental Health & the Church Conference 2024, Dr. Steve Grcevich interviewed Kelly & her son Daniel Rosati on their experience with Schizophrenia, their powerful testimony of Jesus' grace, and how the church can support families like theirs.
Part 3: How Churches Can Accommodate Adopted Children and Teens with Disabilities
Part 2: How Churches Can Provide Long-Term Support for Adoptive Families
God's directive for adoptive families is the same as it is for every family. But adoptive, special-needs families experience extra challenges to meet this calling. In part 2 of this 3-part series, Sandra Peoples shares practical tips for churches to provide places of inclusion and belonging for families.
Churches That Encourage Adoption Should Be Trauma Informed and Disability Accommodating
Churches rightly encourage adoption and support families going through the adoption process, but are they prepared when the child or teen comes home and is diagnosed with special needs or trauma-related issues? Sandra Peoples shares three-part series on a theology of disability that can serve as a motivation for churches to meet the needs of these families.
The Church, Adoption, Foster Care, and Orphans
Last month I was in Columbus, Ohio for a state-wide training for Ohio's Child Protective Services (CPS). This conference got me thinking about how the Church is responding to foster care, and other impacts with foster care and orphans. There are many people out there doing a lot of good work in foster care and adoption. Here are some resources that have moved beyond local mission.
Churches in Six States Can Radically Change the World
In recent years, significant focus has been directed towards states and localities hit the hardest by this nation’s opiod crisis. Per capita, there are more children available in the foster care system in opioid-impacted states. But in terms of sheer numbers of kids available and aging out of the foster care system, concentrated efforts in six large states would address more than a third of all foster care cases in the country.
How A Little Girl Taught Us to Be More Like Jesus Without a Word
As I spent much time on bended knee, tending to this little girl with her endless needs, I experienced deeper worship than I’d ever known. I often found myself at the end of my own strength and skills, and I learned to depend much greater on God. Without a spoken word, she’s taught me more about Jesus than any sermon I’ve ever listened to.
Seeing Mother’s and Father’s Day Through the Eyes of Adoptive Families
Whether Mother’s and Father’s Days are acknowledged as part of your church’s worship service or not, we’re wise to recognize the state of mind and emotion present in adoptive and foster parents and their children on these days. It’s important to recognize and express sensitivity toward each member of these families.
