It’s no surprise that I eventually became a teacher, working in inclusive classrooms where children with diverse abilities learned side by side. Later, I became a mom, got deeply connected to my church, and—as often happens when you volunteer a lot—joined the staff. I served as a preschool leader, children’s pastor, and multi-campus ministry leader. I’ve had so many wonderful days leading kids, parents, and volunteers. But one of the hardest days came not as a leader but as a church attendee.
Elaina sits down with Kari Baker, author of Finding KiND: Discovering Hope and Purpose While Loving Kids with Invisible Neurological Differences, and talks about special needs parenting, autism spectrum, and supporting other families on the same journey.
Our first day on the ninth floor, the doctors never said, "Your child has cancer." You know those childhood cancer commercials that tug at your heart? Never happened. My husband received a phone call that confirmed a biopsy, but once we were on the oncology floor, the word cancer was never uttered. Medical textbook words were used, and the rush was definitely on. We knew exactly what was happening without ever being explicitly told in those basic words.
It’s February, and we’ve all somewhat settled into 2025 and are ready to look ahead to what the year will bring. To help you prepare for your church’s steps of accessibility and inclusive events, we’ve created a Ministry Planning Calendar! In this episode, Sandra Peoples will walk you through ideas for planning ahead and praying for what God will do in 2025.
Elaina Marchenko sits down with Rachael VerMeulen from A Little Extra Love Ministries to talk about the reality for families affected by special needs, the need for disability support in Colorado, and what Rachael will be sharing at Disability & the Church Conference.
Traditions can be beautiful and meaningful but in Colossians, Paul shares how traditions can also be problematic. “We’ve always done it this way before” cannot function as a core value within the church. Everything we do should be consistent with the character of Christ and the values of His Kingdom.
If you are in children’s ministry or disability ministry, you may have students who have challenges memorizing Scripture. In this episode, Beth will share seven no-cost or low-cost ideas to engage a variety of learners in Scripture memorization, including those who learn best through hearing, or seeing, or doing.
Ideally, every person is welcome and embraced by a church as Christ welcomes and embraces all with unconditional love. That, unfortunately, is not always expressed by the church. I believe in those moments when we do feel we need to leave, God’s love will guide the conversation and direct us towards a place that will be more welcoming and open to expressing the love of Christ for all people.
Disability ministry can be a fear-laden minefield. Families, volunteers, and congregations all carry the personal burdens of fear. In Colossians 2:1-2, Paul shares his hope for the congregation to become knit together in love. When the hearts of the people of God are knit together in love, we function as well as a World Series champion baseball team.
One fateful day when I was a kid, my Dad adjusted my bicycle handlebars, forgetting to fully tighten the bolts. A few minutes later, I had knees and elbows full of gravel. Handlebars on a bike are designed to be inherently stable. What are the aspects of the Christian faith that can break loose if we don’t fasten them firmly?
Unseen: How We’re Failing Parent Caregivers and Why It Matters made its global online premiere May 20. This is part 2 of the in-depth questions we posed to Jess Ronne to help our readers better understand the issues raised in the documentary and how churches can be supportive of caregiving families. Read part 1 here.
Unseen: How We’re Failing Parent Caregivers and Why It Matters made its global online premiere May 20. We caught up with Jess Ronne to ask some in-depth questions to help our readers better understand the issues raised in the documentary and how churches can be supportive of caregiving families.
In part two of his blog post, Tony D’Orazio from Jacob’s Ladder Fitness continues with this important question: what has humanity missed out on without all those people with Down syndrome in the world?
Tony D’Orazio from Jacob’s Ladder Fitness asks an important question: what has humanity missed out on without all those people with Down syndrome in the world?
