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.
EVIL is the root cause of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, and the shootings in churches in rural Texas, Nashville, and several years ago, at an historically African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. As a society, we seek to minimize the existence of evil because recognition of evil threatens our shared delusion that any absolute standard of right and wrong exists.
A young wife and teacher nearly ends up dead after following the counsel of a pastor and his wife to stop taking psychiatric medications that were helping her to lead a productive life. This is spiritual abuse.
We need to reject the false gospel that the outcome of our efforts to obtain relief from the burden of mental illness for ourselves or our loved ones hinges not on our efforts to heal ourselves, but on God's mercy and grace. We also need to recognize that the ongoing presence of mental illness in ourselves, our friends and our family members may not be a barometer of faithfulness so much as a necessary step in the fulfillment of God's purposes.
Before launching the mental health pilot in my church, I spent months talking and meeting with individuals of influence within the church community, many with ‘lived experience.’ The goal of such conversations was ultimately to generate support for the idea that we could—as a faith community—be much more upfront about the reality of mental illness, in all its various forms—and begin truly supporting one another.
