“Special needs” or “disabilities” are terms we hear everyday. Unfortunately, people with “special needs” or “disabilities” and their families are rarely involved in our churches. How do we reach out to these special people and families and make them part of His church? In an attempt to answer this seemingly simple question, I started thinking, “Who or what is really the key to special needs ministry in our churches?” For those of you that have heard me speak publicly (or privately for that matter), you have probably heard me utter the words, “the greatest single barrier to special needs ministry is pastors – the second greatest barrier is children’s pastors.” These are pretty strong words and not something that will win friends and influence people among our spiritual leaders, but unfortunately it is the sad truth. However, I go on to say that pastors and children’s pastors aren’t evil, uncaring people. On the contrary, they’re wonderful people, but there are no “Special Needs Ministry 101” courses in seminary. They just don’t realize what special needs folks and their families can do to bless their own congregations. The inescapable truth is that they don’t feel special needs ministry is really “worthy.” In fact, these pastors are just like the rest of us. By being in positions of leadership in our churches, however, they set direction, focus, and priority of ministry for that local body. They simply have more influence. If they are unaware, fearful, apathetic, or ignorant of special needs ministry, it just isn’t going to happen in our churches.

This point was brought home again to me in very real way earlier this year. Upon the arrival of our new ministry staff at our church (Blackshear Place Baptist in Flowery Branch, Georgia), I immediately met with our new pastor, Jeff Crook (yes, we have a “crook” running our church!) to let him know about our ministry and the wonderful special needs ministry we have at our church. I also scheduled a time for him and the staff to visit one morning at one of our ministry partners, Challenged Child and Friends in Gainesville. Challenged Child and Friends serves special needs children from all over Northeast Georgia from six weeks to six years with state-of-the-art nursing, therapeutic, educational, and family counseling services in a preschool environment.  The visit was very enlightening to our staff. Challenged Child had never before specifically invited pastors in so we, Zachariah’s Way, and Challenged Child decided to host a breakfast for all of the pastors in the Northeast Georgia area. We would educate the pastors about the services of Challenged Child and discuss disability ministry. At the breakfast, I would also encourage the pastors to minister to other special needs families in their communities. Plans were made, catering was arranged and beautiful invitations were crafted. More that 250 invitations were mailed out to virtually all of the Baptist, United Methodist, Presbyterian (U.S.A. and P.C.A.), Catholic, and other pastors in the area. At 8:30 am on the designated morning, with great excitement… we greeted four people, only one of them a pastor. Yes, I know pastors are busy and everyone wants their time… but just one!? And we were serving breakfast! The sweet people at Challenged Child were surprised and disappointed – I was disappointed, but not surprised. Special needs ministry is not even remotely on most pastors’ radar!

I have a passion for this ministry. I have learned much from the experience of both living in it and now trying to find churches and pastors who consider this ministry "worthy.” Most automatically decide that special needs ministry is "somebody else's" responsibility. Since you don’t see many special needs people in church, you might wonder: are they really out there?  I believe it can be proven statistically that special needs people and their immediate families are the largest, most unreached people group in America today. These people and their families are literally invisible to the Body of Christ because they don't come to church. Statistically, there are more than 50 million people with disabilities in the U.S. population of nearly 300 million - depending on the definition of disabled. This constitutes 10 - 18% of the entire population! When you consider special needs parents and families, 30-35% of our population is directly affected by disability or special needs. However, those percentages are not reflected in our church populations.

This is the situation we face everyday.  When our grandson, Zach, was born, I came to realize some very important things. All too often when the words "special needs" are mentioned, even with Christians, most people will pay it some limited attention and then let it slide away from their consciousness. In reality, the cold hard facts are that most people don't want to talk about it, think about it, or have anything to do with it beyond the mere superficial. But, that's ok - that's what I believe we have been called to do - present the need and the blessing in such a way that people will get beyond their own fear and apathy. The other cold, hard fact is that these special people need Christians to help them survive and have a better and richer life. People with special needs and their families don't get the option of not having to deal with it - that is where and how they live 24/7. If it is so difficult to do this, you might ask, then why even try? The answer is very simple: God has called us to do this. We already knew that our churches were not rushing into special needs ministry or welcoming these people with open arms, before Zachariah’s Way.

Given the reluctance of virtually everyone to embrace special needs ministry, God has helped me see that, though very important and necessary, pastors are not the key. So what about us, Zachariah’s Way? Surely, we must be the key. As much as we want to be, we are not the key. We can have no impact whatsoever, unless we can get in front of the people. We can try as hard as we can, but we simply can’t share the words from Jesus that will open the hearts of people if we don’t get the chance to talk with and encourage them.

If it’s not the pastors and it’s not us, guess who’s left? You are – the “average” Christian! Yes, you – by reading this, it is up to you. I’m not trying to put pressure on you or anything, but if people like you don’t encourage your church to begin a disability ministry, no one will. We at Zachariah’s Way are ready and willing to come speak, teach, and train churches about special needs ministry. However, normally we can’t get through the “gatekeepers” to talk personally with your pastor, but you can! As a member of your church you have direct access to your leaders that we simply don’t. Just call or email us and we’ll go with you, talk to your pastor, or do whatever it takes.

In our ministry, we personally and honestly share with people how and what Jesus did on this earth, what He thinks about disabled people, and what we all should do in His name. We talk with fellow believers about the real "world of special needs" - what people are going through, what they need, and how we can reach out to them in practical ways. If we will even attempt this, we know, by the word of God that He is faithful to help people who recognize their weakness and become vulnerable and get beyond their fear and comfort zone borders - He will bless them just as He said!

And we need you in this special ministry!  You’re the key.