In our 100th episode, Sandra Peoples shares three ways to increase ministry visibility on your church website. Most disability families are going to visit your church website before they visit your actual church. Does your website communicate everything they need to know for a smooth visit?
“I shared my family’s hurt and pain of feeling excluded and unaccepted by the very church that I, as its pastor, am called to love and serve. I shared offensive words shared with me regarding my autistic son’s needs. I shared how these actions created a wall between our family and the church. We felt unwelcome.” Shannon Blosser shares about church hurt, and where the church can grow.
Beth Golik and Sandra Peoples give a Disability & the Church 2024 Conference Recap that happened this past week in Orlando, FL.
Dr. Steve Grcevich sits down and interviews Dr. Lamar Hardwick on his new book How Ableism Fuels Racism. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series! Dr. Lamar Hardwick will be speaking at Disability & the Church 2024 Conference in Orlando, FL May 1-3. Go to www.keyministry.org/datc2024 to register now!
Recently, Catherine had a conversation with Dr. Jim and Heather Sells, authors of the new book “Beyond the Clinical Hour: How Counselors Can Partner with the Church to Address the Mental Health Crisis.” Jim, Heather and their co-author Dr. Amy Trout offer a valuable resource to both mental health professionals and ministry leaders as a way to meet the heartfelt mental health needs impacting both churches and our culture. Take a listen to this thought-provoking conversation.
Let’s give some thought to how we can help write more positive stories for families. As leaders, we model and inspire our church families to get to know one another and move toward each other’s worlds. In so doing, we will find our churches celebrating community that increasingly reflects the heart of Christ.
Now that our model to assist churches in developing a mental health inclusion strategy is publicly available, I'd like to spread the word about some of the tools and resources our Key Ministry team has developed to assist readers serving on ministry teams seeking to implement the ideas presented in the book.
The evangelicals I know care about the people and causes that Jesus cared about during his earthly ministry. They may not necessarily fit the narrative that many in the media would like to propagate about our community. I can’t help but think that evangelicals would have a very different image in our larger culture if more people had the opportunity to get to know some of the folks I was surrounded by during the last three days.
