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.
Have you ever planned an event and it wasn’t the success you thought it would be? Or maybe you are feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list even though it’s work that God has called you to? Beth has five strategies to share that just might help if you are in a season of being bummed out or burned out. She will provide words of encouragement and some practical steps to get you back on track and, hopefully, in a healthy and productive place.
How much stress do we put on ourselves to have our house perfectly decorated, so we can “enjoy it?” How much tension do we carry trying to navigate the family dinners and getting worried about our own “Cousin Eddie” showing up and making a scene? How often do we fill up our schedules with parties, events, and celebrations because we feel we have to do it? How often do we get to Christmas Day and have nothing left to give when it comes time to truly celebrate the incarnation of Christ and the Lord’s presence in our lives?
Reverse inclusion is a class designed for teens and young adults with disabilities that invites typical teenagers and young adults in for the purpose of friendship. It’s for teens like my son James who wouldn’t enjoy being part of our youth group. That environment isn’t safe for him and the curriculum doesn’t fit his needs. So instead we’ve created a class that is a good fit for him and our other teenagers! Listen to this podcast to hear about our strategies to make reverse inclusion work for you and your church!
After all my years of teaching middle school special education, specifically a significant disabilities/autism class, you’d think I would have learned by now that some of my best-laid plans were the last things my students needed…especially when it came to making friends. I personally believe that many of the social skills activities I’ve done with my students and my own children have been a great benefit. Our kids need the training and support we provide through role-playing, social stories, and other activities, but at what point do we take our hands off and give control of those friendships to our kids? Letting go of that control can be scary.
In this week’s episode, Garett shares a follow up story on a message from a previous episode while also discussing how the apostle Paul’s words of encouragement to the church at Philippi should also be a message of encouragement to anyone on the journey to take the hope of Jesus Christ and the love of his church to the special needs community.
In this week’s podcast episode, Catherine interviewed Kristin and Todd Evans about their experiences with mental health and marriage challenges, while parenting a child with disabilities. Kristin and Todd share how they were able to move from an incredibly challenging time to a deep, rich relationship with Christ and renewed connection with each other—with application for any couple parenting a child with disabilities.
