Why I Advocate for Special Needs Ministry

This article was shared with me by Pastor Rachel, who serves on the USA/Canada Region. It highlights a story from a family with special needs. Thank you, Pastor Rachel!

It’s not an extraordinary experience, if one looks around. On any given Sunday, a family walks into church, feeling the weight of being somewhere they don’t fit in. They long to be in this community, yet, every week, no matter how hard they try and no matter how alone and tired they feel, they wonder if they will ever belong. These are people and families of people with special needs.

I didn’t see this clearly until I was one of them.

I remember thinking as I sat in a quiet, dark room far from the sanctuary holding my toddler that it shouldn’t be this hard. I’m at church. I know people here love us. I shouldn’t feel so out of sorts and out of place. I was also ordained and called to lead the church in ministry, yet as I sat with my 2-year-old who struggled to calm down from what most would see as an ordinary morning of learning and worship in a loving and caring faith community, I didn’t feel like a part of the church. I felt anxious and wondered if we’d ever really be a part of a church family again. This child, my son, was not made for the ordinary; he was more like a turtle without a shell. His body and mind couldn’t take the sounds and lights and interactions and uncertainties of what most view as ordinary worship. That particular morning, I could not have defined it this way, as I grieved the loss of a traditional worship experience with my family. But now I see.

That morning was different—I looked around me at all those with whom I worshiped. I got curious about what other families were going through. I started to see there were kids and families just like us who longed to fit in and experience the true joy of being part of a church family. There were kids with various diagnoses but also children and families who had traumatic life experiences that changed how their bodies and minds experienced the world.

What do these families look like? Often they look very ordinary, until their kid “acts up” or “can’t sit still” or “refuses” to do the given activity. Sometimes, it looks like a mom and dad attending for a couple Sundays but later giving up because they are too tired from trying to make their family fit into a church environment that is not designed for them. It might look like a child whose disruptive behavior is beyond the parents’ control, yet they desire to fit in.

When I started looking around, I realized there were lots of us. There were many people — not just children but people of all ages — who have been burdened by trying hard to find a community: a place to feel safe, a place calm enough to hear, see, and learn the wonder of the story of God and his grace that is present for us all. I realized, in that moment, in our little corner of the church that church had to change.

It’s so important that all who believe in Jesus and all who long to see others transformed by the grace of Jesus must first be curious about the story of others and what those individuals carry with them as we join them on the journey of grace God invites us all into. That curiosity opens the door to including and accommodating those with special needs, whether their needs are visible or not. That curiosity sets the stage for us on any given Sunday, to make a small change in our worship and learning settings so that all, regardless of age, feel safe and are able to worship God together, so they too can be transformed by the grace of Jesus. That is why I advocate for special needs ministry.

--Pastor Rachel B