One of the reasons why Illuminate - Inclusion Fusion Live 2020 is the largest disability ministry conference in the United States is because it addresses real life with special needs. And that’s why Key Ministry has assembled more than 60 speakers from across the US to talk about topics that cover the breadth of special needs life, including familiar topics like encouragement for special needs parents.
But our desire is that this conference will address questions that maybe you haven’t been able to ask anywhere else, such as
a - Navigating married life with a special needs child - or navigating marriage when either the husband, the wife or both have special needs. Marriage will be addressed by Jim Achilles, Dr. Joe and Cindi Ferrini and Jerry and Joan Borton.
b - Friendship - all people want to be welcomed and accepted by friends. We’ll have several presentations about cultivating friendships when special needs or mental health issues are present, featuring Sarah Harriman and Rebecca Wall and Jermine Alberty.
Photo Credit: Elevate, on Pexels.com.
c - Discipleship - We firmly believe that ALL people need the love of Christ, all people can grow in understanding and maturity in their relationship with Christ, and that all people have gifts to give the body of Christ. IFL2020 offers a variety of presentations on the subject of discipleship, from Reverend Stephanie Holmes, Tara Bertic, Jim McCaffrey, Jennifer White and Key Ministry’s own Beth Golik.
d - Nothing About Us, Without Us - this means that disability ministry can’t be fully developed unless the voices and experiences of individuals living with a disability are part of the ministry, including how disability impacts the spiritual life. Learn from a variety of speakers who have Level 1 (high functioning) autism, such as Dr. Lamar Hardwick, Fr. Matthew Schneider, Lori Sealy, and other individuals living with disabilities, like PJ Crouch, Rebecca Jefferson and Jerry Borton.
e - Trauma is regularly addressed in education and counseling, and is beginning to be broadly understood in our culture, in the way that traumatic experiences can physically alter the brain, and as a result alter emotional and spiritual development. We’re offering a ministry intensive on trauma, taught by Jolene Philo, and will also have teaching on trauma from Michelle Maris and Barb Newman.
Last, you won’t want to miss the interviews and workshops from our keynote speakers. Key MInistry’s Dr. G teams up with Kelly Rosati to address adoption and foster care ministry, and some of the common challenges adoptive families face, including manifestations of trauma. Dr. G and Ms. Rosati will explore ways churches might better care for and include adoptive and foster families raising children with emotional, behavioral and developmental disabilities.
We hope to see you in Cleveland, Ohio, April 24 - 25! Conference registration and all the event details are available here.
Catherine Boyle is the Director of Mental Health Ministry for Key Ministry. You can follow her work here or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and www.catherineboyle.com.
