In this week’s podcast, Sandra shares four suggestions for how to make sure caregiving families are included in a church home group or community group model!
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Hi friends! I’m Sandra Peoples, one of your cohosts for Key Ministry the podcast. Thank you so much for hitting play today! I’m excited to spend the next 10ish minutes with you. This is episode 74, and today we’re talking about how the home group model is challenging for special needs families and what churches can do to help!
Before we jump in, I need to let you know there’s an important deadline happening this week if you’re listening on the day this episode is releasing. Tomorrow, Friday November 3rd, is the last day to submit a speaker application for our upcoming conference, Disability and the Church. In 2024, we’ll be in Orlando on May 1-3, and we know that this new location may open up opportunities for new speakers to join us! If you’re interested, visit keyministry.org/datc2024 for more details and to fill out the speaker application.
Ok, let’s get into today’s topic: Why the Home Group or Community Group Model Is Challenging for Families Caring for Someone with a Disability
Many churches are moving away from the traditional Sunday school model and using home groups. But this way of “doing life together” can leave caregiving families isolated and alone.
There are good reasons churches are transitioning to a home group model. Some are simply out of space in their buildings. If they want to add new discipleship classes and opportunities to build relationships, they have to go off campus. Others, like church plants, don’t meet in a church building. They have zero space for what we usually call Sunday school. All their small groups have to be in homes. And some churches believe it’s the New Testament model to meet in homes, generations learning together as they get to know each other and serve the neighborhoods where they meet.
They all have good intentions, but this model unintentionally takes away the opportunity for fellowship from one group of people—special-needs families.
I can easily take my son (who has level 3 autism) to a church with a traditional Sunday school model that has a class for him. It’s much harder to take him to someone’s house. Even if the house is “kid proof,” it usually isn’t 16 year old boy who is still developmentally more similar to a preschooler proof. So I stay with him the entire time, which keeps me from fellowshipping and learning with the others there.
And here’s the problem with that: caregiving families should have access to everything that every other family has access to in a church. I like to say there’s five stages of being a welcoming church, and the stage you’re in depends on what special needs families do and don’t have access to. If there isn’t a way for them to be part of a small group for discipleship and fellowship, then they are missing out on an important part of church life. And the church is missing out on them.
If your church has a home group or community group model, here are four suggestions for how to make sure caregiving families are included:
Ask if they’d like to host the group. This is often the easiest for families like mine. Our kids are most comfortable in their own environments. We don’t mind hosting, especially as James has gotten older. It can be tough to get the house ready and get food ready if the group eats together each week, so it’s helpful if the hosting family isn’t responsible for the food each week too. But having the group over to their house might be a great solution!
Hire a babysitter who can help with the kids who need extra attention. When we were church planting, we had multiple families who had kids with disabilities. The babysitter we hired each week did a great job working with all the kids. The families pitched in cash each week to pay her, but if it’s possible for the church to cover the cost, that’s great too! A few weeks ago a church that does homegroups texted to ask me if I knew of anyone who would like to help in a group that had a family with a son with autism. I suggested asking the family if they have a babysitter they like or having the teachers in the church ask the paraprofessions at the schools where they work if they would be interested or if they know anyone. They ended up finding someone who is going to school for special education, and she’s a great fit!
Have groups in homes and groups on the church campus if possible. If you have the church space, you can use it to host a group or two on a weeknight when the other home groups are meeting or maybe on Sunday nights. It works great if you can use the children’s ministry or youth ministry spaces at the church. Then you can either rotate which adults hang out with the kids or get volunteers to help like they do on Sunday mornings.
Ask the families what would help them most. They may have a simple solution they haven’t shared because they haven’t been asked. I read a study this week that said 68% of parents of someone with a disability haven’t been asked what their needs are or how the church could best meet those needs! If you’re a ministry leader, don’t be afraid to ask! Families are the pros at what they need and often have suggestions for how to make it work!
I hope one of these four suggestions works for you or gets you brainstorming about what would work! I believe all churches need to take steps to make sure those who want to attend are welcome, no matter what model they follow. Remember, when special-needs families are included in all aspects of church life, they are valuable members who bless as much as they are blessed.
Thanks for listening today! If you have another minute, today is a great day to write a review. As we head into the holidays and then the new year, more ministry leaders are searching for resources on inclusion and accessibility. They look at our reviews and ratings to decide if this podcast would be helpful. And your review will help them make that decision!
Thanks for all you do to serve and welcome families like mine, friends. I’m thankful for you and praying for you and your ministry!
