Larah Roberts goes back to the archives of Disability & the Church, and shares many compelling reasons for why you should plan to attend Disability & the Church 2025. We will be announcing the dates and location soon, so keep your eye out!
Listen Anywhere You find Podcasts!
If you like this, you may like…
050: DATC By the Numbers with Beth Golik
099: Disability and the Church 2024 Conference Recap with Beth Golik and Sandra Peoples
101: Looking Back, Looking Forward: From DATC to MHATC with Catherine Boyle
Links:
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and find many more previous talks from Disability & the Church, along with our other conferences!
Larah Roberts: Hi, and welcome to the Key Ministry podcast. My name is Larah Roberts and I have the joy of serving as the Director of Operations for Key Ministry. If you're a follower or a friend of Key Ministry, you know that one time a year we gather at this conference called Disability & the Church. It's three days of meeting up with some of the best people on the planet to talk about what God is doing in and through his church, through ministries all over the country and organizations that love and care for families impacted by disability. Now we are days away from giving you and announcing the location and dates and details of Disability & the Church conference 2025, but on this episode, we thought we may dig into our archives of Disability the Church conferences talks from years past in case you've never been to one of our conferences.
So this will kind of be a glimpse of what you're going to receive both in resources and tools, but also what you can expect from the conversations you'll have and you'll hear at disability in the church conference. First up is our Founder and President, Dr. Steve Grcevich, and he will tell you why he loves Disability & the Church conference. Take a listen.
Dr. Steve Grcevich: And also before I start, I just want to share a little something with you guys. It's been incredibly encouraging to me over the last few days just that all of you care enough about this to want to be here, to want to support one another. I've been getting around to some of the different breakouts and presentations and the excellence with which people are talking about and doing the work of this ministry is just, it's incredibly encouraging. And so yesterday, like when Delnora was singing the Thankful song, I just felt very thankful that God lets me be a part of this. And this has been very helpful to me this weekend.
Larah Roberts: And that's exactly what will happen at Disability & the Church Conference 2025. You will be surrounded by excellent leaders who are serving our Lord in disability ministry. Now if there's two things that I can promise you that you'll receive from attending this conference, it's this; you'll be equipped and you'll be encouraged. You'll be encouraged with gospel rich teaching and you'll be equipped to do kingdom work. Now listen to this next clip. As Pastor Abner encourages us as he explores Jesus's time of grief and despair in the Garden of Gethsemane, he'll make an application for how we should approach and handle our own emotional and mental health. Take a listen.
Keon Abner: You're in the midst of the worst moment of your life, but I really appreciate what happens at the end of this text, "He returned to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come and the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise, let's go. Here comes my betrayer." This sounds ridiculous, Jesus. You said your soul is overwhelmed to the point of death. You said, I can't take this anymore. You said, please take this couple away from me. What changed? Jesus? He has a whole new different attitude about what he's about to endure. 'Hey, here comes the person who's going to ruin my life.' Here's what Jesus is teaching us. If we can bear to understand just because the moment is not feeding us in the way we want it to, just because things are not great right now, just because we don't like this, we don't enjoy this just because this is really, it's really hurting us and our feelings are real.
We don't have to pretend it's okay, but we still have to be obedient to what God has called us to do. Jesus still had a purpose, which tells us that the message from Christ is, "We got this, we can do this." He's still not going alone though. So the message for all of us is Jesus knows despair, but he promises to be with us. He promises to walk with us never leaving us alone in the midst of our pain. Those words, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. are rich to those of us who struggle in our emotional health, it's a promise that Christ is always with us and we still have to carry out the God-given purpose by which we have been born, created and called to.
Larah Roberts: I mentioned two things that you'll walk away after disability in the church with. You'll be encouraged and you'll be equipped, equipped with the tools and resources to take back to your church and implement into your own ministry. Now I'll be honest, as both a Key Ministry team member and a special needs mom myself, this next preview clip, it hits home because it's real life examples of how the church can partner with parents to make disciples within their home as well as how the church can welcome into the body of Christ those impacted by disability and mental health. Take a listen to my friend Kim Botto as she shares a glimpse on how you can be equipped to minister to families impacted by disability.
Kim Botto: Thank you. Good morning everybody. How's everybody doing? I actually said this in the breakout last night. I'm going to say it to you today. Do whatever you need to feel comfortable and to be engaged this morning. If you need to lay on the floor, if you need to stand on the back, if you need to do somersault across the back, do what you need to do to fully engage. Okay, great. So as he mentioned, I love kids in student ministry and I have been on staff for several decades leading in that capacity. And over the years our team began to realize that we did a really great job in creating these fun environments and welcome environments for kids and students to come and know Jesus and grow in their faith. But in August of 2012, as we met, we realized that we were actually called to be a welcoming place to all kids no matter what their abilities were, no matter what they had experienced in their past.
So we began talking and training and reading and most of all listening. And as we did that we changed and as we changed, families started coming to check us out. But when they came you could tell that they were very hesitant to tell us about their child. And the reason for that is because they hadn't always felt welcome at other places. So I believe the biggest opportunity and challenge for us and the local church is what do we do with the kids that we don't know what to do with? How do we respond to them in healthy and helpful manners? These are kids that have behaviors that we don't understand and we just don't have the tools to respond. So I've had such a great time with you guys yesterday. It's such an honor to gather with like-minded friends and people. Well, you're just people, I'm not saying you're not my friends, it's just I haven't met you to call you a friend yet. But to gather together, to come up with new tools and strategies and to share ideas with each other on how we can all be churches and be churches that are safe places for everybody to meet Jesus, meet some new friends, grow in their faith and belong. So a friend recently shared a story with me. She was a church and as she walked into the lobby, her child, and I'll just call him Robert, had a major meltdown. And so this mom sat right in the middle of the church lobby with her child. And the reason that she did that is because her kid, when he was having a meltdown would often yell, "You're hurting me." So she stopped in this public place so people could see she was not hurting him.
You see, Robert looked like a typical kid, but over the first six and a half years of his life, he bounced from family member to family member and then he went into foster care and then he went into my friend's home where he was eventually adopted. And as she sat there, she said people would walk by and some would look at her and then step up their pace a little bit. And she felt so alone sitting there in the lobby. Then somebody stopped and said, "I'm just going to stay here with you." Somebody else stopped and said, "Can I get some water for you and your screaming child?" Another friend then came by and said, "Hey, I'm going to go ahead and check your kids in to the kids area while you stay here." And she said the people that did that, when they did that, she said, "I felt seen and understood."
And that was huge to her. These simple acts of kindness made a huge difference. And many of us in this room have been there sitting on the floor with a kid having a meltdown who's communicating with us in the only way that they know how, or maybe we're trying to remove a child from an activity that they love and they are expressing in a very loud and enthusiastic way how much they do not want to leave. And as that happens, we may feel judged by onlookers who actually have no understanding of our story or our kid's story. So there we are trying to comfort our child while we're also needing comfort. And when I think back to those friends in the church lobby that sat and brought water and offered to check my friend's kids and the kids area, they noticed somebody in need. They were aware.
So rather than walk by, they got curious. They're thinking, how can I help? They were humble. They didn't assume that they knew what was going on. They didn't make judgments and instead they did something. They offered tangible support. More of that please. Right? Wouldn't you like to see more of that in your church? But unfortunately, as I work with church leaders who are struggling to respond to challenging behavior with kids and students, I often see a desire to fix the behavior or find the sin and address that. I've been asked in a number of different ways by a number of different children's leaders, basically, "What do you do when a parent thinks their kid has special needs, but really there's a sin issue that needs to be addressed."
I try to watch what my face is communicating because it's not kindness because let me be clear, most often it's not a sin issue. It's a kid who's overwhelmed, does not have the coping strategies to manage with what is going on. They may have needs or disabilities that affect their behavior. So I believe instead of moving straight to judgment saying that it's a sin, let's connect. Let's bring water, let's sit on the floor. Let's be curious. Let's be a friend. Let's be kind. And as followers of Jesus, we want to be more like Him, right? Does anybody in this room would you like to be more like Jesus? Very good. And if your neighbor didn't raise their hand, then why don't you pray with them and speak with them after this. So we want to respond to Jesus like Jesus responds to them, right?
Larah Roberts: So far you've just seen and heard two of the types of talks and speakers Disability & the Church conference will have, we'll have dozens more during our time together. So that you know what you'll walk away with, we've already discussed being equipped and encouraged, I want to let you know what Key Ministry conferences contain, what our foundation is when we plan events. Now, there are many, but two that I want you to know is this. Disability & the Church conference is a prayerful event. It's also a bold event. We wrap our sessions and our planning with prayer and we proclaim boldly the truth based on the gospel and the lens in which we view disability and mental health. Let's take that first one. Key ministry conferences are prayerful conferences. Take a listen to Amy Meekins, A dear sister in the Lord born with a disability who shines bright for Jesus everywhere she goes. I want you to listen closely as Amy prays ending her talk from a few years past and specifically what she prays. It will give you a glimpse of the kind of prayerfulness you can expect when you attend Disability & the Church conference. Listen to Amy.
Amy Meekins: We have a bunch of work to do for him every one of us. Let's pray and thank God for his amazing works. Thank you for creating me and your plans for me are way better than I never imagine. I want to give it all to you Lord, I am giving all my worries and cares to you God, thank you for caring about me. Lord you say, you know the plans you have for me, plans for good and not for disaster. Thank you for giving me a future and a hope. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. There's nothing can't do, Lord, I love how you tell me, what no eye has seen, what no ears have heard and no human mind has seen the things you've done have prepared for those who love Him. Oh Heavenly Father, you are able to make every grace overflow to us so that in every way, always having everything we need, we may it so every good work. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, My soul knows it very well. Love to you Lord, was able to give far more abundantly than all we can ask or think, I hold it to the power at work with their lives. To you be a way in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Larah Roberts: I've got one final clip for us in our archives to share with you. But so far you've heard many reasons why you ought to attend Disability & the Church Conference 2025. It will be a time of equipping and encouragement wrapped in prayer. And finally, it's a conference where we are not afraid to be bold for such a time as this my friend. We are blessed to be led by our Founder and President, Dr. Steve Grcevich, who is paving the way for us to navigate disability and mental health with a gospel lens on. He spoke boldly at our Disability & the Church conference two years ago, and he's received both encouragement and fire from his statements. But no matter what he receives, and no matter what negative comments come, he will not waiver from the truth of the entire canon of scripture and the gospel as our guide. And I'm so glad of this. Take a listen as Dr. Steve Grcevich is bold and declares the truth.
Dr. Steve Grcevich: I want to publicly say a few things that need to be said by somebody in my profession with my background and experience. Somebody needs to go first. And my hope is that it will be easier for others to speak out if they know they're not alone. So first, children do better when they're raised in homes with a mother and a father who love one another, serve one another, sacrifice for one another, and are mutually committed for life to one another in marriage. Medical interventions that are intended to end human life do not constitute healthcare. No one is born in the wrong body and pretending that someone is of the other sex when the DNA in every cell of their body says otherwise, It's a lie and it represents a disservice to the child or the adult who's suffering. I mean, I've seen stuff in my practice over the last few years that make me as an evangelical Presbyterian wonder if this is what spiritual warfare looks like.
And at the risk of sounding like somebody who ought to be talking to somebody like me, I really wonder if what cancel culture is about is canceling the gospel. It's no accident that you guys are here this weekend. God has put something upon your heart to minister to folks with disabilities. I hope he's given you all kinds of new resources and relationships to do that work. Where's God calling you to be courageous? Where's he calling you to take some risks or to do some difficult or uncomfortable things to advance the Kingdom? Does he want you to start a respite ministry? Is he wanting you to develop ministry to support kids on the high end of the spectrum who need somewhere they can find healthy friends? Are they wanting you to advocate before your local school board or hospital board or state legislature? Are they just looking for you to speak the truth in love and to encourage others to do the same? So I want all of us to leave here with the courage to do the uncomfortable things that the Holy Spirit nudges us to do and to be present to support one another through the struggles.
Larah Roberts: Well, that's it for the clips that I have for you today. But I want to encourage you that we are days away from announcing the location and date and details of Disability & Church Conference 2025. Go to key ministry.org today and sign up for the alerts to be the first on the list to know when those announcements happen. I promise you, you do not want to miss. Friend, invite your people, make a way for your ministry staff to attend. This is a God-sized movement that you don't want to miss as we encourage each other to go forth and continue paving the way for our churches to welcome families impacted by disability. Details for Disability & the Church conference coming soon.
