Care and Support

Prayer Chain Ideas for Churches Committed to the Special Needs Community

Prayer Chain Ideas for Churches Committed to the Special Needs Community

You may be surprised to know that there can be various obstacles for people with disabilities or mental health concerns, as well as their families, to get prayer support. Here are ideas about how people and churches interested in intercessory prayer can come alongside special needs families with the support of prayer chains, as well as examples of both general and specific prayers that can be used as a guide.

Hope for Troubled Minds: How Intercessory Prayer May Help Mental Illness

Hope for Troubled Minds: How Intercessory Prayer May Help Mental Illness

Guest blogger Tony Roberts shares some of his experiences of living with bipolar disorder, including how he has learned to move beyond his brain’s single-minded focus with the discipline of intercessory prayer.

Moving from Darkness to Light with God’s Word and a Crisis Helpline

Moving from Darkness to Light with God’s Word and a Crisis Helpline

Isolation has affected all of us. Racial tensions, struggles, and division in our country has affected everyone in America. We are all a little broken right now. As a pastor, it is hard to build up people when you cannot function. Recently, the amount of mental strain it costs me to function “normally” and put on a brave face is extreme. But I have returned to the point that I can rely on what I know instead of what I feel. Here’s how you can, too.

The New Normal

The New Normal

What will life be like after COVID-19? Should we go back to the old normal, how things were before lockdown? What should change? What might change? Do we want change? Can we go back to how things were before?

What Helped My Despair

What Helped My Despair

“How are you?” It’s so hard to answer! “Yes, we’re fine. We are well, we don’t have the virus, we have food, and we have medication.” BUT, and a BIG BUT—sometimes I feel like screaming! I am despairing. This morning I read Psalm 77. The first few verses were how I felt in the middle of last night. This Psalm, and remembering God’s faithfulness showed me several things that helped my despair, and may help you, too.

Three Simple Steps for Spiritual Self-Care During Quarantine

Three Simple Steps for Spiritual Self-Care During Quarantine

What has the potential to crush you? In what area of life do you need “space” for spiritual health in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis? Here are three simple steps from Jesus’ life to protect your spiritual, mental and emotional health.

Six Scriptures to Help Choose Faith Over Fear

Six Scriptures to Help Choose Faith Over Fear

I am scared of all the ‘what-if’s’ of coronavirus. Being a pastor doesn’t somehow mystically make me immune to that. You are probably scared, too. This is where knowing The Word becomes imperative.

Important Changes Prompted By The Coronavirus Pandemic

Important Changes Prompted By The Coronavirus Pandemic

In the UK, where I live, there are stories of people being kind and helpful to the old, lonely and vulnerable. Those in distress from the coronavirus are being supported. For a long time, many in the Church have been crying out to God for justice for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized and those who are often discriminated against, such as those with disabilities. It has taken a pandemic for us to realize that we all need to change.

An Easter service for the disability community

An Easter service for the disability community

We're hosting a very special worship service for families impacted by disability who don't have a church this Easter morning

Four Questions to Help Churches Engage With People of All Abilities

Four Questions to Help Churches Engage With People of All Abilities

As we all have a little more time at home because of Coronavirus, disability ministry leaders may be thinking ahead to summer. While summer brings an opportunity for rest, there are valid concerns for those who may be left out because of seasonal changes. There is a way of cultivating life with each other that protects the consistency of connections and cultivates an ongoing sense of belonging. Here are four questions to consider as your church builds communities of belonging to include people with disabilities.