Care and Support, Caregiving, Church Support, Families, Parents, Special Needs Parenting
Elaina Marchenko
How to Care for Caregiving Families with Lisa ...

Elaina sits down and talks with Lisa Jamieson from Walk Right In Ministries about family caregivers, the holidays, and ways the church can better support them.

How to Care for Caregiving Families with Lisa Jamieson: Podcast Ep 126
Key Ministry, Resources, Training Events, Leadership
Stephen Grcevich MD
The Case for Supporting Key Ministry

The training, content, gatherings and experiences that we’ve created for pastors, church staff and ministry volunteers produced with the assistance of like-minded colleagues serving in disability ministry have become our principal service. So much of what we’re able do to help churches welcome and support families, we accomplish by bringing together experts from other ministry organizations.

The Case for Supporting Key Ministry
Caregiving
Jolene Philo
November Is Family Caregiver Awareness Month

November is Caregiver Awareness Month. As someone who became one of my dad’s caregivers before I started school, I grew up thinking everyone in the world was aware of caregivers and caregiving. As a young adult my husband and I cared for a son born with a life-threatening medical condition, and his typical sibling. As members of the sandwich generation, my brother, sister, and I cared for our mother for 15 years after she was diagnosed with dementia. This explains why, when I first heard that November is Caregiver Awareness Month, I was incredulous, and I still am. 

November Is Family Caregiver Awareness Month
Care and Support, Disability Ministry, Special Needs Ministry
Larah Roberts
A Conversation with Lauren Hickman from Hope ...

In this episode, Lauren Hickman shares her personal journey and calling to disability ministry, describing how God has guided her every step of the way to serve families impacted by disability.

A Conversation with Lauren Hickman from Hope Allen Center: Podcast EP 125
Autism, Care and Support, Church Support, Disability Ministry, podcast, Special Needs Parenting, Special Needs Ministry, Sandra Peoples
Sandra Peoples
Strategies for Small and Normative Sized ...

 In today’s episode, Sandra talks about the challenges small to normative-sized churches face in disability ministry and shares how the churches she’s been a part of have overcome these challenges.

Strategies for Small and Normative Sized Churches with Sandra Peoples: Podcast EP 124

Families

, , , , , , ,

Waiting Alongside: A Powerful Way The Body of Christ Can Support Those Who Seem Weaker

, , , , , , ,
Waiting Alongside: A Powerful Way The Body of Christ Can Support Those Who Seem Weaker

Lately I’ve been focusing on being thankful. I‘ve posted “thankful posts” every couple of days, trying daily to find something to thank Jesus for. Mine is an ongoing season of caregiving for my 16-year-old twin girls who both have disabilities and will never live independently. But there is ALWAYS something to thank Jesus for: for the peace I had today, for the ones who prayed in their seats, for those who asked if we were okay, for this body of believers, who simply were there, alongside us, while we waited.

, , , , , , , , , ,

Special Needs In Real Life

, , , , , , , , , ,
Special Needs In Real Life

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. But our desire is that this conference will address questions that maybe you haven’t been able to ask anywhere else.

, , , , , , , ,

Five Practical Ways Churches Can Support Special Needs Families

, , , , , , , ,
Five Practical Ways Churches Can Support Special Needs Families

There has never been a day I grieved my children. Still, deep in my heart, there is this grief. Please hear me when I say my children are a joy. They are the reason I have found my calling. But today, I want you to learn from my experience what the parents of special needs children may be feeling in your church, and how you can help.

, , , , , ,

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Steps for Youth Ministry

, , , , , ,
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Steps for Youth Ministry

“Adverse Childhood Experiences” is the new focus of clinical mental health and psychology. At its essence, research has found a high correlation between childhood trauma and environmental instability that leads to numerous mental health, medical, social, academic, and career problems. It is evident that part of the solution needs to be with the Church, specifically youth ministry. Here are some ideas.

, , , , , , ,

An Invitation to Influence

, , , , , , ,
An Invitation to Influence

When we see the presence of a disability in the New Testament, we are exposed to some very important Kingdom of God values that are essential in the Christian life and in the life of the local church. The value in having leaders with disabilities in our churches is that the church will remain intimately involved with the type of ministry that expresses the heart of God’s kingdom.

, , , , , , ,

55 Years of Pioneering Successful Special Needs Ministry

, , , , , , ,
55 Years of Pioneering Successful Special Needs Ministry

College Church in Wheaton, Illinois has been “around the block“ in disability ministry for 45 years! The ministry team keeps learning and is more invested than ever. Their story is rich with inspiration for those who are still dreaming about disability ministry or just getting started.

, , , , , ,

The State of Autism: Five Takeaways and Four Action Steps

, , , , , ,
The State of Autism: Five Takeaways and Four Action Steps

Last month, I was invited to attend the Autism Speaks Thought Leadership Summit on Achieving Health Equity in Washington, DC. Much like Inclusion Fusion Live, it was one of those conferences where your mind is filled to overflow with information, generation of new ideas and new people you’d like to collaborate with on your work. Here are five takeaways and four action steps for churches and families.

, , , , , , , ,

Things That Don't Seem to Go Together - In Christmas, and In Special Needs

, , , , , , , ,
Things That Don't Seem to Go Together - In Christmas, and In Special Needs

‘Tis the season of waiting, expecting, hoping, dreaming, and if we’re going to be totally honest, Christmas is also a time of worrying. You may think that expectation and anxiety don’t belong together, but when you look closely at the Christmas story, the story is full of things that don’t seem to go together.

, , , ,

When Disability Slows Down Christmas

, , , ,
When Disability Slows Down Christmas

The bustle of Christmas and the Advent season are felt deeply in the offices of churches and Christian ministries around the world. We are battling to balance productivity with meaningful reflection and the celebration of Jesus’ coming — both within ourselves and among those we serve. In this season that beckons us to find and follow our Savior, people with dementia and intellectual-developmental disabilities have life-transforming things to teach us about discipleship.