Inclusion

Three Ways to Engage During Online Ministry

Three Ways to Engage During Online Ministry

Online gatherings are still the norm for many church ministries. Our church has been providing Zoom meetings for our small special needs class for several months. Here are three ways we have engaged our students during online classes.

How Will Your Church Building Be Used this Winter?

How Will Your Church Building Be Used this Winter?

Church hallways around the world are still quiet places these days. But that could be changing, as ministry in the season of COVID continues with creativity into the winter of 2021.

Understanding and Engaging with Multicultural Special Needs Families - Part 2

Understanding and Engaging with Multicultural Special Needs Families - Part 2

As ministry leaders and church volunteers, how can we navigate and apply empathy towards others in ministry, whose cultures may be different from our own? Joscelyn Ramos Campbell shares 5 ways to incorporate empathy and cultural competency to diverse families within the church.

Best Practices for Hybrid Ministry - Combined Virtual and In-Person Gatherings

Best Practices for Hybrid Ministry - Combined Virtual and In-Person Gatherings

As 2020 winds down, one thing is clear: the ministry changes experienced this year will continue, and many of these changes will become the new standards, including offering both in-person and virtual options simultaneously for church services and classroom gatherings. As ministries have shifted to meet the challenges of 2020, best practices for a variety of important ministry details have emerged. We have compiled the principles and practical solutions shared in recent discussions with ministry leaders, and offer these to you and your ministry team so that the mission of spreading the gospel and developing disciples can continue unhindered in 2021.

Understanding and Engaging with Multicultural Special Needs Families

Understanding and Engaging with Multicultural Special Needs Families

Guest blogger Joscelyn Ramos Campbell shares part 1 of 2 on understanding and supporting cross-cultural or multi-cultural special needs families. Today’s post focuses on the importance of understanding cultural backgrounds and expressing cross-cultural competence.

God’s Design for Family and Church, Revealed in Christmas

God’s Design for Family and Church, Revealed in Christmas

Christmas brings a sweet and stirring reminder that God is at the center of family. As the church, we are God’s expression of His extended family. When we look at the manger, we see ourselves as part of Jesus’ family. And all at once, we see Jesus through the years at Christmastime.

Five Reasons to be Grateful for Disabilities and Disability Ministry

Five Reasons to be Grateful for Disabilities and Disability Ministry

As people, we gravitate toward the comfortable, the safe, the easy, and the peaceful. I get it. No, I really, really do. Because of this, I absolutely understand why it is scary to welcome people with disabilities into your church. That is why today I will tell you why you should encourage us to attend your church, but you should also be thankful we are part of your church.

Celebrating the Interconnected Tapestry that is the Body of Christ

Celebrating the Interconnected Tapestry that is the Body of Christ

We are living in times ripe for the history books. Most of us have been weighing questions on topics ranging from the effects of isolation to medical vulnerability, racial equity and religious freedoms. Leaders in the disability movement are keenly aware of overlaps and similarities among the issues at hand. I’ve been praying that God would use this season to grow us into more compassionate and courageously engaged people, because we desperately need to start appreciating our uniquenesses and enjoying how interconnected we are.

The Ultimate Church Comeback Plan

The Ultimate Church Comeback Plan

Many of the concepts that the general population have experienced for the first time in 2020 are all too familiar to some in the disability community. The new reality that many of us are experiencing for the first time is all too familiar for many families living with disabilities who face manifold barriers to leave their home on a typical day. So what if we took this opportunity to re-imagine a church that was accessible to 100% of people—rather than just the 85% who don’t live with disabilities?