🤝 How This Resource Is Designed to Be Used
🫶 Invitation, not interrogation
Families are invited into the process with warmth and care, communicating:
“We want to know your child, honor their needs, and partner with you well.”
📄 Parent partnership
Parents complete the questions on their own time, giving them space to thoughtfully share things that are often hard to explain on Sunday morning.
👀 Team preparation
Ministry leaders review the responses ahead of time so volunteers can be prepared instead of reactive, supporting safety, dignity, and consistency.
🧩 Volunteer alignment
Relevant information (as appropriate) is shared with volunteers so they understand how to communicate well, what environments might be difficult, and how to best support the child.
🔁 Ongoing conversation
This isn’t a one-and-done form. It’s the beginning of a relationship that grows as the child grows and needs evolve.
🏡 Safer, more welcoming environments
When used as intended, this process helps churches move from:
• Guessing ➝ Understanding
• Reacting ➝ Preparing
• Excluding ➝ Meaningfully including
🤝 How This Resource Is Designed to Be Used
🫶 Invitation, not interrogation
Families are invited into the process with warmth and care, communicating:
“We want to know your child, honor their needs, and partner with you well.”
📄 Parent partnership
Parents complete the questions on their own time, giving them space to thoughtfully share things that are often hard to explain on Sunday morning.
👀 Team preparation
Ministry leaders review the responses ahead of time so volunteers can be prepared instead of reactive, supporting safety, dignity, and consistency.
🧩 Volunteer alignment
Relevant information (as appropriate) is shared with volunteers so they understand how to communicate well, what environments might be difficult, and how to best support the child.
🔁 Ongoing conversation
This isn’t a one-and-done form. It’s the beginning of a relationship that grows as the child grows and needs evolve.
🏡 Safer, more welcoming environments
When used as intended, this process helps churches move from:
• Guessing ➝ Understanding
• Reacting ➝ Preparing
• Excluding ➝ Meaningfully including
Key Ministry: The Podcast aims to equip churches and ministry leaders to welcome and serve children, teens, and adults impacted by disability, mental illness, and trauma. Through engaging discussions, expert insights, and real-life stories, the podcast provides practical strategies, biblical encouragement, and innovative ideas to help churches create truly inclusive communities where all individuals can grow in their faith and belong.
Dr. Chris Hulshof explores a vital question for disability ministry: how do we move from curiosity to compassion? Looking at John 9 and Acts 3, Chris shows how the way we respond to disability reveals what is shaping our hearts. This conversation offers a theological and practical framework for church leaders who want to move beyond questions and toward welcome, empathy, and action.
RESOURCES
