In my 40 years of ministry, I have found that most people in churches want to help people with disabilities but don’t know where to start. Often, they’re simply unaware of the barriers that neurodiverse individuals and their families face. But once the congregation becomes aware and realizes that they can play a role in supporting them, they eagerly get involved.
We must understand, though, that our goal should not be to merely accommodate people with disabilities in our churches. God does not call us to tolerate each other, or to meet minimum requirements for inclusion of those at the edges of our communities.
He calls us to love. He calls us to ministry, witness and radical mutual dependence.
Having the privilege of raising two adult sons with disabilities, I strongly believe that God calls us to do much more than accommodate people and families with disabilities. God calls us as churches to move from accommodation to true, holistic inclusion.
I believe that a truly inclusive ministry is simply one way of showing how God wants us to treat one another—with love, respect, and consideration. “Accommodation” tends to stop short at the outer edges of someone’s needs. It provides for things such as basic physical accessibility, but not the spiritual or emotional needs.
Nor does “accommodation” extend to the emotionally and morally crucial point of encouraging congregants to believe that people with disabilities can actively and uniquely contribute to the life and ministry of the church. “Accommodation” doesn’t often entail a perspective that cherishes the special gifts of the men and women with disabilities.
A spiritual ministry designed specifically for those with disabilities is an important and powerful part of truly inclusive programming and church culture. Importantly, this doesn’t just provide for the spiritual needs of everyone in your congregation—it helps provide a basis for anyone in the congregation to both educate themselves and to get involved.
At Bay Area Christian Church we’ve developed what we call a spiritual resource ministry to help us move from accommodation to inclusion. While the name might differ from church to church, this ministry provides resources for and reaches out to families and individuals with special needs.
People with many types of disabilities—from Down syndrome to Autism Spectrum Disorder to anxiety or ADHD—can benefit from an inclusive and adaptive ministry like this. A spiritual resource ministry offers individuals and families with all types of special needs the ability to thrive spiritually alongside their neurotypical peers in every area of the church, which they may not otherwise be able to do.
At our church, this looks like an inclusive children’s ministry class during Sunday service, as well as inclusive teen and middle school ministries. We also have spiritual support groups for parents, sensory-sensitive accommodations for church events, and general awareness and training for the congregation.
Of course, at your church it might look different. You can start small, or start in parts. Find the most urgent needs in your congregation, and try to meet them. Maybe parents of children with disabilities need support—so start a support group specifically for them.
