November marked the beginning of a new set of prototypes underway in Kansas City alongside continued efforts by congregations making a difference in autistic children lives through worship and prayer. In addition the month marked a new partnership that we announce at the end of this story

Dr. Dana Preusch, our new coordinator for Nurturing Care, gathered ministers for coffee or online conversation. Each discussion invited people to report a “God sighting” in children’s lives, or a humorous story, or just a story (good or bad) from participants engaged with the ministry.

Stories from the participants reflected both emerging possibilities and ongoing activities of change. To allow the group to continue their congregational efforts without distraction, only first names were mentioned for the sake of this account.

Neurodiversity Awareness and Church Inclusion

Mike shared his experience of spreading awareness about neurodiversity at a gathering. He was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest and the positive response from attendees. One particular interaction with a young neurodivergent woman stood out, where they had a meaningful conversation about the gifts and blessings of being neurodivergent. Mike also mentioned his plans to rewrite Bible stories to highlight neurodiversity. Margaret then discussed their project, which involves creating a welcoming environment for neurodivergent individuals in the church, including name tags with color codes to indicate openness to conversation. Marna shared a story about a young adult with autism who wrote an article for a magazine about living with a disability, which affirmed the value of their work.

Inclusive Worship and Sensory Needs

Tiffany mentioned their upcoming project of creating custom worship backpacks for children with sensory and adaptive tools for use in worship.Tiffany shared a touching moment when her daughter, Alyssa, asked her to pray together during Sunday school. This moment highlighted the importance of connection and inclusion for children in their Christian education. Alyssa then shared a similar experience with a deaf student who was struggling with sensory regulation in their auditorium. They found a solution by turning on the air conditioning, which provided a subtle vibration for the student. Mike ended the conversation by sharing a story of a family who had to bring their child’s climbing tree to church to help him cope with sensory needs during worship. The Nurturing Care team discussed the importance of curiosity and understanding in addressing these challenges.

Creating Inclusive Spaces for Neurodivergent Kids

The meeting focused on the challenges and progress in creating inclusive spaces for neurodivergent individuals in religious settings. Mike shared his experience with a pastor who faced resistance from his congregation when trying to create a more inclusive environment. Dr. Dean Blevins, the Director of Nurturing Care, suggested finding creative ways to adapt to these resistances. Kerrie discussed the importance of incorporating neurodivergent children into worship services and activities, even if it means dealing with noise and messiness. Alyssa added that reintroducing children into worship services has helped their congregation understand the importance of inclusivity. The group agreed on the need for continued awareness and education to overcome the stigma surrounding neurodivergent individuals.

Resource Room Setup and Updates

The Nurturing Care team discussed the ongoing work in developing a portable sensory room allowing the seminary to both utilize specific resources in promoting ministry with autistic children as well as adaptive approaches to sensory spaces. Tiffany emphasized the importance of flexibility due to the evolving needs of children and families. She also mentioned the use of vibrating snakes as a sensory input tool for some children. Kerrie agreed with Tiffany’s suggestions and appreciated the idea of presenting the extra space as an additional choice for families.

Ongoing Projects

In addition participants in other prototypes updated their efforts. Tessa reported that her colleagues who work more exclusively with typically-abled kids have recently reached out to her for advice on how to retool their kids worship to be more inclusive of differently-abled children in their congregations. She is currently doing a book study with them and dialoguing about best paths forward for creating an all-abilities worship experience for the Grace Church kids. Also, Tessa is currently trying to train all the children’s ministers across Grace’s 3 campuses to be able to use the worship cart that is primarily kept in the sensory rooms on each campus and used mostly by special needs children.

New Community continues to think through ways to model more inclusive worship methods in their gathering, including the use of Spelling 2 Communicate (S2C) modeled in the video below.  Stephanie shared a story about a grandmother who attends their spiritual family/micro church group and brings her daughter and granddaughter as well – both of whom have learning disabilities that prevent them from typical speech.  Stephanie had recently invited the daughter and granddaughter to help her lead the closing prayer at one of their worship times underscoring their definition of prayer as ‘sharing space with God.’ Although the mother and daughter did not use typical speech, Stephanie reports the closing prayer time was beautiful and so very meaningful for all who were a part.

Collectively these stories provide a window into the power of what happens when churches partner for the sake of autistic children.

A New Partnership

In addition to Kansas City’s continuing development. Nurturing Care is now a partner in the Church of the Nazarene’s new effort in Disability Ministry, particularly with autistic children. The denominational initiative, funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. proceeds under the leadership of Ryan Nelson the new Nazarene Discipleship International Disability Ministry Director. This parenting and discipleship initiative is resourced by the new Adapted Discipleship Library created by Wonderful Works Director Barbara Stanley and Leah Wicker. This partnership will include ministry connections like Brad Lee’s Walking With Kaden ministry and the support of pastors like Jonathan Trees at Nashville Grace Church. Our hope is that the partnership will expand our efforts nationally while continuing to support our Kansas City initiative. The future looks bright in our support of autistic children through prayer and worship.