Final #DATC2024 presentation today comes from Dr. Erik Carter, Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities, and collaborator with “With Ministries” addressing the topic Flourishing Together: moving from inclusion and embrace. Carter notes ministry has changed over the years from exclusion to at least to ministry either “to” a specialized group, or among with a special class or subgroup in a church, to ministry “with” through more accessible Aspects of Accessible Worship such as
○Architecture ○Attitudes ○Communication ○Contribution ○Expectations ○ Interactions ○Supports ○ Liturgy ○Understanding ○Postures ○Technology ○Sense of community Theology ○ Sensory factors ○Transportation. Still there more to do to move to a place of true belonging and flourishing through the input and interplay of disabled people. Regardless where any church might be, the are places for improvement.
Cynthia Pounds presenting a #DATC2024 session on creative solutions to create belonging in the Church. Pounds notes that belonging rests around three key emphases: focusing on first impressions (will people feel valued as they enter?), Attitudes (what are we assuming rather than inquiring?), and connecting (are we inviting special needs families into our ministry). Pounds suggest we walk through our church facilities, then observe, ask, and, in particular, listen. Places to observe include how we communicate belonging to people with disability:
Website/Social Media
Parking
Entrance
Wheelchair Accessibility
Restrooms
Classrooms/Check-in/Guest Areas
All Worship Areas
Sometimes we need creative exploring options. So, for an adult (or large child) changing table we might consider a used massage table.
#DATC2024 second breakout session on creating inclusive spaces for play with Donna McCrary and Beth Jones. The session opens noting that stories are what make up a child’s life. Their unique story begins with the story of their birth. Eventually, parents share stories with them and with time they create their own life story. So how do we move to include the stories of children with disabilities through play?
McCrary and Jones note the importance of play. Play is an activity chosen by a child and directed by the child. So play remains child directed, imaginative, and emotional. However, play is also cognitive in both generating and pruning synapses, as well as leading also to building communication skills.
So, Why Should Churches Change the Story via Play? • Play Spaces provide the optimum place for play to occur at church. • Play Spaces can be outreach opportunities for the community. • Play Spaces encourages physical, sociaLemotional and cognitive growth • Play Spaces enhance engagement of church members creating volunteering opportunities • Play Spaces at church offer a safe environment that can be reassuring for parents
#DATC2024 first breakout sessions include full rooms. I am in the session on Reaching and Teaching Our Neurodiverse Kingdom with Aimée Stork, M.Ed. Sr. Manager of Online Education with Joni and Friends. Stork notes right away that many of us are neurodiverse and that the condition need not be considered a “handicap.” Stork also cited the well known phrase that when you meet onr child with autism… you have met one child with autism.
Yet Stork does note “some” common factors. So, kids on the autism spectrum:
• Can have delayed speech or limited language skills • May talk in a flat voice with very little inflection • May have difficulty understanding jokes, sarcasm, or teasing • May have obsessive interests • May flap hands, rock body, or spin in circles • People with ASD often thrive on routine. Disruption in routine can be very unsettling for many people with ASD. • May have unusual eating and sleeping habits. • Can be impulsive or extremely active • People with ASD might have unusual responses to touch, smell, sounds, sights, taste, and feel. For example, they might over- or under- react to pain or to a loud noise.
Still, Stork also notes the gifts of Autism that we often overlook.
*The ability to focus on systems *Strong local analysis (the ability to see details)
*Often exceptional visual-spacial skills
For all the differences, Stork did list some basic resources any church can provide that supports people on the spectrum (see the picture).
Stork included a key statement from Lamar Hardwick (a pastor with autism) early in her presentation that I will use to close this post since it reflects/frames a lot of the sessions:
“The moment we criticize or condemn people for being human is the very moment we send them the message the God is not in control, that God, in fact, did not create them in his image, and that they are incapable of enjoying community with God or the rest of creation.” Lamar Hardwick, Disability and the Church
“The ministry we are called to is often a lonely call because it is not often a recognized call” yet, like Elijah in 1 Kings 18,… we are not alone. #DATC2024
#DATC2024 Disability and Church Conference open with worship. Sandra Peoples offers an opening session on “three reasons to be optimistic about Disability Ministry.”
1) churches, and church leaders are more invested particularly in “invisibility” disabilities like autism,
2) more seminaries/colleges are engaging (in 2014 seminaries/colleges reported 74% graduates were not prepared for these types of ministries),
3) the present ministries represented by the 500 people at this conference, breaking down barriers for the sake of inclusion and care. Glad #NTSwww.nurturingcare.org is joining this initiative.
Opening ministry intensive at the #DATC2024 conference addressing the theme Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship: Ministry With Every One, presented by Victoria White of “With” Ministries & Dr. Erik Carter, Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities, and With Ministries
The team offered ideas for presenting the Gospel message in ways that people of all abilities embrace, and worship practices that invite universal participation. Carter opens addressing the need, noting 70 million Americans, 1 in 5 individuals, experience some form of disability and 1 in 7 children in local schools engaging special education resources, while 50 percent of people over 65 have some profound physical limitations. So 1 in 3 families in any community have some encounter with disabilities. The trip underscores our #NTS Nurturing Care/KC initiative. https://www.nts.edu/nurturing-care/#KC
How important is faith to people with disability? Dr. Eric Carter notes the importance of faith remains pretty similar between people with disability and traditional church participants. Yet the ability to participate (at least once a month in a church) reveals a “gap” for the disabled. In a separate study, youth (as reported by parents) seemed to prioritize their participation in faith. However the parents of the same youth demonstrate just how important faith is in their lives. Yet approximately one third leave churches (usually after a prolonged period of alternating attendance, with one parent often remaining home with the disabled person). One challenge rests with congregations mirroring communities that previously tended more toward exclusion and segregation… rather than inclusion and belonging. Co-presenter Victoria White notes one of the key contributing factor is to include people with disabilities in leadership if a church seeks to change. #DATC2024.
Erik Carter continues the seminar on Believing and Belonging in Disability Ministry at the #DATC2024 Pre-conference. Carter unveils research that unpacks the dimensions of what true belonging reflects when disable feel they belong. The ten elements work collectively to move from inclusion to a full expression of belonging. Carter’s presentation was supported by Victoria White, director of With Ministries who incorporated biblical imagery to undergird all ten perspectives. Participants were invited to assess their congregational contexts to both celebrate what is working but also discover where to begin next.
Discipleship Commons 