DATC#2024 Sessions resume including Masterpiece Alliance

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

#DATC2024 breakout sessions continue including the story of Masterpiece Alliance, a local ministry which partners with Young Life’s Capernum ministry, designed to create community for disability ministry after age 18 so that no person with a disability or family of a person with a disability lives life in the margins or in isolation. The ministry begins by asking, Who are we? God’s Masterpiece! Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s masterpiece: We are created by God. More specifically all of us are God’s special creations, His masterpieces. Each person is uniquely and beautifully created and loved by God just as they are.

God has created us anew in Christ Jesus: We are fully alive when we allow Jesus to do something new in and with our lives. All of us are made whole and complete only in Jesus.

So we can do the good things: Every person is created for a purpose. We are made whole in Jesus SO we can live into our purpose. This applies to every single one of God’s masterpieces.

God planned for us long ago: Not only do we have a purpose, but our purpose is uniquely planned for each of us by God.

Masterpiece included a narrative around a local ministry effort, while other sessions focused on everything from teaching, to behavioral guidance, to small group interaction. Quite a range of resource development at the conference.

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You are God’s Treasure

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

#DATC2024 opens the second day with a sermon focused on “both” people with disability and those ministering in disability ministry by Ability Ministry Director Ryan Wolfe notes often we approach scripture thinking of Jesus as the treasure. However, what happens we realize “we” are God’s treasure? Drawing from Exodus 19:5

“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth for all the earth belongs to me.”

Reverend Wolfe also draws from Deuteronomy 7:6 and offers us a moment to see how “special” we are and the people we minister with.

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Flourishing Together

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

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.

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Creating Belonging

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

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.

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Creating Inclusive Places for Play

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

#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

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Neurodiversity

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

#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

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Not Alone

Posted on May 2, 2024 by Dean G. Blevins

“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

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