Across the Midwest, congregations are quietly redefining what it means to worship and pray together. From sensory-friendly sanctuaries to inclusive playbooks for volunteers, the Nurturing Care project is helping faith communities create spaces where every child—neurodivergent or not—feels they belong.
During a recent meeting of the Nurturing Care cohort, facilitated by national coordinator Dr. Dana Preusch, participants shared progress on prototypes funded through a Lily Endowment, Inc. grant, that soon will be replicated through a new Maker’s Space in Nashville Tennessee, March 6-7. In addition both groups will be invited for a “Day of Learning” scheduled for April 13. The event, featuring Dr. Melody Escobar, will be live-streamed to broaden the impact of these groundbreaking initiatives.
Reimagining Worship Through Play and Presence
Rev. Alex Oliver of New Vision Church of the Nazarene reported a powerful “God sighting” during a Trunk or Treat event, where a family with a child on the autism spectrum was moved to tears by the church’s commitment to inclusion. His gradual rollout of a mobile worship kit has already yielded moments of transformation: one student with ADHD joyfully exclaimed, “I can get my sillys out now!” after trying a wiggle seat for the first time.
At Christ Community Church of the Nazarene, Amy Schlepp and Rayanna Perryman shared how even small adjustments, like swapping out a rectangular rug for a circular one, have made profound differences in children’s engagement. Schlepp’s reflections on the story of Zacchaeus—how a tree provided the accommodation that allowed Zacchaeus to meet Jesus—resonated deeply with the experience. “It’s a perfect image,” she said, “of how accessibility can create sacred encounters.”
Meanwhile, Nathan Jenkins of Norman Community Church of the Nazarene shared how his congregation’s experiment with environmental changes led to an unforgettable moment. When a nonverbal teenager was given solo time in a bounce house set up in the sanctuary, his AAC device voiced the words “Nice, nice, people.” Jenkins reflected, “That one phrase told us everything we needed to know about belonging.”
Building Tools, Training Teams, and Sharing Resources
A recurring theme across reports and the oral discussion was collaboration—how churches are sharing tools and learning from one another. JoBeth Crank from The Light KC expressed challenges about creating a training playbook from scratch; group mentor Dean Blevins encouraged using existing resources like the Church of the Nazarene’sWonderful Works Adaptive Library. Others, including Merry Sickel of New Hope Church, shared how those same Wonderful Works icons are helping children navigate worship routines.
Tiffany Solum at Living Hope Church is developing “Sensory Sundays” and tandem teaching models to help volunteers practice introducing sensory tools in real-time. Similarly, Hope Keimig of 8th Street Church described her “Sacred Belonging” prayer tapestry—an interactive spiritual exercise that allows children to weave prayers with colored threads. One child’s prayer for her ailing grandfather, she said, “reminded us that belonging begins in the heart.”
At Hosanna! Lutheran Church, Pastor Michael Kern is expanding the reach of neurodiversity awareness beyond the church walls. His presentation at a Rotary Club struck a chord when he compared sensory overload in autistic children to the challenges faced by those with hearing aids in noisy spaces. Kern’s church is also developing neurodiversity.church, a website dedicated to offering theological insight, educational materials, and practical resources for congregations nationwide.
Creating Inclusive Worship Experiences
Samantha Murphy of Second Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, described how her congregation’s intergenerational services have become a laboratory for inclusion. From inviting children to pass offering plates to using visual bulletins with checkboxes, her team, including Patrick Landau, has seen unexpected joy and engagement. “If the church isn’t crying, it’s dying,” she reminded her congregation during one chaotic but spirit-filled morning.
Similarly, Kerrie Tatman shared how her grant work is birthing a fifth Sunday service designed specifically for families with special needs. Early collaborations with nurse practitioners and families are shaping the service’s design, while a beloved photo booth has already become a favorite spot for one autistic child—proof that small details can create deep comfort.
Nate Owens at Olathe Westside reported: “The leader of our Wednesday night ministry, who also serves on our children’s council and has an autistic daughter, was particularly excited about the grant proposal. Before we had even submitted the final application she began implementing some of our proposed changes to worship. She started using a “roadmap” of icons on Wednesday night, to show kids what is coming up next in worship and prepare them for the transition. She also has experimented with alternative seating in a rudimentary way, using resources we already have in our kids area”
Learning, Adapting, and Growing Together
Across all reports, several patterns emerged:
Small changes create large impact. Whether through rugs, visual icons, or prayer looms, tangible sensory tools foster belonging.
Volunteers are key. Churches are recognizing that inclusion begins with training and empathy.
Theology of belonging matters. From scriptural reinterpretation to new liturgical practices, leaders are reimagining what it means to encounter God together.
As Nurturing Care Director Dean Blevins reminded the group, “Our playbooks will evolve through trial and error. The important thing is that we’re learning together.”
With both a new Maker’s Space occurring in Nashville March 6-7, and the April “Day of Learning” on the horizon, these congregations continue to model a faith that listens, adapts, and embraces difference—not as a challenge to overcome, but as a sacred invitation to community.
NTS Nurturing Care announces the next step in our ministry to autistic children, but also to youth and adults on the spectrum. With the help of the facilities staff at Nazarene Theological Seminary and in partnership with Camp Encourage consultants, future participants now have access to a sensory room for respite, regulation, and reset.
Located on the third floor near the chapel, the seminary repurposed one of the classrooms for strategic use during NTS events or to support other gatherings. Originally open during our Preachers’ Conference for pastors and other attendees, the room will now open during the seminary’s intensive class days, known as Convene, with a similar design for adults who need a break.
The room includes varying resources such as:
light displays that students can try,
comfortable furniture and space to rest,
white noise available for calming,
sensory devices from fidgets to stress balls,
and art resources to stimulate graduate students who need a break from course content, or just activity to turn their mind to a new direction.
While the first two offerings focus primarily on adults, Nurturing Care also arranged for an array of sensory devices specifically with children in mind.
In collaboration with Camp Encourage, who oversees the sensory rooms at Kauffman Stadium, the room will ultimately offer several “floor plans” for children drawing upon a range of resources already purchased by Nurturing Care and stored in a support closet. In the future, the room can serve ministries as a “laboratory,” so different groups might explore varying sensory resources as they explore creating their own spaces. The room can also serve as a resource for church or community gatherings at the seminary. Before children can be admitted, Nurturing Care will finalize a set of videos to orient children’s workers and parents to proper use of the facility.
During Convene, adult students are free to try out the various resources to create the environment that accommodates their needs. The room’s creation serves NTS as part of www.nuturingcare.org focus on autism ministry.
Nurturing Care participated in the 2025 Hugh C. Benner Preachers Conference at Nazarene Theological Seminary hosted by NTS Praxis. The event gathered pastors, educators, and advocates around the theme “All God’s Children”—a focus on engaging and supporting neurodiverse and disabled people through preaching and ministry.
Throughout two days of plenary preaching and workshops, speakers explored how churches can embody inclusion not as an afterthought but as a reflection of the gospel itself. The workshops exemplified the heart of this mission, each offering theological grounding, practical models, and deeply personal witness to how the Church can become a community of true belonging.
1. Stephanie Answer: Can I Still Pray If I Can’t Speak?
Pastor and community developer Stephanie Answer offered one of the conference’s most moving sessions, exploring communication, worship, and prayer through her experience parenting a nonspeaking autistic son. In “Can I Still Pray if I Can’t Speak?” she demonstrated alternative communication methods—partnering with a speller to welcome participants letter by letter .
Answer re-read Luke 5’s story of the paralyzed man, asking, “What if this isn’t a story about healing, but about access to Jesus?” Her church, structured around inclusive micro-communities, practicing “family-style” worship at tables, integrating sensory items, art, and movement. For her, accessibility is not accommodation but theology: the church’s task is to ensure Jesus remains reachable for all.
2. Ryan Nelson: From the Pastor’s Heart—Disability Ministry When You Don’t Have All the Answers
Ryan Nelson, disability ministry coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene, addressed leaders who feel unequipped to start. Using the story of friends lowering a paralyzed man through the roof (Mark 2), he asked, “What are the obstacles today keeping families from reaching Jesus?”
Nelson encouraged pastors to become “cheerleaders” for disability ministry even when they lack expertise. He highlighted practical resources like the Adapted Discipleship Library, a free online collection of training videos, Bible stories, and social narratives created with Wonderful Works Ministry. Sharing testimonies of families who encountered Christ through these tools, Nelson offered a simple message: revival begins when the church removes barriers to belonging.
3. Bill Gaventa: Preaching (on) Disability—Promise, Perils, Paradox, and Parable
Rev. Bill Gaventa, a pioneer in disability theology, led participants through the language and ethics of preaching about disability. Drawing on fifty years of experience, he warned against portraying disabled persons as either victims or heroes and urged preachers to avoid using disability as metaphor for sin or moral failure.
Gaventa proposed that every sermon can speak to people with disabilities—not by singling them out, but by recognizing that “about a quarter of people have some kind of disability.” He emphasized listening: pastors should “ask people with disabilities to tell their stories” and learn from them as teachers of faith. His reading of biblical figures—Moses’ stutter, Jacob’s limp, Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”—revealed that experiences of limitation and vocation often coexist. In Gaventa’s theology, disability is not an obstacle to holiness but a context for grace, one that reframes how we understand embodiment and divine image.
4. Stephen “Doc” Hunsley: Becoming a Biblical Church of Belonging
Dr. Stephen “Doc” Hunsley’s session, “Why Disability Ministry: Becoming a Biblical Church of Belonging,” offered a sweeping vision rooted in Luke 14. A former pediatric ER doctor and father of a child with profound disabilities, Hunsley shared how personal tragedy transformed his calling. After losing his son Mark, he founded SOAR Special Needs Ministry, which now supports hundreds of families .
Hunsley wove data and Scripture into a passionate call for inclusion: only 11% of evangelical churches welcome families with disabilities, even though nearly one in three Americans possess a diagnosis. “The church,” he said, “cannot be complete without them.” He distinguished between inclusion and belonging—the latter meaning people are “present, invited, known, accepted, supported, cared for, befriended, needed, and loved.” His theological argument proved compelling: if 68% of Jesus’ miracles involved healing those with disabilities, then to imitate Christ is to welcome them. Hunsley’s mix of biblical mandate and ministry models reframed disability ministry as essential to the Church’s identity.
5. Kris Mitchell: The Language of Neurodiversity
Therapist and ordained elder Kris Mitchell delivered an energetic and pastoral introduction to neurodiversity, helping preachers understand ADHD, OCD, Tourette’s, and autism as neurological differences, not deficits. Using vivid case studies from his counseling work, he explained how misunderstanding communication styles or literal thinking can alienate neurodivergent individuals in church life.
Mitchell urged pastors to rethink language—avoiding metaphors, idioms, or theological phrasing that confuse or shame. He modeled empathy by showing how language can wound or heal, emphasizing that Jesus’ ministry was characterized by asking questions and meeting people where they were. His appeal was deeply pastoral: “The gospel must be communicated in ways people can actually receive it.”
6. Jesse Briles: Called to Lead, Wired Differently
Rev. Jesse Briles, himself an autistic pastor, spoke with candor and humor about neurodiversity in clergy life. His workshop, “Called to Lead, Wired Differently,” blended testimony with theology. Diagnosed at 33 after years, while in ministry, Briles described the freedom of discovering that he was “not broken, just operating with a different system.”
Briles introduced a practical model of inclusion, accommodation, and integration through the metaphor of eating together. Inclusion defines having a seat at the table, accommodation invites adjusting expectations, and integration requires participating in making the meal. He urged districts to examine credentialing and interview systems that unintentionally exclude neurodivergent leaders. His metaphor of the deer separated from the herd by a small fence captured the invisible barriers that prevent gifted people from crossing into leadership. “Some fences we can go around, some we can help others over, and some we just need to tear down,” he said—providing a vision for both courage and community.
7. Barb Stanley & Leah Wicker (Wonderful Works Ministry): Building Safe and Sustainable Systems
From the practical to the procedural, Barb Stanley and Leah Wicker’s “Wonderful Works”session tackled policies that support inclusion. They argued that accessibility fails when church systems assume all members are neurotypical. Reviewing examples from restroom policies to volunteer training, they urged leaders to test every procedure by three questions: “Is it safe? Is it dignified? Is it sustainable?” .
Their tiered “buddy system”—from universal design for all classrooms to specialized support for a few—showed how inclusion can be scalable without exhausting volunteers. Stanley’s refrain, “This is kingdom work,” reminded attendees that thoughtful policy is pastoral care in practice.
8. Brad Lee: Trauma-Informed Ministry for Special Needs Families
Rev. Brad Lee, a marriage and family therapist and father to a son with Down syndrome and autism, invited participants to consider how a medical diagnosis itself can be experienced as trauma. In his workshop, “A Call and Vision for Special Needs Ministry,” Lee challenged the Church to understand that trauma is not only physical but also emotional and spiritual. When parents receive a life-changing diagnosis, he argued, “the delivery of that diagnosis can be traumatic” because it upends expectations of what life will be.
Lee described how cumulative stress over years—medical appointments, social isolation, and family misunderstanding—can mirror symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Yet his message was not despairing. Instead, he called the Church to respond with empathy and structure: to create ministries that attend to marriages, siblings, and parents, not only the child. His insight that “diagnosis as trauma” bridges psychology and theology offered ministers a new lens for compassionate, sustained care.
Threads of a Unified Vision
Across disciplines and stories, three themes emerged:
Belonging Over Inclusion – From Hunsley’s theology to Answer’s worship tablets, participants agreed that being present is not enough. In the spirit of Briles’ message, people must be needed, loved and included in leadership.
Language and Listening – Mitchell and Gaventa emphasized that how we speak about disability shapes whether people feel valued. Asking questions, using respectful terms, and inviting testimony create a theology of mutual learning.
Structures of Support – Lee, Nelson, and Stanley all underscored that compassion requires systems: trauma-informed care, accessible discipleship resources, and clear policies that protect dignity.
Together, these workshops painted a portrait of the Church as a community where every body and every mind reflects the image of God. As one participant summarized, “To preach to all God’s children, we must first make room for all God’s children.”
In designing the ministry, part of the Nurturing Care initiative included a commitment by Nazarene Theological Seminary and its professional development team, NTS Praxis, to commit the seminary’s Preacher’s Conference to highlight the need for churches, and particularly lead pastors, to advocate for ministry to neurodiverse children. The emphasis grew alongside the initiative much like other conversations around autism and children. In an early conversation with consultants, Nurturing Care realized that insights developed through the KC/autism emphasis would overlap with 90% of all disability special needs.
The spectrum of care that emerges in ministry engagement from the mildly neurodiverse, to the deeply disabled, appears much like the surface of a lake. You never know how deep you might go until you decide to wade out into the water. Yet the church, in this case, must learn to swim because the range of kids, youth, adults, and families in this community represent a vast gospel mandate. In this case, every person across the spectrum provides a unique opportunity to receive care and also provide fresh gifts to the church.
This year’s Preacher’s Conference, preaching to All God’s Children, served as a microcosm of that reality. Gathered in person and online, the conference highlighted five preachers and six sermons anchored in scripture and the myriad experiences of those preaching. Each sermon included Worship was lead by Craig Adams, executive director of the Center for Commercial Music in the School of Music and Worship at Trevecca Nazarene University.
Presenters included national leaders such as Lamar Hardwick, known as the autism pastor; and Bill Gaventa, an international leader in disability ministry who served as a moderator and author of a new book on preaching and disability.
Each sermon included a time for questions both by moderators but also from the audience using text messaging to keep both in-person and online audiences engaged with the preacher and his or her craft.
In addition eight workshops lead by disability specialists such as SOAR Special Needs, neurodivergent pastors, and parents of autistic kids reflected the wealth of possible ministry engagement. The following account provides a snapshot of the sermons presented. In a separate story, we will review the workshops that occurred as well.
Each Sermon offered an opportunity to engage different scriptures with a new perspective.
Lamar Hardwick – How to Handle Your Here
Hardwick reflects on John 17 and Jesus’ prayer that his followers remain in the world, even when “here” feels unbearable. He speaks candidly from his own life with autism and stage-four cancer, naming the “trauma of trying” that many face when struggles have no expiration date. His pastoral word is that even in “here,” we are still God’s, still beloved, and called to resist despair with hope and joy .
Tara Thomas Smith – Sent to Sit
Smith draws from Acts 8 and the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. She frames ministry as walking wilderness roads—uncertain, disorienting paths where fruitfulness depends entirely on the Spirit. Through her own story of befriending a woman with disabilities, she shows how the most faithful act is sometimes simply to sit with another in awkward, unpolished presence. Her key highlight: God sends us to roads and people we may least expect, and nothing—no condition, no exclusion—separates anyone from the love of Christ .
Amy Jacober – Them Bones: Rise Up
Jacober preaches from Ezekiel 37, envisioning God breathing life into dry bones. She weaves personal stories of ministry with people with disabilities and testimonies of resilience. She challenges leaders to embrace awkwardness as the price of true inclusion—“I’ll be awkward so you don’t have to.” With Ezekiel’s vision, she calls preachers to proclaim that hopelessness is never the final word: God’s Spirit raises people and communities to new life .
Brad Lee – A Call and Vision to Special Needs Ministry
Lee recounts the dramatic birth of his son, later diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism, and his own wrestling with grief and prayer. From John 9, he emphasizes Jesus’ redefinition of disability—not as punishment but as a stage where God’s glory is revealed. He challenges churches to confront barriers and embrace special needs ministry as a conduit of revival. His central insight: healing may not always be for the disabled person alone but also for the church and its leaders .
Diane Leclerc – conDescending to Jesus
Leclerc reflects on Mark 2, where friends lower a paralyzed man to Jesus. She contrasts the scribes’ contempt with Christ’s empathy and radical condescension—descending into human suffering. She warns of the subtle ways disgust shapes exclusion, urging the church to repent of othering. Communion, she argues, becomes the counter-ritual where Christ embraces all and calls us to embrace one another. Her most poignant contribution: Jesus’ condescension shows holiness as holy love, not separation .
Lamar Hardwick – Let’s Trade Shoes
In Galatians 4, Paul asks the church to put themselves in his shoes, a metaphor Hardwick extends from his experience as “the autism pastor.” He calls the church to reciprocity and justice: to recognize the barriers it creates and to learn from the perspectives of people with disabilities. His prophetic plea is that inclusion requires not token presence but shared power and enduring love. He concludes that Christ’s response to human vulnerability is never rejection, but resurrection .
An Invitation to Care
Together, these sermons press the church toward care, toward practicing a deeper empathy and fuller inclusion. Taken as a whole the sermons challenge us acknowledge:
The presence of God in suffering: Each sermon insists that God does not abandon people in their “here” or wilderness, but instead reveals divine glory in brokenness.
Reframing disability: Disability is not a curse but a context for encountering God, hearing prophetic truth, and embodying sanctification.
The call to inclusion: From awkwardness to care, the church is challenged to move beyond welcome toward reciprocal, barrier-breaking belonging.
The power of love: Holy love manifests in sitting with others, trading shoes, lowering friends to Jesus, and opening the table for all.
As participants gathered at the Lord’s table at the close of the conference, participants realized just how broad the spectrum of care can become when we are willing to wade into the water. Nurturing Care, alongside Nazarene Disability Ministry, Wonderful Works, and other leaders remain committed to advocate and empower congregations ready to make a difference.
Nurturing Care launched it’s third Maker’s Space retreat in Kansas City developing new prototypes to lead autistic children in worship and prayer practices. This year the gathering included churches from Texas and Oklahoma bringing the total participation to twelve congregations, twenty eight participants which gathered at the Marillac Retreat & Spirituality Center in Leavenworth, KS. all under the capable oversight of national coordinator Dr. Dana Preusch and our supportive team.
This gathering, known as a Maker’s Space (in honor of God our Maker in Psalm 95:6-7) serves as an invitation to try out ideas, name challenges, and find problems worth exploring rather than leaving with a “solution” to implement.
Director Dean Blevins frames the day as a lab, not a lecture. The task involves creating ministry prototypes—creative strategies to “find” solutions—then build partnerships within and across churches by utilizing mini-grants for a yearly plan. The rhythm invites an “early launch, ongoing follow-up:” including Zoom gatherings between major sessions to process learning, and several monthly reports that reads less like a spreadsheet and more like a spiritual snapshot—God sighting, humorous story, feedback from congregants—plus a mid-year learning session and a retreat update next year focused on one question: What can we learn?
“The Big idea,” Blevins says, “is to leave with a prototype to explore—not a solution to implement. Launch early. Learn as you go.” With this principle in mind, the group began to explore their empathy with autistic children by naming someone and exploring the Stories of these children and parents on the Journey into Autism.” The aim is pastoral and practical: help autistic children experience God through worship and prayer.
Next, the group began to explore the big issue of finding the real problem, which often hides behind the stated one. Working in small groups participants were encouraged to find “wicked-good problems,” where the problem remains fuzzy and the solution unknown, providing a challenge participants must build their way towards a solution through the prototype.
Participants were cautioned against “gravity problems,” or immovable constraints too large to solve. Participants understood they shouldn’t waste energy trying to fix the unsolvable but rather to rely on reframing problems by asking: given the constraints, what can we change? Throughout the event consultants offered a listening ear, offering grounded wisdom based on experience yet allowing participants to sort through their ideas.
To spark small group discussion and collaboration, participants were invited into divergent thinking. First, find an itch to scratch —name the problem that’s tugging at each person. Working alone the reflection begins to sprawl outward with Five Whys and mind maps to unpack the underlying problems. To help get at the wicked-good problem, attendees were invited to choose a hunch that addresses a barrier in worship or prayer, and then to ask “Why?” five times to generate multiple responses, yet resist the lure of straight lines.
Instead participants placed multiple answers into constellations and leaned into each other’s responses. “Track the steps your answers imply,” suggested Dr. Blevins “Where does the flow change direction? Where do participants expend energy? What needs to happen?” He urged the group to overlay experiences—to listen for patterns across stories, not just within one experience.
To expand potential solutions to work on, the group were prompted to open another door to possibility, each one phrased as a “How might we…?” tailored to their contexts:
Question an assumption:What if children are already praying—we just don’t listen?
Explore the opposite:What if children led us based on their prayers?
Create an analogy:Do they need prayer guides—or imagery and safe spaces that reflect their world?
Change the status quo:What if naming children’s presence helps the whole church pray?
As notes multiply, the group shifts the room from divergent to convergent thinking. The mind maps serve to create clusters of ideas—following Gestalt thinking—until crucial concerns surface, the ones that feel stubborn enough to be “wicked,” but practical enough to design around. “We’re not chasing a perfect answer,” Blevins reminds them “We’re looking for a workable one worth prototyping.”
The group was next invited to ask the key question: “What if we build?” They were encouraged to think through their strategy much like they might metaphorically follow a blueprint, adapt one, or create as they go? All in all each team was encouraged to favor launching over planning. Define what the strategy they want and concretize it:
Resource (an artifact or handout)
Event (with an event guide)
Process (a playbook)
As they closed out the evening each team was encouraged to lay out the steps—knowing more detail would come later—and don’t reinvent the wheel. The challenge included adapting to scale and context. Before the prototype was submitted they might talk to people including consultants who’ve tried similar work and Research (yes, Google). Blevins concluded that prototypes “let engineers and artists both contribute,” encouraging each team to consider “steps and flow.”
Day two begins in worship and prayer. Consultant and musician Emily Boresow melodically lead the group in song with the assistance of Consultant Janette Platter.
The song helped to settle the participants for a new day that included a devotional by consultant and chaplain Janette Platter. Chaplain Platter drew upon Julian of Norwich and Godly Play to introduce attendees to the middle spaces, like Norwich’s living space whose windows bridged the inner life of the congregation and a busy throughfare along the city’s main road. Using “I wonder” questions, Platter helped participants reorient their tasks in the spirit of prayer and ministry.
The rest of the group time to expand on the work started the night before and to present an initial strategy. Each team received five minutes to provide an an elevator pitch through several prompts including: Tell a story. Name the wicked-good problem. Demonstrate the hoped-for result through narrative. And show something—anything that makes the idea visible: an artistic depiction, a template, or a minimum-value presentation—an architect’s concept, a rough app layout before content, a sketch of a resource, event, or process. “Walk us through the elements,” Blevins says, pointing to the Presentation Concept Canvas as a framework to begin creating artistic renditions. Throughout the community-generated posters and presentations, every participant focused on making worship more inclusive, engaging, and accessible, especially for children and neurodivergent participants. Several common themes occurred including,
Actively engaging children (especially neurodivergent) through movement, tools, and structured play;
Providing resources like kids’ bags, classroom adaptations, sensory tools, and playbooks;
Building community through collaboration, training, liturgy writing, and intentional responses; and
Using creativity (gaming, storytelling, relatable heroes) to connect kids to faithThe materials collectively emphasize creativity, sensory awareness, collaboration, and the reshaping of both worship practices and physical spaces.
Sacred Play: Inviting All Neighbors to Worship
The Sacred Play initiative centers on designing worship where all neighbors are welcome. The plan calls for collaboration among staff, parents of neurodivergent children, therapists, and teachers. Each group contributes to worship through music, responsive readings, storytelling, prayer, and Eucharist. A recurring theme is flexibility — beginning services around the church seasons, adjusting timelines, and refining practices through trial and error. Implementation includes practical steps like writing liturgy, buying supplies, and holding meetings with children and parents.
This project positions worship not as a rigid program, but as a living space where diverse expressions are recognized and embraced.
Supporting Postures of Worship
Another set of ideas focused on worship postures and physical supports. Suggested adaptations include standing squares, velcro dots, fidgets, wobble cushions, and finger labyrinths — small but meaningful tools to help participants remain engaged. The posters also highlighted “Tandem Training,” where teams of leaders model and provide structured guidance. Updating handbooks with reflective language (“I notice, I wonder, I realized”) reinforces sensitivity to experience.
“Sensory Sundays” were proposed as opportunities to broaden the community’s understanding of how posture, tools, and space shape worship participation.
Spaces, Bags, and Communication
One presentation broke ideas into four quadrants: space, kids’ bags, foyer welcome walls, and communication. Space planning sketches showed reconfigured layouts to make worship rooms more navigable. Kids’ bags were proposed as resources filled with items for auditory, visual, social, and sensory needs — as well as drawing pads to foster expression. The foyer welcome wall envisioned a space to greet families with clarity and encouragement. Communication included visual supports, websites, and children’s ministry messaging to keep families connected.
Together, these measures illustrate how careful preparation of both space and resources can create a more hospitable worship environment.
Movement as Worship
Several posters emphasized movement as a pathway to participation. Children can engage both with others and with God through embodied practices. However, they require safe and appropriate spaces to move without disruption or harm. Suggested adaptations included creating quiet corners, sensory activity tables, and clearly designated areas for kneeling or storage.
The message was clear: movement should not be viewed as a barrier to worship but as an essential form of participation.
Caring, Prevention, and Response
One community vision came from Second Presbyterian Church, which declared: “We exist to love God, ourselves, and others — whoever, however, wherever they are.” Around this statement were clustered three commitments: prevention of disruption, support during disruption, and caring response afterward. Concrete strategies included signage, family lounges, headphones, playground spaces, exit ramps, and clear follow-up systems.
This framework moves beyond tolerance toward proactive design, ensuring every participant feels cared for before, during, and after worship.
Playful Engagement: Engaging God Mode
Another creative set of ideas reframed discipleship as play. “Godly Gaming” suggested biblical role-playing games, strategy card games, and activities like cooking or athletics to draw youth into spiritual exploration. “Relatable Heroes” envisioned online videos, print-on-demand resources, and age-specific programming for younger and older children. These efforts would occur both in church and at home, bridging faith and daily life.
This playful approach emphasized that spirituality can be deepened through creativity, storytelling, and connection to familiar cultural forms.
Playbooks for Belonging
Two posters highlighted the value of structured playbooks. Created to Belong – NH proposed a framework including parent intake, volunteer guides, resource lists, classroom experience models, and feedback loops. Beautiful Journey focused on autistic children, suggesting 5th Sunday Worship Services tailored to comfort and adaptability, listening groups for feedback, and specialized training for families and community members.
Both playbooks emphasize adaptability, feedback, and ongoing training — essential for building intentional and supportive communities.
The Practice of Space
One final poster offered a conceptual reminder: “The practice of space and the space of practice.” A cube hovered above stick figures, with arrows showing interaction between the environment and the community. This simple diagram reinforced the theme present throughout all presentations: worship spaces shape practice, and practice, in turn, reshapes space.
Another prototype wrestled with providing space in temporary worship settings. Recognizing that often autistic kids love interaction, but also need resources, the proposal named both the blessing of each child while also proposing a portable storage “space” that could house items but also serve as an interactive framework.
Two questions stand like guardrails at the exit:
Can you find partners to make it happen? This is the “come-to-Jesus moment.” Who will you partner with—consultants, participants, people in your church? Keep it manageable. Will you obtain or adapt resources?
What will you learn from the prototype? Not just works/doesn’t work, but what did the doing teach you? Be ready to adapt, adopt, tweak, or start over.
The day closes the way it began: with a plan for ongoing collaboration. After launch come the three to four inter-session gatherings, the monthly reports—again: God sighting, humorous story, congregant feedback—and the monthly meetings to process learning. There’s a mid-year check-in and another learning session, then a retreat update next year to harvest the lessons. The hope, by then, is modest and ambitious at once: real problems with working solutions—not the illusion of certainty, but the practice of faithful, tested love.
As laptops close and chairs scrape back, a participant snaps a photo of the final slide. In the image, one line lingers like a benediction—and a brief: Leave ready to try.
Conclusion
Taken together, these projects reflect a vision of worship and prayer that is inclusive, playful, and deeply community-driven. The posters encourage churches to:
Prepare sensory-friendly environments.
Provide resources for engagement (bags, fidgets, cushions).
Honor movement as a valid form of worship.
Develop playbooks and training for consistency and support.
Use creativity and cultural tools (games, stories, videos) to connect children and youth.
Build systems of prevention, care, and response.
The consistent theme of Design thinking encouraged participants to not look for perfection, but embrace practice: trying, adjusting, and trying again. In this way, communities move closer to embodying worship and prayer where autistic kids find a place where all truly belong.
Discipleship Commons 