Ministering to Families with Special Needs

According to the Annie E Casey Foundation, close to 30% of U.S. households with children have at least one child with a special health care need. Among kids ages 3 to 17 with special health care needs, more than half (56%) have a current mental health or behavioral diagnosis, such as ADHD, depression, or anxiety.

These families are an opportunity for the local church to show love and compassion. It is a time for churches to evaluate their ministries so they can pave the way for special needs families to belong. Let us embrace the challenges to make needed accommodations and changes so that we can engage each family in loving ways. 

Many families with special needs are reluctant to visit local churches because they find them unwelcoming, and churches in general are just not prepared or educated to help families with special needs feel part of the life of the church. 

I would encourage your church to consider some of the following proactive steps.

Ask Questions

Encourage church leaders to ask questions about integrating and welcoming people with special needs. Questions might include:

What barriers exist within our facility that prevent families from being able to fully engage?

How does our team(s) meet the needs of families with special needs?

Do we need to adjust our practices to ensure that those with special needs can participate?

Is what we do welcoming to those with special needs?

Is our church culture hospitable to families with special needs?

Do a Walk-Through of Your Facility

Identify areas that are not welcoming and accessible for those with disability challenges. This could be steps or step ups that make access hard. It could be classrooms in places that families cannot easily access. It could be tight spaces that cannot accommodate needed equipment. It could be that there is extreme noise or lighting that makes it hard to participate. Walking through on a regular basis and making changes communicates that we want to be inclusive and we want families with special needs to come to our church.

Provide Education and Awareness to Your Teachers and Volunteers

There are four major categories of special needs: physical, behavioral, developmental, and sensory. Each of these categories has unique needs and we need to make sure that our leaders and volunteers are aware and equipped to engage these challenges in positive ways. As potential caregivers, we need to know some basic skills so that we can make dynamic changes to our programs and curriculums when we welcome those with special needs. You might even consider finding materials and curriculum that have built-in options to help accommodate our special needs friends. Consider contacting Joni and Friends New England and take advantage to their various resources.

Plan a Special Event to Invite Families with Special Needs

A great way to let families know that you are special needs friendly, plan to have an event especially catered to the needs of their children. You might do a Sensory Easter Egg Hunt, offer to care for their children while parents have a night out, family photo shoot in the park. Make sure that this event is organized with enough volunteers and activities that will provide families with lots of fun. At every event, be sure to encourage your church to attend so that relationships can be forged, and connections made.

These are important actions that might help your church be more open and welcoming to those in your community with disability challenges. See what changes you might be able to make to give encouragement to those who are finding it difficult to connect with faith communities.

Sandy Coelho serves as Lay Leadership Development Coordinator at the Baptist Churches of New England.