Every participant in a church has unique needs. Pastors, councils, and care teams tailor their caring ministry to the needs of each individual. Below are a variety of resources to help understand and minister to people with disabilities.
A Compassionate Journey: Coming Alongside People with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses
By John G. Cook available from Faith Alive Christian Resources.
A Compassionate Journey guides readers in the practice of compassion and provides a helpful perspective on caring in the face of long-term need. That makes this book ideal for study by church councils, care teams, adult education groups, and individuals who want to learn how to show care to people with long-term needs.
Disability Etiquette
Caring begins with something as simple as a friendly greeting. Here are some tips for proper etiquette with a person with a disability. (Please note that this list of tips comes from the Job Accommodation Network.)
Starting a Disability Ministry
According to a 2010 survey, only 50 percent of people with disabilities attend church at least once a month, compared to 57 percent of people without disabilities. In various ways, churches are sending the message that people with disabilities are not welcome. Yet, if churches were fully exhibiting the love of Jesus, all members disabled or nondisabled, would know the full hospitality and love of God. To begin ministry with people with disabilities, a congregation needs to know where to begin. Though people with disabilities have a variety of needs, caring congregations will work to understand common concerns of people with disabilities and ways to address them. Disability Concerns encourages churches each to have a church advocate to work within their own churches toward greater inclusion of people with disabilities. The church advocates are in turn encouraged and supported by regional advocates who support the church advocates in their work.
Care for Individuals and Families Living with Disability
Stress on families who live with disability is much higher than for the population at large. Churches can help in a variety ways.
- Setting Boundaries. ADNet has collected a number of articles into one page on this very important topic for ministry. The introduction to their page on setting boundaries says, "Setting healthy boundaries enables us to persist in sharing Christ's love through difficult circumstances. Congregations that are able to set healthy boundaries are able to welcome people with mental illness or other disabilities without fearing that needy people will overwhelm their caring capacities."
- Discerning needs. To care, one must know the needs. Healthy churches will work to determine the unique needs of each person and family in their congregation. Here are three questionnaires which care teams can use: questionnaire for parents of children with a disability, questionnaire for people with disabilities and caregivers, and check list for councils and church leadership.
- Care Teams and Respite Care. The divorce rate of couples who have a child with disabilities is reported to be 80%. Single parents raising a child with a disability have all the challenges that single-parenting involves in addition to the challenge of caring for and raising a child with a disability. Caregivers to a person with a disability, whether that caregiver is parent, spouse, or child of the person with a disability, deal with enormous stress. Churches can help relieve this stress by organizing care teams and by organizing respite care for each family/individual dealing with disability. Training individuals responsible for congregational care can be of great help as well. The following resources will be useful in helping others care for people living with disabilities: Workshop on the Church and Disabilities, Ways to Help People Living with Disabilities, and Suggestions for Visiting.
- Support Groups. Many individuals and families living with disability taste loneliness on a daily basis. Support groups can provide helpful companionship and networking for resources. Starting a successful support group takes time and knowledge. These resources can help: getting started, housekeeping items, mental illness support group.
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Directory of Christian Service Providers. A directory of agencies in the U.S. and Canada that provide services to persons with developmental disabilities. Contact us to order. This directory gives data on some nonprofit agencies that are based on Christian principles and serve people who have mental retardation or developmental disabilities. Examples of the services they provide are housing, education, work opportunities, etc. These agencies have unofficial relationships to the Christian Reformed Church in that they have Christian Reformed members in residence or on their staff or board, or have roots in the CRC and draw significant financial support from the denomination.
Learning about Specific Disabilities
These one-page descriptions of specific disabilities include discussions questions. They will work well for council educational times, church school, small groups, and other settings.
Contact Us
We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to call Mark Stephenson at 616.224.0801, toll free at 888.463.0272, or e-mail disabilityconcerns@crcna.org.
