My, oh, my! Amy Fenton Lee has done it again. The last time her site www.inclusivechurch.com was featured here, the topic was a free autism training webinar. Now she’s back with more free resources for churches reaching out to the special needs community.
Special Needs Ministry Resources: Forms and Lots of Links
Amy’s January 10, 2011 blog post, titled Developing a Special Needs Ministry’s Goals & Mission, is a treasure trove of forms and links for churches launching special needs ministries. In one post, she consolidated information that would take church workers days and weeks to find for themselves.
Free Special Needs Ministry Resources Can Be Your Foot in the Door
Parents of kids with special needs can use the resources, too. If your church doesn’t have a special needs ministry, show the post to your pastor or the director of children’s ministries. Think of it as your foot in the door, just what you need to give them, and others in your church without a clue of where to begin, the courage to start a ministry.
Special Needs Ministry Resources Are My Foot in the Door
Amy’s list is my foot in the door. I’m showing it to our church leaders at our all-church planning retreat when they ask for new ministry ideas. So if you know of other good church resources, share them in the comment section. I need all the feet in the door I can get!
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Hi Carol,
As I live in the Midwest, I’m not familiar with what’s available in Pennsylvania. Have you contacted the people at Key Ministries? It is located in the Cleveland, OH area. They may be able to direct you to a church in your area. The website is http://www.keyministry.org/.
Best wishes as you search!
Jolene
I am a grandmother with a special neefs grandson. He is non-verbal.
Our church is small and we r not equipped to handle him. The
teachrs r older and he is very strong. Would like to find a church in the
Lebanon, Pa atra that has a ministry for him.
Can u help me?
Hi Nellie,
Hooray for you for recognizing a need in your church body and working to fill it. My area of expertize is supporting parents of kids with special needs rather than special needs ministries. But here are two special needs ministry organizations with oodles of resources to help local churches start these kinds of ministries. The first is run by Amy Fenton Lee. She blogs at http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/ and posts all sorts of resources for special needs ministries. Spend some time at her website to find interviews with special needs ministry leaders. She also has lots of downloadable forms and other valuable materials.
Second, contact the folks at http://www.KeyMinistry.org. They provide FREE training workshops for churches starting special needs ministries. My good friend Katy Wetherbee has a wealth of information for you to tap into. Click on the “Services” tab at their link to get more information. And tell them Jolene sent you!
Best wishes on your worthy mission,
Jolene
Greetings!
I am browsing the web to check out what might be there for
starting a “Special Needs” ministry in our church. I have been
teaching for many years both in the private and public schools.
I definitely see the need entering our churches. Therefore, I
want to write a proposal for this very ministry. I would love to
hear from you concerning my vision and the need. We attend a
country church with approximately 800 in weekly attendance. We
are building a new sanctuary that should be available by Easter
which will house 1200 people. The platform will hold a choir of
125. We house a Day Care, Christian School (Grds K-4th), a large youth and children’s ministry on Wed & Sunday, as well as
a soup and salad ministry with 95 small groups at present.
I have PA certification in both Elem Ed and Spec Ed. The private school that I taught in for the past 10 years just closed in June 2012 so I am working part time in our Day Care.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon…
Sincerely,
Nellie
Betty,
Inclusion Fusion is putting on a FREE web-based summit in mid-November. Lots of speakers, online chats, and other goodies. A great place to find out what’s out there for special needs ministries. Go to this link to register. You won’t want to miss it! http://inclusionfusion.org/
Best wishes,
Jolene
Hello,
I am Betty from Lebanon, a mother of an autistic boy..we are starting a ministry for Special needs in Lebanon..and i was surfing to find resources that can help us…The free autism seminar is closed it seems. Can i get a copy of it and any resources that could help us start in Lebanon…
I would appreciate if you can help us
Thank You
Betty
Amy,
You are a font of information and support networks. Is there anyone in the special needs ministry community you don’t know?
Jolene
Jolene –
Thanks a million, what a compliment! I am very excited about your book (Different Dream) and book-to-be as I think they are GREAT resources for anyone wanting to support a family affected by special needs.
Cassandra –
One of the greatest sources for my writing has been the parents networking group at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL. Briarwood’s “Special Connections” Ministry offers a whole-family approach to special needs ministry. Joel & Holly Wallace (who developed & lead the ministry) are great resources for any church considering a broader ministry model that includes parent relationship building & networking.
It is a huge blessing when a church has the resources and staff able to coordinate and nurture support groups.
Thanks to both of you!
Amy
I’m glad you found the information helpful, Cassandra. You are so wise to encourage churches to start support groups for parents, too. You are on the right track!
Jolene
Jolene,
Thank you for the information. I’ve forwarded it on to the person that has started the Special Needs Sunday School class for children at our church.
One thing that I encourage churches to also look at when starting a ministry for children, is to not forget about the parents and try and start a parents support ministry at the same time (or right around the same time). The parents need to be able to come together and learn from one another as well as learning about differnt resources that other families have found that might be beneficial for others.
We have recently started a group at our church and it has been a huge blessing!
Cassandra