Summer may have arrived (even in Northeast Ohio), but our crew at Key Ministry will hardly be relaxing and taking it easy over the next few months.

Beginning this week, we’ll be launching a summer series on what may be the most common “hidden disability” seen in kids and a disability that quietly may contribute more to kids dropping out of church programming than any other…anxiety disorders. In this series, we’ll look at the differences between age-appropriate fears and pathological anxiety, explore the different ways in which anxiety might manifest in kids involved with church, examine the causes and treatments for anxiety, examine some of the challenges anxiety disorders present in spiritual development of kids, and explore ways in which parents can promote spiritual growth when they have a child suffering from anxiety.

June is also Special Needs Month at CMConnect.org. Kristy Moser will be interviewing Harmony Hensley from our group on the topic of Respite Care tomorrow on Blog Talk Radio. An updated version of the series on ADHD will be made available on Key Ministry’s CMConnect blog along with links to the series on anxiety to begin here later in the week. Katie Wetherbee will be posting regularly throughout the month, along with our friend Michael Woods at makingroom.net.

We have two JAM (Jumpstart All-Inclusive Ministry) Sessions scheduled for the summer. The first is scheduled for Des Moines, IA on Friday, June 10. The second JAM Session is tentatively set for early August in Northwest Ohio/Northeast Indiana. Contact Katie Wetherbee for more information and for registration for our Iowa JAM Session. As always, registration for all Key Ministry-sponsored events is free of charge.

I’m looking forward to finishing out the summer by speaking at Cedarville University in September for the combined Bioethics Summit and Through The Roof Summit, sponsored by Joni and Friends, from September 15-17 in Cedarville, Ohio. I’m planning to talk about the impact of hidden disabilities on spiritual development in kids, along with interventions for reducing the risk of aggressive behavior at church. Joni Earickson Tada is scheduled to be the keynote speaker. To register for the conference, click the link here.

Last, but certainly not least, our teammate and Board member Rhonda Martin will be launching her tour on August 1 for “Stuck,” written for children with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Rhonda just returned from Book Expo America for interviews and an initial signing event. Congratulations to Rhonda! We’re very much looking forward to her joining us as a guest blogger during the summer series on anxiety.