I’m looking forward to a little trip to Pennsylvania later this week during which I’ll present three workshops at the ENGAGE Children’s Ministry Training Event, graciously hosted by the Central Pennsylvania Children’s Ministry Network at West Shore Evangelical Church in Mechanicsburg (near Harrisburg) PA, on Friday, November 9th and Saturday, November 10th.

The Keynote speaker at the conference is Sue Miller, renowned children’s ministry leader, former director of the Promiseland Children’s Ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, IL, and current employee of the reThink Group in Atlanta, where she leads the team developing the First Look curriculum.

Over 50 workshops will be offered at the conference, including a series of workshops led by Wayne Stocks, founder of Divorce Ministry 4 Kids.

Here are the titles and summaries of the workshops I’ll be presenting at the ENGAGE conference-Click the presentation title in order to download a .pdf file of the slides…

Hidden Disabilities 101

A majority of children with disabilities that negatively impact church attendance and participation suffer from “hidden disabilities”…serious emotional, behavioral, developmental and neurologic conditions with no outwardly apparent symptoms. Most can be successfully included in children’s ministry activities and served through a family ministry approach without the need for “buddies” or the creation of a “special needs ministry.” In this workshop, participants will identify strategies to overcome common barriers to inclusion of kids in children’s ministry with conditions including ADHD, anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders, mood disorders, learning disabilities and trauma, and apply family ministry principles to promoting spiritual growth among children with hidden disabilities and their siblings.

Including the Child With Aggressive Behavior at Church

Kids with a history of aggressive behavior can generally be included in children’s ministry programming with appropriate forethought and training. In this workshop, participants will identify church environments and activities associated with increased risk for aggression, receive tools for disrupting patterns of behavior in children with the potential to lead to aggression, review communication strategies with parents after an act of aggressive behavior has occurred and discuss ministry alternatives when a child with a history of aggression can’t safely be included at church.

Impact of the 3 A’s”…ADHD, Anxiety Disorders and Asperger’s Disorder on Spiritual Development in Kids

Over 9% of children ages 5-17 in the U.S. have received a prescription for ADHD medication. 8-20% meet criteria for at least one anxiety disorder. The majority of kids diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders are of average or above average intelligence. This workshop will help equip children’s ministry staff and volunteers to recognize obstacles to spiritual growth for kids with at least one of the “3 A’s”… ADHD, Anxiety Disorders and Asperger’s Disorder. Strategies will be presented for promoting spiritual growth in kids with the “3 A’s”, partnering effectively with their parents or caregivers and identifying gifts and talents present in kids with the “3 A’s” that might be shaped and molded for Kingdom purposes.

Registration for the two day conference is very modestly priced at $20.00 prior to October 31st, available through this link and includes:

• 3 main sessions with Sue Miller as our keynote speaker
• 5 workshops
• Saturday lunch + snacks throughout the conference
• A Resource Room packed with curriculum, books and lots of information on camps and non profit organizations.

I’m looking forward to meeting personally friends of Key Ministry from Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, as well as children’s ministry leaders from across the mid-Atlantic region at the Engage Conference next month.

Oh yeah…there’s this other little event that our crew from Key Ministry is putting together on the Internet for a couple thousand of our closest friends around the world from November 12-16. For an up to date list of speakers, topics, links to speaker blogs and a link for FREE registration for Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s Second Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, click here.