We’re continuing our miniseries examining Six “Key” Strategies…operating principles and approaches that provide a framework for our staff and volunteers when unexpected opportunities arise. Today, we’ll examine our efforts to advance our mission and the disability ministry movement through seeking opportunities to educate as many leaders within the church as possible about the needs of families with disabilities…and the resources available to support them at church.

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

Romans 1:14-15 (NIV)

Paul wanted to go to Rome. Rome was the center of the world’s culture at that time… similar to New York today. If you were seeking to have a significant impact on thought and culture in the first century A.D., Rome was the place you had to be. If you’re an organization seeking to impact the church, conferences and social media are where you need to be.

Our people and resources are irrelevant if churches don’t know they exist. While there’s a fair amount of narcissistic self-promotion in ministry world, there’s nothing wrong with seeking out opportunities to be a positive influence for including families of kids with disabilities in the church. As a result we’ve actively pursued (and sought to create) platforms…conferences, publications, online resources and social media for getting the word out about Key Ministry, as well as other like-minded ministries. We needed a strategy for creating awareness among the most people who can do ministry for the least amount of money.

In pursuing this strategy, we’ve sought to model the change we seek by offering our platforms to like-minded leaders and ministries. We want other ministries to be featured in our blogs and included in our conferences. Including others serves as an ongoing protection against selfish ambition and helps us to maintain our focus on the primacy of advancing the Kingdom. The nature of modern social media is such that we’re most likely to be successful in communicating the work of our ministry by sharing our platforms with others.

We’ve sought to implement this strategy in the past by launching our social media initiative, participating in conferences such as the Accessibility Summit, the Orange Conference, Group’s Kidmin Conference, the Children’s Ministry Web Summit, and launching Inclusion Fusion.. In the future, any online platform we develop for training and worship will include resources from many ministries and many churches. We are interested in developing relationships with publishers for the purpose of disseminating our resources to a broader audience.

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16 (MSG)

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Our Key Ministry team will be hitting the road to be part of the 2013 Accessibility Summit, hosted by McLean Bible Church in suburban Washington D.C. on April 19th-20th. This year’s Summit features Emily Colson (daughter of Chuck) As an artist, author, and speaker, Emily is passionate about inspiring others to persevere through their challenges and appreciate life’s gifts. In her book Dancing with Max, she and her late father share the struggle and beauty of life with Max, Emily’s son with autism.

For more on our Key Ministry presentations, click here. For more information on the Summit and registration, click on the Summit logo to the right.