Among the free resources available on the Key Ministry website is a two-part interview Katie Wetherbee conducted with Chuck Swindoll and his daughter Colleen for Inclusion Fusion 2011. During the interview Chuck and Colleen discuss their experiences at length of living with Jonathan, Colleen’s youngest son who has been diagnosed with autism.

Chuck spoke at length about the impact of Jonathan’s disability on their family, how his presence in the family has been a blessing, and how Jonathan has helped him become more effective in his ministry to people with disabilities. Chuck also addresses the question of how seminaries can better prepare pastors to minister to families impacted by disability. Colleen has some great insights for leaders in the church on how to communicate sensitively with families of children with disabilities. Chuck and Colleen also spoke of the impact of Jonathan’s disabilities on the other kids in their family.

Chuck has been among the most influential Bible teachers and Christian leaders of the past half century. His teaching is broadcast on over 2,000 radio stations around the world in seven different languages. He is the author of over seventy titles, including The Church Awakening, Embraced by the Spirit and The Grace Awakening.

Chuck currently serves as the Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, after having served as President of the seminary from 1994-2001. He continues to serve as the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Stonebriar is home to a highly regarded special needs ministry.

Chuck and his team at Insight For Living have had a longstanding interest in ministry to families of kids with special needs. Members of our Key Ministry team have had many conversations with IFL staff over the past six or seven years around areas where our organizations might collaborate. Stonebriar Church had published one of the earliest comprehensive guides to church-based special needs ministry (no longer in print). Chuck did a series of radio broadcasts years ago with his daughter, Colleen about the impact of his grandson’s symptoms of autism on their family.

Colleen Swindoll-Thompson serves as the Director of Special Needs Ministry at Insight for Living, where she regularly blogs, maintains an active presence on Facebook through the “Special Needs Ministry” page, personally ministers to parents and families worldwide struggling to raise kids with disabilities, and has assembled an array of resources for parents of kids with special needs.

Here’s Part One and Part Two of Katie’s interview with Chuck and Colleen…

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