This past Sunday, we shared some preliminary data from a survey we undertook of pastors, church staff and family members who are constituents of our ministry. I promised to follow up on the most frequent complaint we received…that churches we serve weren’t available locally to those who responded to our survey. Here’s how we plan to respond…

One of our former staff members contributed greatly to shaping our culture through her advocacy for training and resourcing small churches. An immediate reality for ministry organizations such as ours is that finances and the availability of skilled trainers place great limitations on our ability to be everywhere we would like to be. The internet radically increases our capacity to offer training, resources and relationship to churches everywhere.

This month, we’ll start to experiment with offering online training during times when we’re not offering worship services through our online church platform. Every day from now through October 4th, we’re offering training videos from Dr. Cara Daily at 11:00 AM Eastern addressing ministry strategies for serving kids with autism spectrum disorders. Each day at 2:00 PM, we’ll have training videos from Jolene Philo on practical strategies for churches seeking to serve families of kids with special needs and help with understanding the signs of post-traumatic stress in children and teens. On Thursday, September 18th at 12:00 PM Eastern, Dr. Daily will be available for a live, interactive chat. On the following Thursday at 12:00 Eastern, Jolene will be available for a live chat. In the month of October, we’ll be sharing our first training from our core curriculum, discussing strategies churches might use to welcome kids and families impacted by anxiety.

We’ll also have resources for parents. Every evening at 10:00 PM Eastern through October 4th we’ll be featuring our interview with Colleen Swindoll-Thompson and her father, Chuck, along with an interview in which Colleen’s kids discuss their experience growing up with a brother with autism. Colleen will be joining us for a parent chat on Thursday, September 25th at 8:30 PM Eastern time.

In the early days of our ministry, we committed to providing relationships as well as resources. Shannon Dingle and Mike Woods are available to consult with churches of any size looking for help in either taking the next step toward growing their ministry for kids with disabilities and their families, or assisting churches seeking to include one kid or one family.

Finally, a word about our Front Door online church experiment…while online church is a solution for folks who don’t have any alternative in their community, it’s not a substitute for worshiping in the physical presence of other Christ-followers. While this is very preliminary, we’re beginning to explore the possibility of helping families launch house churches if they don’t have a church to attend within a reasonable distance.

We’re looking forward to lots of new developments in the coming ministry year. Hope you’ll join us for the ride!

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We’re moving into our new online home! Beginning next Sunday, The Front Door Main Campus  will be offering unique worship experiences with prayer and music from generous artists desirous of sharing their gifts and talents with families impacted by disabilities. During the day, we’ll have opportunities for ministry training through video and interaction with recognized disability ministry leaders. After the kids are in bed, we’ll have resources for parents and opportunities to connect. Check out our videos throughout this coming week and church online beginning next Sunday, September 14th!