In our part of the country, parents and families are quite busy with back to school shopping and finalizing plans for the year ahead. Our Key Ministry crew is preparing to hit the road for a number of live training events. While we hope this list will grow longer, we wanted to give our followers a sneak preview of events planned for Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky this coming Fall…
Saturday, September 12, 2015, Bay Presbyterian Church, Bay Village, OH:
The Every Child Welcome Workshop is a networking and training event for church staff, volunteers, parents, and professionals in the special needs ministry community. Serving as Keynote Speaker is former Key Ministry staff member Katie Wetherbee, co-author of Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs. The workshop will also feature an “Ask the Doctor” interactive segment with Dr. Steve Grcevich from Key Ministry.
The workshop is free. Online registration (available here) is encouraged, although walk-ins will be accommodated as space permits. This workshop is sponsored by Bay Presbyterian Church and Key Ministry and is a follow up to the Northeast Ohio Special Needs Conference hosted by Bay Pres this past February.
September 18-19, 2015, Christ Covenant Church, Matthews, NC
Join Joni and Friends Charlotte for our second Southeast Disability Ministry Summit. Be inspired by Keynote Speakers John Stonestreet, national radio host of The Point, and Emily Colson, author of award-winning book Dancing with Max.
Shannon Dingle will be presenting from Key Ministry on the topic Special Needs of Adoptive and Foster Care Families.
Research shows that children who are or have been in foster care or an institutional setting like an orphanage have higher rates of disability, mental illness and neurological changes due to early childhood trauma than the general population. Is your church ready to welcome them while offering hope and help to their families? In this workshop, Shannon will share five specific ways your church can make itself a safe place for these children and teens. She will draw from her experience as a special educator, a disability ministry leader, a church consultant for Key Ministry, and a mom of six children, four of whom joined her family through special needs adoption.
Cost: $85 per person; $65 per person (group of 4 or more); $45 per student* Click here to register…Contact: Kate Brueck, Church Relations Manager, Joni and Friends Charlotte; kbrueck@joniandfriends.org or 704-841-1177
October 19-21, 2015, Music City Center, Nashville TN
Shannon Dingle will be leading two sessions at Lifeway’s Kids Ministry Conference, to be held October 19-21, 2015 at Music City Center, Nashville, TN. Her sessions will include Recruiting, Training and Supporting Volunteers in Disability Ministry and Common Misperceptions About Special Needs Ministry. For more information or to register, click here.
November 5-7, 2015, Summit Church, Durham, NC
Shannon Dingle will be serving as a presenter at this year’s Together for Adoption conference. More information to follow on the specifics of Shannon’s presentations. Click here for registration.
November 7, 2015, Louisville, Kentucky
More to come on this shortly, but Dr. Steve Grcevich is tentatively scheduled to serve as Keynote presenter at a regional training event planned in Louisville. Save the date…more to come by the end of August.
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Key Ministry is pleased to make available our FREE consultation service to pastors, church leaders and ministry volunteers. Got questions about launching a ministry that you can’t answer…here we are! Have a kid you’re struggling to serve? Contact us! Want to kick around a problem with someone who’s “been there and done that?” Click here to submit a request!
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