Inclusion Fusion Speakers…Shannon Dingle

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Dr. G

Late this past winter, I came across a new special needs ministry blog from Shannon Dingle. For all of my faults, I have a pretty good track record as a talent evaluator. The content on Shannon’s blog was really good. We made connections by e-mail and Facebook, and I realized that Shannon has become a highly valued friend and colleague of our team at Key Ministry even though I’ve never actually met her in person, much less spoken over the phone.

Our team has tapped into Shannon’s wisdom and discernment on many occasions while planning Inclusion Fusion. We’re extremely pleased that Shannon will be doing two presentations for Inclusion Fusion. Her first presentation will be on the topic: Common Misconceptions about Special Needs Ministry.

As more churches engage in special needs ministry, we need to take time to dispel some of the more common myths. In Shannon’s first session, she’ll discuss common misconceptions and half-truths about special needs ministry, and participants will leave with practical tools and tips to use at their churches. Myths to be discussed include (1) disability ministry is a children’s ministry endeavor, (2) you don’t need to bother until you have someone with special needs come to your church, (3) you must use one particular model, (4) you need a special education professional to run it, (5) it’s just too hard (or, the flipside, “it’s easy”), (6) it’s just another program, (7) it’s all about ministering to people with disabilities, and (8) it’s optional.

Shannon’s second presentation will afford her an opportunity to speak on another topic she’s passionate about…Disability, the Sanctity of Life, and the Church.

In Psalm 78:6, we are instructed to share the works of God with children, “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn…” Church leaders are motivated to engage in disability ministry because we desire to include those with special needs in our congregations, both the current generations and those to come. However, when we consider Psalm 78:6 as well as the call in Matthew 25 to care for “the least of these,” we must recognize that the individuals with disabilities who are most vulnerable among us are those yet unborn. In this presentation, Shannon will examine Bible verses about the sanctity of life and unpack the ramifications this has for both our understanding disability and our reaction to the rates of abortion of babies with disabilities. Practical ideas for showing the sanctity of all life in your church and to your community will also be discussed. The intended audience for this session is all Christians, not just those currently engaged with the disability community.

Shannon is the volunteer coordinator for Access Ministry at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, which includes Sunday morning inclusion and quarterly respite events. She is also the author of The Works of God Displayed (a special needs ministry blog), tweets at @specialneedsmin, serves as a contributor to the Treasuring Christ curriculum, and has served as a long-time volunteer in children’s, youth, and music ministry. She graduated with a Masters’ Degree in special education from East Carolina University and has taught at all levels from preschool through high school in Texas and North Carolina. As an educational consultant, she has trained hundreds of special education teachers for Teach For America and aided in the design of the special education program for the Recovery School District in New Orleans.

We suspect you’ll come away from Inclusion Fusion as impressed with Shannon as the rest of our Key Ministry team.

Shannon, along with more than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Guest Blog…Cindi and Joe Ferrini

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Dr. G

Our guest bloggers today are Inclusion Fusion speakers Joe and Cindi Ferrini.  Joe and Cindi are the authors of Unexpected Journey: When Special Needs Change Our Course. Their blog post today is on the subject Marriage Matters-and so do other relationships!

Imagine five people lying side by side on the waterbed, Lavoie said. If one person moves the whole family feels it. “If there’s a special needs child, that bed can really get moving.” A learning disability can also create discord in a couple’s marriage, he said. The divorce rate in the U.S. is 50 per cent. But in families with a learning disability it’s closer to 70 per cent. (Authors’ note: Since then some say, 80%)

– Sarnia Observer (Ontario), 11/8/05.

Because of these statistics, many are single parents, but whether single or married, we need the support of others.

Building a strong marriage needs to be done in all aspects of that marriage:  emotionally, physically, and spiritually – and its hard work! This short blog will share some tips that will also coincide with the INCLUSION FUSION Nov. 3-5-A “stay at home” conference with Keynote speaker Chuck Swindoll:

In order to make marriage work, Joe and I have had to Divide and Conquer! That would mean splitting up and one of us accomplishing something while the other “mans the fort”. It’s not always our first choice, not fun, but it’s what works! The idea for YOU, is to consider how this technique would work for you. Here are a few ways we made it work:

  1. In the early days, one of us would go to church. The other would stay home with Joey (and our girls, sometimes). The one at home would bundle up and pack up the car with the children, meet whoever was at church and trade places. That worked during those years when we could have Joey with us IN church and when there was no place to put him AT church.
  2. If Joe was asked to speak somewhere or meet with someone, I’d be the one to manage things at home, and he would do the same for me when I’d have opportunity to go out.
  3. Additionally it’s important to Pamper Your Marriage!  We can’t do life as usual for very long without some kind of relief from the pressures of caring for another’s full-time needs. You can join at INCLUSION FUSION for the full topic, but here are a few ideas to make marriage work when one is caring for another with special needs:
  • Plan intimacy
  • Take time to sit and talk, hold hands, take a walk
  • Grocery shop together and make a recipe together.
  • Plan a weekend away when you have opportunity. Just don’t forget to come home.

TALKING THINGS OUT is crucial to a marriage. That takes time. Here are a few ideas (more will be shared at INCLUSION FUSION) that will help you think what might work for YOU:

  • Write out “care issues”
  • Talk through decisions until mutually coming to an agreement (working through smaller pieces of the decision rather than the big chunk)
  • Offer solutions without judging or jumping to conclusions
  • Show respect for each other’s ideas

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS certainly include extended family – the children we have and our own siblings. This relationship can be tricky because we need to accept help but not take advantage of those who offer help.

We wanted all of our own children to be treated the same but knowing there are some things the person with special needs would need that they won’t. Because of that, we were careful not to ask or expect our own children to care for our son unless we asked them to do so like we would of a babysitter, and then followed through with also financially compensated them. We never wanted them to feel obligated all the time to care for their brother.

We made sure to have family rules, which included the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them” and Mark 12:31, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” If we could follow that, we thought we’d be able to set a good example for our children, neighbors, teachers, etc. Also, we always desired to work as a TEAM (Together Each Accomplishes More).

Family meetings and goal planning were always tops on our list as a family, so we knew we were all on the same page, and no one could say they felt left out or unimportant. Everyone had a “say” at our meetings!

OTHERS: Friends , teachers, aides, administrators, people at church, Key Ministry.

Joni and Friends are folks to keep near us for the well being and help in development and learning of our child with special needs. Our goal? BUILD BRIDGES rather than BURN BRIDGES. These people will give us help in getting to the next step of life. Not everyone will be able to help and be a part of our child’s journey, but it’s important to give as much help and advice (to those willing to learn) so they can be of help and assistance for YOUR life journey. Not all advice we will receive will be helpful, but we can accept it, try it, and use what works – disregarding the rest.

We look forward to being with you Nov. 3-5 at Inclusion Fusion…Join us, will you?

Articles by and Interviews with Joe and Cindi:

Familylife Today: – 3 days of programming called Unexpected Journey from their book (2/09) UNEXPECTED JOURNEY – WHEN SPECIAL NEEDS CHANGE OUR COURSE

  • June 29, 2009 Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine interview Joe and Cindi on FAMILYLIFE today radio. Topic: Facing a Painful Reality:
  • June 30, 2009 Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine of FAMILYLIFE TODAY interview Joe and Cindi. The topic is: Embracing Life’s Changes

Online Broadcasts:

Focus on the Family

Books:

  • Unexpected Journey, When Special Needs Change Our Course – Dr. Joe and Cindi share their journey of caring for their son with special needs and their parents with Alzheimer’s.
  • Balancing the Active Life – an interactive Bible study for anyone of any age – the goal of this 13-week study is to challenge and encourage the participant to prioritize the activities they believe are the most important in their life, with Christ being the center and the focus of all that they do.
  • Get it Together – an organizational planner
  • ‘Tis the Season – a Christmas planner to keep the holiday less stressful and more meaningful

WEBSITE: www.joeferrini.com ,  www.cindiferrini.com

Email us via our website!

Cindi and Joe, along with more than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Inclusion Fusion Speakers…David Glover

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Dr. G

David Glover was one of the first people I had the pleasure to meet in disability ministry. His organization, Zachariah’s Way, and Key Ministry were formed within a year of one another, and I’ve enjoyed meeting up with David at conferences from time to time and monitoring the growth of his ministry. David will be serving as a speaker for Inclusion Fusion, and will be sharing on his most recent ministry endeavor, The P.U.R.E. Ministry Project – What, Why, Where, and When.

The P.U.R.E. Ministry Project was begun in 2009 by Zachariah’s Way as its major ministry focus. Its goal: to make Christians more aware of and to help them reach out, both individually and corporately as the church, to people with disabilities and their families. It is nationwide in scope and through various awareness raising, educational and inspirational forums and methods has been greatly blessed by God.

The purpose of The P.U.R.E. Ministry Project is to call, for the first time, Christians to better minister to people with disabilities and their families. The “call” is being accomplished through a nationwide campaign which will challenge, encourage, promote, and enhance disabilities ministries in churches in North America.

The P.U.R.E. Ministry Project is a movement aimed at local churches to reach the “other 99%” of Christians unaware of (and uninvolved in!) the needs and great blessings of special needs people and their families. As a part of this movement, a new more, accurate, and scriptural word is being introduced to better describe a person with disabilities. The word, “P.U.R.E.”, is gaining great acceptance by Christians across America:

Perfectly created by a loving, sovereign God, designed for His purposes.

Unique in his or her own gifts, blessings, talents, and desires.

Receptive and responsive to our communication, touch and acts of love.

Eternal – There are no disabled souls.

David’s seminar will address the why, what, where, and when of The P.U.R.E. Ministry Project as it relates to you, your church, and your community and how you can become involved!

David serves as President and Founder of Zachariah’s Way. He is married to Lee, Resource Director of Zachariah’s Way, and they reside in Gainesville, Georgia. David and his family founded Zachariah’s Way in 2003 upon the death of his 4 ½ year old grandson, Zachariah, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, severe visual impairment, and a seizure disorder. They are the parents of Katie, Gabe (deceased), and Anna Lee, and grandparents of Zachariah, Hunter, Ben, Madison, Landon, Josiah, Anna Gracelyn, and River.

In conjunction with his role at Zachariah’s Way, David serves as National Consultant for Disabilities Ministries for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. David and Lee are active members of Blackshear Place Baptist Church in Gainesville. David was ordained as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 2008 by Blackshear Place Baptist Church.

David has formerly been instrumental in the founding and development of several technology companies. As Senior Vice President at Stockholder Systems, Inc. (SSI), he played major roles that led to its success and subsequent acquisition by CheckFree Corporation (most recently, Fiserv). In 1985, David co-founded and was Chief Operating Officer of First Bankcard Systems, Inc. (FBS Software), in affiliation with First Atlanta National Bank (now Wachovia), to provide credit card software solutions to banks and third party processors both nationally and internationally. Equifax acquired FBS in 1994 and was a major component in the Equifax spin-off and creation of Certegy (most recently, Fidelity National Services). David has also co-founded and served as President and CEO of ITManna, Inc. an Atlanta based consulting firm.

David serves (or has served) on the boards of directors of: ITManna; Southwest Christian Care (a hospice care facility and a medically fragile children’s respite center); Fellowship of Developmental Disabilities (a national association of disabilities ministries, homes, and organizations); and, Happy Acres Mission (a missionary support organization).

In addition to founding Zachariah’s Way, David has founded and grown three successful business ventures and has held leadership and management positions in church, business, civic and other concerns. He has been dedicated in his work in disability ministry for the last 10 years. David holds a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

We’re looking forward to having someone as accomplished as David share his ministry ideas and passions as part of Inclusion Fusion.

David, along with more than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Inclusion Fusion Speakers…Cara Daily

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Dr. G

I met Cara Daily for the first time nearly six years ago when she was invited to a “get acquainted” lunch I was attending with another practice. At the time, she was a young child psychologist with research interests who had recently left the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism to launch her own treatment center where she could incorporate biblical principles into evidence-based treatment for kids on the autism spectrum. I’ve had the honor of serving on the Board of her non-profit organization, Inner Health Ministries Child Center, and she in turn has been a valuable member of our Key Ministry Board. I’m very pleased to announce Cara will be joining us as a faculty member for Inclusion Fusion, speaking on the topic Autism Spectrum Disorders: Practical Tips for the Church.

Cara’s presentation will provide an overview of autism spectrum disorders, including diagnosis and treatment. Practical interventions for church staff and volunteers serving children and youth with autism will be discussed.

Cara is a licensed Pediatric Psychologist and owner of Daily Behavioral Health.  Her Ph.D. was earned at University of South Carolina in School Psychology. Dr. Daily is a member in several field-related organizations including the American Psychological Association, the Ohio Psychological Association, and the Christian Association of Psychological Studies. Her specialty is in the consultation, assessment, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, chronic medical conditions, and other special needs. She is married to her husband, Gordon, and has a son, Quentin.

Cara, along with more than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Serving the King is the Noblest of Things…Laura Lee Wright

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Dr. G

Laura Lee Wright has graciously agreed to serve as our guest blogger today. Laura Lee is the Access Ministry Team Leader at Northland Church in Orlando. She offers a preview today of her upcoming presentation for Inclusion Fusion on the topic “For Kingdom’s Sake” in which she discusses strategies for engaging kids with disabilities in productive service.

“Serving the King is the noblest of things”, is what our kids learn in Children’s Church at Northland.  For weeks, they watch great sketches learning who is important, King Jesus! It is out of relationship with King Jesus we find purpose and that is to serve the one who came to serve us long ago.

Over the years I have watched disability ministry change. In the beginning, there was an emphasis on physical accessibility to churches and then a need to “watch” children while moms and dads got the privilege of attending worship.  In the last decade, churches throughout the United States have embraced teaching people who live with intellectual disabilities the gospel, and have promoted relationship with King Jesus.  Relationship with Jesus is a wonderful thing but we are called to do much more than just have a relationship.

If coming into relationship was enough, once we made that commitment we would be off to spend our days at the right hand of the Father.  The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Clearly, the author of Ephesians (the apostle Paul) tells us we were created to do good works or service. The Bible does not tell the world that some of us will engage in service-instead there is a collective “we”.  This means all of us, those without disability as well as those with disability are called into service.

1 Peter 4:10, tells us, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.” We teach our kids with disabilities from early on that service is a part of having a relationship with King Jesus!  Some kids pray, others collect offerings, others attend service days and package food that will be eaten on the African continent! For others, their ministry is to be amongst us.  For Kingdom Sake, how are you teaching others to serve?

Laura Lee, along with more than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!


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Inclusion Fusion Speakers…Jeff McNair

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Dr. G

Jeff McNair serves as Professor of Special Education and Director of the Disability Studies MA program at California Baptist University.  One of the few programs of its kind offered by a Christian university, the Master of Arts in Disability Studies is a distance learning degree program designed to develop expertise in human differences. Beyond preparing professionals to lead, establish and shape disability programs, ministries and policies, CBU’s M.A. in Disability Studies prepares graduates to challenge and change the way society and organizations relate to people with disabilities.

We’re pleased to announce Jeff will be presenting for Inclusion Fusion on the topic of Integration as a Core Value.

Jeff’s presentation will examine the critical, core value of integration of persons with disabilities to the local church. In particular, Jeff will outline how a radical approach to integration changes everything in terms of faith development for all church members, structures and programs, and the way people see each other. Recommendations will be provided as to how to make integration happen in the local church.

Jeff has written several books, including The Church and Disability: The Weblog disabledChristianity, a compilation of selected blog entries from the first five years of the weblog Disabled Christianity.  It was written in response to requests to have the weblog material in a more accessible form.  Entries are grouped into several categories including, the church, ministry, and people with disabilities.

Jeff and his wife Kathi have personally been involved in local church ministry to adults with intellectual disabilities for over 30 years. We’re honored to have someone of Jeff’s credentials joining us for Inclusion Fusion.

More than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Inclusion Fusion Speakers…Rebecca Hamilton

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Dr. G

Rebecca Hamilton has served as our Executive Director at Key Ministry for the past 5+ years. She came to us with a background in non-profit fund development, having worked for Malachi House in Cleveland (a Christian organization providing home care to indigent people with terminal illnesses), Lawrence School (a private, non-profit school serving kids with learning differences) and the Red Cross. She earned her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from West Virginia University in 1990.

During Rebecca’s time with us, we’ve experienced radical growth in the breadth and depth of our ministry resources. She’s still found lots of time to earn her “stripes” in hands-on ministry. In her role with Key Ministry, she has worked on building a network of Christian churches to provide free, rolling respite care for children with disabilities. For the last two years, she’s served on the leadership team of the Breathe respite ministry at Fellowship Bible Church (her home church) in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Breathe is the largest respite ministry in Key Ministry’s Northeast Ohio network, serving between 50-75 kids and their families in a typical month. Rebecca will be sharing from her experience in the leadership of a large and growing respite ministry in her Inclusion Fusion presentation Starting a Respite Outreach at Your Church.

Rebecca’s most impressive accomplishment is one she shares with her husband, Doug. They’ve done a great job raising two daughters (Tait and Abby) who’ve begun to use their gifts and talents to help build the Kingdom.

More than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!


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A Good Kind of Busy

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Dr. G

I’ve had a “good” problem lately. While our team has been very busy in making preparations for Inclusion Fusion, lots of exciting things have been taking place for members of our team and our friends in other ministry organizations. Because of our desire to keep everyone who follows our blog updated on Inclusion Fusion and the series we’ve been doing this fall on including kids with aggressive behavior at church, I haven’t had an opportunity to call attention to the work that our teammates and friends have been pursuing. Sunday feels like a good day to rest, reflect upon recent events and appreciate some of the extraordinarily talented people with whom I get to do ministry.

Katie Wetherbee took a little day trip on Friday to O’Hare Airport for the annual Disability Ministry “Fly-In.” Ministry leaders from around the U.S. and Canada get together for a day of idea sharing, vision-casting and encouragement. For both myself and our Key Ministry team, relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ provide the jet fuel that allows our ministry to fly.

I had an opportunity the week before last to meet up with our team in Dallas when they were at Insight for Living to film Chuck’s Swindoll’s keynote presentation for Inclusion Fusion, as well as presentations with Chuck’s daughter Colleen, an interview with Chuck and Colleen, and an interview with Colleen’s children. I’ll talk more about the folks at IFL in a future post, but for all that Chuck has accomplished through his radio ministry, his writing, his tenure as a seminary president and as a pastor, I was most impressed by the spiritual legacy Chuck and his wife (Cynthia) have established through their family. Check out the interview Katie did with Colleen’s kids during Inclusion Fusion and you’ll see what I mean.

Shannon Dingle has been extraordinarily helpful to our team in helping us to prepare for Inclusion Fusion. God’s using her already to do great things in disability ministry. Within two or three years, she’s going to be a featured speaker at major conferences. She’s going to be doing two presentations for Inclusion Fusion…Disability, the Sanctity of Life, and the Church and Common Misconceptions about Special Needs Ministry. Shannon also did a great blog post on Inclusion Fusion…check it out.

Rebecca Hamilton is with Rhonda Martin in Boston, where Rhonda is signing her new book for kids with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and their families, Stuck at the American Academy of Pediatrics Annual Meeting. Rhonda has developed a new website on the topic of OCD in kids, and will be presenting on the topic of promoting spiritual development in kids with anxiety at Inclusion Fusion.

Finally, another of our Board members, Stephen Burks had a special event to celebrate this weekend with the premiere screening of his first film, The Power of Conscience. Stephen has a fabulous vision for using the arts as agents of redemption for the Kingdom, and has played an invaluable role in the development and production for Inclusion Fusion. Here’s his film:

More than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Inclusion Fusion Speakers…Jim Hukill

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Dr. G

Jim Hukill has been a leader in the disability ministry movement before I became aware that there was a disability ministry movement. For the past fourteen years Jim has served as Executive Director of Lift Disability Network, the successor organization to the Christian Council on Persons With Disabilities. He was one of the first speakers to sign on for Inclusion Fusion.  We’re pleased to announce that Jim will be speaking on the topic…Renovate: Transforming a Disability Movement.

In this workshop Jim will discuss the idea of building a movement that establishes trends by understanding the foundational problems of the disability life and engaging in a passion of restoration that is bigger than individual ministry or a personal legacy. He’ll address the question of whether the Christian disability movement fallen into a melancholy, ‘live among the rubble’ state? Has the movement become a reactionary community without the ability to be a real change agent?

The plight of Jerusalem at the beginning of the book of Nehemiah was they lived among ruins. No one rushed to fix the problem. How striking that for generations they conformed to their surroundings and lived in among what was left over. And, no one showed them a better life until Nehemiah. Who will be the “Nehemiahs” of the disability ministry movement?

Before the age of two, Jim was diagnosed with a neuro-muscular disease, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that has steadily weakened the muscles of his body and has left him dependent on the use of a wheelchair. However, the limitation of Jim’s physical body has not dictated the limits of his life. Jim says, “If you dream big dreams, you will live bigger realities”. With a life expectancy of less than ten years and a diagnosis of life-long respiratory problems, Jim has experienced living well beyond this early prognosis. Today he celebrates more than five decades of “life-miracles” and bigger realities. To hear him communicate his life-experience, you quickly become aware of the vitality that resonates from every breath as you see …God’s strength…being made perfect…in weakness.

More than twenty leaders in children’s ministry and disability ministry are coming together on November 3rd-5th to put on a FREE Special Needs Ministry Web Summit to connect church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. That’s Inclusion Fusion, Key Ministry’s First Annual Special Needs Ministry Web Summit, featuring Keynote Speaker Chuck Swindoll. Register here for the Summit!

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Kids With Aggressive Behavior at Church…How Can Parents Help?

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Dr. G

This is the ninth post in our Fall series Beyond Zero Tolerance: When Kids Become Aggressive at Church. Today, we’ll take a look at what parents can do to help church staff and volunteers maintain ministry environments that are safe for everyone.

Last winter, we spent two months discussing the importance of family-based ministry approaches with families of kids who have hidden disabilities, emphasizing the importance of partnerships between church staff, volunteers and parents. The need for partnership is especially important in serving kids with a history of frequent and/or severe maladaptive aggression.

Partnerships usually involve mutual goals, rights and responsibilities. Parents of kids at risk for aggressive behavior have responsibilities they should meet in order for everyone (their child, other children, volunteers and church staff) to have a God-honoring experience that promotes Kingdom building and spiritual growth. Here are four steps parents can take to help improve the likelihood their child will be safely and successfully included in church programming and activities…

Do share information with ministry team about techniques shown to help prevent/reduce aggression at home and school. Knowledge of  specific antecedents associated with aggressive behavior, early signs of behavior escalation and strategies found helpful in diffusing anger or irritability at home are invaluable to church staff and volunteers.

Do administer medication shown to help reduce the frequency and severity of aggressive behavior during church activities, with the approval of the child’s treating physician. Many kids at risk of maladaptive aggression attend schools staffed by teachers with additional training and experience in special education. If a child needs medication to be successful in a learning environment staffed by trained professionals, why would parents think they would do well without medication in a church environment staffed by (mostly) untrained staff and volunteers?

Do be aware of the concern that aggressive behavior presents in church settings with largely untrained volunteers. See above.

Do consider (for the sake of other kids and volunteers) keeping your child at home when he/she exhibits aggression that you can’t successfully manage at home. To borrow from language used in the schools, church may not be the “least restrictive educational environment” for every single child. We need to remember what the goal is. Isn’t our directive from Jesus to “make disciples?” Where does it say in the Bible that the process of becoming a disciple has to occur inside the walls of the church for every single kid every single week?

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shutterstock_291556127Key Ministry encourages our readers to check out the resources we’ve developed to help pastors, church leaders, volunteers and families on mental health-related topics, including series on the impact of ADHD, anxiety and Asperger’s Disorder on spiritual development in kids, depression in children and teens, pediatric bipolar disorder, and strategies for promoting mental health inclusion at church.

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