An Early Christmas Present for Key Ministry…And The Churches We Serve

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Dr. G

I’m very pleased to announce that our friend and colleague Harmony Hensley will be taking on a greatly expanded role with Key Ministry in 2012 and beyond.

Harmony has felt called to take on a newly created position of Director of Ministry Advancement. She’ll be assuming a role on our core ministry team alongside Rebecca Hamilton and Katie Wetherbee.

From the beginning of our ministry, we’ve been very intentional about wanting to provide not just resources to churches, but to also offer relationships. Doing ministry with families of kids with disabilities is extraordinarily challenging. Putting on an event like Inclusion Fusion or speaking at ministry conferences is great, but there will be times when church staff and volunteers just need to be able to pick up the phone (or log into Skype) to talk with a wise and experienced person for ideas or advice about a challenging ministry situation.

The task of building an organization to deliver personalized consultation and support to church staff and volunteers in dozens of major cities to accompany our rapidly expanding training resources is a daunting task. We figured a pastor known for leading “Team Big” would be up to the task. We’re looking to Harmony to lead our efforts to develop the systems and resources necessary to provide personalized support to churches everywhere. Her job will be to grow the ministry and give it away.

Our team is very grateful to our friends at Cincinnati Vineyard for helping to shape Harmony into the leader she is today. I’ve always felt God’s presence when we’ve been at the Vineyard. She’s had the privilege of working with and learning from a number of outstanding pastors and volunteer leaders. Similar to the early church at Antioch (Acts 13:1-3), the leadership of the Vineyard have been very generous in sharing of their “best and brightest” for the purpose of reestablishing God’s Kingdom. I hope and trust that Harmony’s upcoming transition represents the “end of the beginning” of Key Ministry’s relationship with the Vineyard.

I remember speaking to some folks from our team after first meeting Harmony at the Accessibility Summit. I said something to the extent of…”Whatever ministry team or organization gets Harmony is going to dominate the field.”

Game On!

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Lessons For Church Leaders in “Medication Nation”

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Dr. G

PillsThis past Friday, we looked at statistics from Medco Health Solutions demonstrating that more than one in five U.S. adults (and more than one in four women) take medication on a regular basis for a mental health condition. The percentage of the U.S. population taking psychotropic medication has increased 22% in the last ten years. Today, I’ll share a few thoughts on why church leaders should care about the data.

Kids are more anxious than ten years ago. Implication…Check to see how many children from families who regularly attend are in your adult worship services as an alternative to their age-appropriate programming. Follow up on uninvolved kids from middle and high school with families who regularly attend. 

Churches are more likely to encounter kids with serious problems with aggressive behavior. Implication…Train staff and volunteers to recognize risk factors for and signs of aggressive behavior before problems escalate. Develop plans to protect staff, volunteers and other kids in the event aggressive behavior occurs during church events.

Kids are far less likely than their parents to receive medication for mental health issues. Implication…Most kids with a psychiatric diagnosis attending church programming won’t be getting medication (or any effective non-medical treatment) for their condition. Odds are that their parents aren’t aware that they have a disorder, and the parents probably won’t share information about their child’s condition with church staff or key volunteers if they are aware. Plan to include them in your full range of programming with children and youth.

Churches need to be strategic about creating environments welcoming to families of women with anxiety or depression. Implication…How would your church present itself differently to the community knowing that a large percentage of potential attendees struggle with anxiety? How would your outreach strategies change? How would your assimilation process change? How would the style and content of your communication change?

Young-to middle age adults are seeking help for problems with organization and focus in record numbers, as indicated by a 188% increase in use of ADHD medication among men, and a 264% increase among women. Implication… Consider the ways in which you communicate important information. Does snail mail or even e-mail capture their attention? Do you have realistic expectations regarding the ability of parents with children to make and keep ongoing commitments of time? Are your people clear as to the most important steps they should take to grow spiritually and to promote the spiritual development of their children?  

A recent study from Baylor University reported that the availability of support for mental health needs from their local church was ranked second among 47 possible types of assistance by the 27% of families attending church while coping with mental illness. This particular study looked only at families already attending church…what about families lacking a connection to church?

Updated August 25th, 2013

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ADHD Series LogoKey Ministry offers a resource center on ADHD, including helpful links, video and a blog series on the impact of ADHD upon spiritual development in kids and teens. Check it out today and share the link with others caring for children and youth with ADHD.

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How Many Kids (and Parents) are Taking Medication?

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Dr. G

I came across an interesting online report from Medco Health Solutions (the pharmacy benefit managers) examining the patterns of medication use for emotional and behavioral disorders among children and adults in the U.S. I thought the data (derived from a pharmacy claims database covering two million Americans) might be eye-opening to our friends in church world in understanding the population they currently serve.

More than one in five adult residents of the U.S. currently take medication for a mental health disorder, including more than one in four women. More boys than girls are on medication, but the rate of increase in the use of medication is greater in girls than boys.

More than one in five women in the U.S. takes antidepressant medication (commonly used for anxiety as well as depression). Over the past ten years, there has been a 28% increase in the use of antidepressants among men, and a 29% increase among women. Among kids, rates of antidepressant use (primarily prescribed for anxiety) have been stable over the past five years and are lower than they were in the early part of the decade, prior to the “black box” warnings issued by the FDA about increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior.

The rate of increase in anti-anxiety medication use was greatest among kids in the 10-19 age group…possibly related to the decrease in the use of antidepressants to treat anxiety because of the FDA warnings.

The percentage of girls taking medication for ADHD is increasing nearly four times as quickly as the percentage of boys on medication. Most notable over the past ten years is the rate of increase in use of ADHD medication among adults. More women than men take medication for ADHD (the reverse of the situation in childhood).

We’ve seen enormous increases in the use of second-generation antipsychotics. In children and teens, these medications are indicated for use in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe aggression associated with autism spectrum disorders, but are primarily used to treat aggressive behavior. Around 1% of kids in the U.S. are prescribed antipsychotics, but the rate of use has doubled in the past ten years.

On Sunday, we’ll look at some of these numbers in more depth and discuss what they might mean for churches as they seek to serve those living in their surrounding communities.

Updated 8/24/13

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600817_10200479396001791_905419060_nConfused about all the changes in diagnostic terminology for kids with mental heath disorders? Key Ministry has a resource page summarizing our recent blog series examining the impact of the DSM-5 on kids with mental health disorders. Click this link for summary articles describing the changes in diagnostic criteria for conditions common among children and teens, along with links to other helpful resources!

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Inclusion Fusion…What’s Next?

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Dr. G

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the incredible success of Key Ministry’s inaugural Inclusion Fusion Special Needs Ministry Web Summit. The response to the conference exceeded all of our expectations. 1,032 pastors, children’s, youth and disability ministry leaders, volunteers, parents and caregivers from 42 states in the U.S. and five countries were registered for the conference.

We’re incredibly appreciative of the enthusiastic support we received from all of our speakers…especially from Chuck Swindoll, his wife Cynthia, his daughter Colleen and their family. Chuck and his family have so many competing demands on their time, and lots of worthwhile ministry opportunities to pursue. Their graciousness in sharing their time and talents with an upstart organization and willingness to publicly lend their credibility within the church to the cause of including families of kids with special needs were indispensible to the success of the conference. Most of all, they reflected the character of Christ. Thanks to all of you at Insight for Living! Well done.

The other individual without whom Inclusion Fusion wouldn’t have been possible is Jeremy Collins from Pajama Conference and Bethel House Media. Jeremy had very little sleep for a number of days due to all of the last minute preparations involved with a first-time conference. I’m sure Jeremy spent a significant amount of money on servers that he hadn’t budgeted in response to our technical issues on the first morning of the conference when 500+ people hit the site in one hour wanting to stream video. I’m very confident that our Heavenly Father will provide Jeremy with a very impressive return on his investment.

From the comments we’ve received thus far and the many chats and discussions that took place during the conference, our team has sensed a clear consensus that Inclusion Fusion shouldn’t just be a once a year thing. Our team wants to build upon the energy and momentum generated by the Web Summit. Some have suggested periodic (monthly-quarterly) mini-conferences focused upon a topic of interest in special needs ministry coupled with lots of opportunity for interaction between speakers and participants. If we were to do that, some ideas we’re kicking around include…

Applying family ministry principles when family members have special needs

Anticipating the needs of families who adopt children with special needs

Understanding the special needs of kids in foster care

Forums on topical ministry issues with opposing viewpoints presented and discussed. Sample question…Is it OK to explicitly share the Gospel with kids attending a respite outreach event promoted to families outside the church?

I think it’s very likely that we will try to do at least one live speaker event related to Inclusion Fusion in the coming year.

Personally, I found the live chats to be the component of the conference I enjoyed the most. We’ll definitely be looking at ways we can do neat things to promote connections and interactions through the use of technology in any events leading up to or during next year’s Inclusion Fusion.

We’re also contemplating taking the conference “on the road” during the coming year. Technology is great, but as human beings, God designed us to be in relationship with Him as well as with one another. Our team would like to establish opportunities to meet as many of you as possible live and in-person and engage in conversations about expanding our capacity to minister to kids with special needs and their families. We may do this in 2012 in cities where we’re invited to speak at conferences, or cities where we’ll be hosting JAM Sessions.

I’d like everyone who was a part of Inclusion Fusion to have the opportunity to contribute to what comes next…

Who should be speaking who wasn’t speaking?

What topics would you like to see addressed, either in next year’s conference or in events leading up to next year’s conference?

One more thing…the most frequent question or comment we’ve received since the beginning of the conference centers around whether we’re planning to maintain free accessibility to all of the presentations from this year’s Web Summit. I have a very strong desire to make all of the materials and resources available for free for everyone, everywhere with interest in serving families touched by special needs. I can promise that all presentations developed by Key Ministry staff and Board volunteers will continue to be available for free.

Our team would very much like to identify sources of financial support to maintain Inclusion Fusion as a free conference and a free site. Please contact us if you know of any individuals or organizations willing to serve as a title sponsor or sponsor specific talks. We’d also appreciate the opportunity to contact any churches or individual donors willing to support the ongoing operation of the website and/or the cost of producing and distributing box sets of the conference DVDs for use in training church staff and/or volunteers.

Next weekend, I’ll share more ideas about the long-term aims and direction of Inclusion Fusion.

ACCESS TO INCLUSION FUSION TALKS AND DOWNLOADS NOW EXTENDED THROUGH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3rd! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders came together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for access to the video archives of the Summit! 

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Check Out Kidmin Leaders

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Dr. G

For some time now, our team at Key Ministry has been very intentional in seeking to build collaborations and relationships with leaders in the children’s and youth ministry communities. One of our newest relationships is with GJ Farmer’s website, Kidmin Leaders. We’re going to be contributing features to the site on a twice-monthly basis for the purpose of resourcing children’s pastors and key volunteers to more effectively minister to kids with hidden disabilities and their families. Our first two features looked at the topics of Who’s Missing? from church and What Keeps Kids With Issues Out of Church?

I’d been planning on writing this blog post sometime this week, but pushed it to the top of the list after reading GJ’s post on the site from yesterday. We’re honored to have the opportunity to work together with an up and coming young leader seeking to do the right things for the right reasons. Way to go, GJ! Check out his site.

ACCESS TO INCLUSION FUSION TALKS AND DOWNLOADS NOW EXTENDED THROUGH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3rd! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders came together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for access to the video archives of the Summit! 


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A Special Announcement About Inclusion Fusion

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Dr. G

Our Key Ministry Team is thankful for the incredible encouragement and support we’ve received from our Inclusion Fusion speakers and all who registered for and participated in the conference. We wish to give special thanks to Jeremy Collins and his team at Pajama Conference who made the technology available to make Inclusion Fusion possible. Jeremy has both considerable skill when it comes to technology, along with the heart of a children’s pastor. Our team has been blessed to find a like-minded brother in Christ with a passion for connecting kids and families to local churches.

Thanks to Jeremy’s incredible generosity, we’re delighted to make the following announcement:

The Inclusion Fusion conference site will be kept up and running through Saturday, December 3rd. Anyone interested in watching the videos or downloading all of the speaker handouts and resource materials will be able to do so until at least that date. You may continue to use your existing login and password to access all of the conference content.

Here are some additional helpful links…

For a complete listing of 2011 Inclusion Fusion Speakers and Topics, click here.

To download any available speaker handouts/Power Point slides, click here.

For presentations of interest to parents and caregivers, click here.

For presentations of interest to those in children’s or youth ministry, click here.

Please feel free to share in the comments section below any ideas you have for speakers, topics or resources that might help to make Inclusion Fusion better in 2012, or other ideas for improving the Web Summit.

If you haven’t already, please connect with our team and “like” us on Facebook so that we can keep you informed about any special events leading up to Inclusion Fusion 2012!

In His Service,

Steve, Rebecca, Katie, Harmony and the rest of the Key Ministry Team

ACCESS TO INCLUSION FUSION TALKS AND DOWNLOADS NOW EXTENDED THROUGH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3rd! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders came together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for access to the video archives of the Summit! 


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Inclusion Fusion…Suggestions for Parents

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Dr. G

Most ministry conferences our Key Ministry team has participated in have been developed by and for church staff or highly committed volunteers. We wanted parents and caregivers to be meaningful participants in Inclusion Fusion and to access speakers and presentations that addressed their concerns and interests. We hope we accomplished both goals this year. Here are a few presentations that I think will be of special interests to parents and caregivers of persons with special needs…

I’d start by watching Chuck Swindoll’s fabulous Keynote address and the interviews Katie Wetherbee conducted with Chuck and his daughter Colleen. The interviews largely focused on the experiences of the Swindoll family in raising and caring for Colleen’s son Jonathan. The video of Chuck and Jonathan is very touching…Chuck clearly has a great relationship with his grandson. The video featuring Jonathan’s siblings…Ashley, Austin and Cody is remarkable. The impact of disabilities on siblings is often overlooked. The Swindoll grandchildren shared from their experiences with great maturity and authenticity.

I’d encourage parents and caregivers to check out Katie Wetherbee’s presentation on Advocating for Your Child at Church.  Parents of children with special needs spend countless hours advocating for health and educational support. Advocating for a child at church presents a whole new set of challenges…and some parents find that by Sunday, they’re just too worn out…it’s just easier to stay home. Katie discusses ways to understand a church’s culture, methods of positive, proactive communication, and strategies for making church a successful experience for all involved.

Joe and Cindi Ferrini have walked the walk, developing an exemplary marriage while raising a son with a developmental disability.  In their presentation, The Unexpected Journey of Relationships – When Special Needs Change Our Course! the Ferrini’s share lots of practical ideas for strengthening and deepening relationships that will help parents and caregivers cope with the long-term demands of raising a child with special needs.

Barb Dittrich’s presentation, Bathing In The Healing of Forgiveness explores the ways in which lack of forgiveness causes more stress and tension in our lives than we consciously realize.  Barb discusses the importance of forgiveness in maintaining healthy relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children in families impacted by special medical, mental health or developmental needs.

Connie Hutchinson shares her personal story of encouragement and hope in her talk, “The Road to Independence.” Connie relates the story of her daughter Julie, a thirty-six year old young woman with Down syndrome. Julie lives alone in her own apartment and is successful due to many support systems in place–her church, regional center, independent living services and a circle of friends. Connie describes Julie’s experiences of being an individual with Down syndrome who has been included in a faith-based community from childhood to adulthood, along with the role the church has played in enriching Julie’s life and in giving her the opportunity to use her spiritual gifts for the benefit of all.

For a complete listing of 2011 Inclusion Fusion Speakers and Topics, click here.

To download any available speaker handouts/Power Point slides, click here.

To access Live Chat with conference presenters, click here.

INCLUSION FUSION NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7th! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders are coming together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for the Summit! 

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Inclusion Fusion…Suggestions for Our “Kidmin” Friends

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Dr. G

One of the goals of our team at Key Ministry when we put together Inclusion Fusion in partnership with Jeremy Collins (a children’s pastor) and his team at Pajama Conference was to establish a community where pastors, children’s and youth ministry leaders, disability ministry leaders and families could connect to share ideas in order to help more churches connect with more families of kids and adults with special needs.

Thanks to the incredible support of Chuck Swindoll, his daughter Colleen, and their team at Insight for Living, Inclusion Fusion has been successful beyond our wildest expectations. The interest in the conference was so great on our first day that the media team had to replace their servers to manage the volume of internet traffic!

As the Chairman of the Inclusion Fusion Program Committee, I wanted to invite our friends and colleagues in Kidmin to be part of the conference. Now that we’ve extended the conference through Monday, November 7 (due to connection issues caused by the internet traffic), I thought I’d help our friends in children’s ministry identify some presentations of interest.

Harmony Hensley from Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati (also a part of our Key Ministry team) did a wonderful presentation on developing inclusive ministry environments, building from a breakout session she gave at this year’s Orange Conference. Not every church is going to be led to develop a stand-alone ministry but every church can be thoughtful about creating welcoming environments with lighting, music, registration processes and signage that help as many kids and families as possible to have a great experience in learning about Jesus and connecting with one another. Many kids with “hidden disabilities” have difficulty with sensory processing. Lighting, noises and sounds that the rest of us experience routinely may be distressing to kids with disabilities. Harmony speaks from her experience as Pastor of Outreach and Inclusion at a very large church, along with her pre-ministry career as an interior designer in offering lots of helpful suggestions for welcoming as many kids and teens with disabilities as possible into your existing programming. Download her Power Point presentation from here prior to watching her talk-the pictures and slides are very helpful!

Rhonda Martin is a Key Ministry Board member and a well-known author and speaker. After starting her career in human resources, Rhonda transitioned into counseling, and developed an expertise in treating kids and adults with anxiety disorders. She is currently in the midst of a worldwide tour promoting her most recent release Stuck, a children’s book written to help kids and families understand and seek help for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Rhonda’s Inclusion Fusion talk is on Nurturing Spiritual Growth in Kids With Anxiety. Anxiety represents a classic “hidden disability”…an emotional, behavioral, developmental or neurologic problem lacking outwardly apparent physical symptoms. Rhonda’s talk will help church leaders and parents understand ways in which having anxiety can become an impediment to church attendance and participation, and offers practical strategies to help overcome these impediments.

Amy Dolan has served the Curriculum Writer and Programmer for Promiseland at Willow Creek Church, and served in the position of Executive Director of Children’s Ministries for the Willow Creek Association. She is currently serving as Founder, Leader, and Blogger of Lemon Lime Kids – a Children’s Ministry Consulting Company, as Director of What Matters Now and as Curriculum Writer for What’s In the Bible? Amy has been extraordinarily gracious to our ministry team as we’ve sought to build relationships within the children’s ministry community. You’ll definitely want to check out her presentation for Inclusion Fusion on Customizing Your Curriculum for children with special needs.

Cara Daily is a young research child psychologist who left the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism to launch her own treatment center where she could incorporate biblically-based teaching with 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. Cara did a presentation on the topic Autism Spectrum Disorders: Practical Tips for the Church. In her presentation, Cara provides an overview of autism spectrum disorders, including diagnosis and treatment. Practical interventions for church staff and volunteers serving children and youth with autism are discussed.

Roman Catholic churches face unique challenges in welcoming families of kids with special needs because of the expectations that everyone be present during Mass (worship service). The movement among churches seeking to become more inclusive to families of kids with disabilities is not confined to Mainline Protestant, Baptist, Pentecostal and non-denominational congregations. Amanda Mooney shares her expertise in ministry to kids in a large Catholic church (6,000 FAMILIES) in her presentation, “We know we should…but HOW?”

In addition, I’d direct you to three other presentations that might be of interest. Jeremy Collins is a children’s pastor in Lexington, KY and founder of Pajama Conference, the media team we partnered with at Key Ministry in order to put on Inclusion Fusion. Jeremy is also a tech and communications wizard. He did an excellent, short video on Using Social Media in Special Needs Ministry that’s applicable for children’s ministry as well.

Libby Peterson is Director of Family Ministry at Bay Presbyterian Church in Bay Village, Ohio. Her efforts to serve families in her church who adopted kids from orphanages in eastern Europe spurred the creation of Key Ministry. She’s speaking on the topic Relational Respite-A “Go To Them” Approach. Libby has developed an approach for respite outreach that can be adopted by churches of any size in an outwardly-focused model that promotes full inclusion of families touched by disability in the social fabric of the church. Libby also has shared from her wisdom and experience in implementing a family-based ministry philosophy with the families of kids with special needs served through the ministry of her church.

Finally, I’d hope you’d find the interview I did with Katie Wetherbee on “Kids With Issues…The Mission Field Next Door” to be helpful. 22% of kids in the U.S. entering the first grade meet criteria for at least one mental health disorder. Families of kids with these disorders are much less likely to attend church on a regular basis. In the interview, I have an opportunity to talk about the extent of the problem and the services Key Ministry provides to churches free of charge to help them serve, welcome and include families of kids with hidden disabilities.

For a complete listing of 2011 Inclusion Fusion Speakers and Topics, click here.

To download any available speaker handouts/Power Point slides, click here.

To access Live Chat with conference presenters, click here.

INCLUSION FUSION NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7th! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders are coming together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for the Summit! 


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Inclusion Fusion…Day Three Suggestions

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. G

With Inclusion Fusion now scheduled to run through Monday Evening, today marks the halfway point of the conference. Here’s some stuff to check out today:

For live chat, we’re featuring Rebecca Hamilton at 10:00 AM and Rhonda Martin at 11:00 AM.

Rebecca has served as the Executive Director of Key Ministry for the last five-plus years. Her job with Key Ministry at first was primarily administrative. In 2009, the church Rebecca attends (Fellowship Bible Church in Chagrin Falls, OH) called a new senior pastor who was very committed to disability ministry…respite ministry in particular. In addition to her duties with Key Ministry, Rebecca was recruited for the leadership team of the church’s Breathe Respite ministry. The Breathe ministry is now the largest respite ministry in Key’s Cleveland area respite network. Rebecca shares her experiences and practical ideas in her presentation Starting a Respite Outreach at your Church. Rebecca and Katie Wetherbee also have an excellent presentation for Inclusion Fusion… Got the Keys? Starting Your Ministry? designed to help ministry leaders and parents being led to start new ministry initiatives in their churches.

Rhonda Martin is a Key Ministry Board member and a well-known author and speaker. After starting her career in human resources, Rhonda transitioned into counseling, and developed an expertise in treating kids and adults with anxiety disorders. She is currently in the midst of a worldwide tour promoting her most recent release Stuck, a children’s book written to help kids and families understand and seek help for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Rhonda’s Inclusion Fusion talk is on Nurturing Spiritual Growth in Kids With Anxiety. Anxiety represents a classic “hidden disability”…an emotional, behavioral, developmental or neurologic problem lacking outwardly apparent physical symptoms. Rhonda’s talk will help church leaders and parents understand ways in which having anxiety can become an impediment to church attendance and participation, and offers practical strategies to help overcome these impediments.

One last Saturday suggestion from your Program Chair…An interesting talk that would be easy to overlook but worth checking out is Ryan Edlind’s presentation Church and Mental Health…Bridging the Gap From a Leadership Perspective. Ryan is a care and support pastor at a large, non-denominational church. In his presentation, he offers a primer explaining church politics for parents and leaders seeking to start special needs ministries, and offers some practical ideas useful for anyone seeking to launch new ministry initiatives through their local churches.

If there are folks you see at church tomorrow, feel free to invite them to check out the conference, since we’re now running through Monday night. Also, if you have ideas about speakers or topics or general comments about Inclusion Fusion, feel free to e-mail me at: steve@keyministry.org, or respond in the comments section below.

Hope you’re enjoying the conference!

INCLUSION FUSION NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7th! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders are coming together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for the Summit! 

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Let’s Try This Again…Some Suggestions For Inclusion Fusion: Day Two

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Dr. G

Much larger servers…check. More speakers…check. Upgraded live chat…check. Two additional days to access presentations, speaker notes and one another…check.

There’s so much to check out with Inclusion Fusion…allow me as your Program Chair to make some suggestions as to how to approach Day Two.

If you’re just beginning to check out the conference, a great place to start would be Chuck Swindoll’s brief Keynote Address…Challenges…Choosing What You Will Do With Them as well as Part One and Part Two of Katie Wetherbee’s interview with Chuck and his daughter, Colleen. We’re blessed to have a leader in the church of Chuck’s wisdom and prominence with the ability and willingness to articulate the importance of including persons with special needs and their families.

Libby Peterson’s efforts to serve families who had adopted kids with special needs was foundational in the development of Key Ministry. She’s speaking on the topic Relational Respite-A “Go To Them” Approach. Libby has developed an approach for respite outreach that can be adopted by churches of any size in an outwardly-focused model that promotes full inclusion of families touched by disability in the social fabric of the church.

Shannon Dingle will be available in the live chat at 8:00 PM…She did two presentations for Inclusion Fusion…Common Misperceptions about Special Needs Ministry and Disability, the Sanctity of Life and the Church. Her talk on the sanctity of live is provocative, controversial, and IMHO, critically important in light of the changes we’re likely to experience in healthcare access and delivery in coming years. One reason for doing Inclusion Fusion is that we need to be able to “disagree agreeably.” I’d encourage you to take up your disagreements in the chat with Shannon tonight.

I’ll be doing several more posts between now and Monday looking at presentations of interest to parents and caregivers, to children’s pastors and committed volunteers and folks with a primary calling to disability ministry.

Click here for today’s live chat schedule. Click here to download speaker Power Point presentations and handouts.

INCLUSION FUSION NOW EXTENDED THROUGH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7th! Chuck Swindoll and more than twenty-five ministry leaders are coming together on November 3rd-7th as part of a Special Needs Ministry Web Summit for church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers everywhere. Inclusion Fusion is a Key Ministry event, presented FREE OF CHARGE with the support of Pajama Conference. Register here  for the Summit! 

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