Tag Archives: children’s ministry

Church, what if we think _______ diagnosis isn’t a real thing?

I don’t hear Jesus suggesting that we place bouncers at the door of a Luke 14 banquet to ensure that folks are crippled enough, lame enough, or blind enough. Continue reading

Posted in ADHD, Advocacy, Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

But what if we don’t have any children with disabilities in our church?

Do you want to share the Gospel with everyone in your community, or do you want to limit who has access to your body of believers?
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Posted in Advocacy, Inclusion, Key Ministry | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Five reasons churches shouldn’t have vaccine policies

But excluding unvaccinated or undervaccinated children would mean turning away a significant group of families. Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Autism, Controversies, Families, Key Ministry | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Autism, vaccines and the need to keep our kids safe

There’s a point at which blind rejection of good science jeopardizes our ability to credibly communicate our witness to the world outside our Christian cocoon. Continue reading

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5 tips for modifying your Sunday school curriculum for diverse learners

Since I know the idea of change can be scary to many of us, here are five tips for making positive and (mostly) painless changes by modifying your Sunday school curriculum for diverse learners… Continue reading

Posted in Adoption, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Ministry Environments, Strategies | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shhh…We’re talking about ADHD medication and church

If your child’s experience at church is as important as their experience at school, the need for effective treatment at church is as great as their need for treatment at school. Continue reading

Posted in ADHD, Controversies, Families, Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry, Mental Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disability ministry has captivated my heart…Bekah Behnke

Disability ministry has not only stolen my heart, but also captivated it. There is not a time in my life that I was not surrounded by God’s beauty shining through my friends with disabilities. Continue reading

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Please don’t say “all kids do that” to adoptive and foster families…

But when foster or adoptive parents like me hear that, it feels dismissive to the real grief, pain, and trauma our kids have experienced and how that history still influences their actions today. Usually when someone tells another parent “all kids do that,” the words are meant to be helpful, to soothe our nerves or encourage us in the midst of a hard parenting moment. But that’s not what your words do. Instead those words invalidate what we know to be true and minimize the extra layer of thinking that parenting kids from hard places requires. Continue reading

Posted in Adoption, Families, Foster Care, Key Ministry, Strategies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

HIV and other blood-borne pathogens in children’s ministry…Shannon Dingle

So what should you do if there’s a child with HIV in your church? The same thing you should do otherwise: use best practices for first aid and show love to the child and parents. Continue reading

Posted in Adoption, Controversies, Families, Hidden Disabilities, Inclusion, Key Ministry | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A journey of faith…Guest blogger Cathy Blatnik

At one time, having Dominic make his First Holy Communion was something that I could only dream about. On May the third, it became a reality. Continue reading

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