Who Else Wants a Comfortable Place of Worship for their Family and Special Needs Child?

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Many parents of children with special needs experience difficulties finding a comfortable fit for their family and a place of worship. By comparison, parents devote many hours to finding just the right school. They develop relationships with their children’s teachers, principal, school aides, and support staff. This is all necessary and possible to do, given that children spend most of their waking time at school. But what about a place of worship?

Problems arise when taking children with special needs to services on Sunday. It is not easy for children with ADHD to sit still, focus, and remain attentive. Problems with autistic children can run the gamut from issues with friends, over-stimulation, not being able to follow instructions, to just being confused. A child with mental illness may feel anxious in the unfamiliar setting and exhibit whatever inappropriate behavior they use for coping with stress.

The problem with attending Sunday service is twofold. First, because you only attend for a limited time a week, a child with special needs is not able to adjust easily to the environment and routine. Many kids with special needs require much repetition to become familiar with teachers, friends, and how a particular program operates. One day a week for a couple of hours is just not enough time to make these adjustments.

Second, parents do not have the same access to Sunday school teachers as they do at their child’s regular school. You see the Sunday school teacher for such a short time and it takes longer than this to develop a relationship. Also, since many of these positions are typically volunteer, people are often rotating in and out so that consistency is lacking. This can make it difficult for parents to develop a trusting relationship where they feel they can share their child’s needs.

The good news is that things are changing and places of worship are discovering the need to open their doors wider. Grace Church in Greenville, South Carolina, has found themselves ministering to about fifteen children with special needs. The Church wrote a four part blog addressing special needs. Over the next couple of months they plan to look at the parents’ and the church’s role in ministering to children with special needs.

Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, offers a ministry for those with disabilities. Bible classes for adults and teens are geared to those with developmental or cognitive disabilities. School age children with special needs are matched with a teen or adult helper who supports the child during Sunday school classes.

The Zanesville Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Zanesville, Ohio, offers a Disability Ministry and helps other churches develop a similar ministry. A 35-page, downloadable pdf file outlines 25 different ways to incorporate people with disabilities into a place of worship.

A wonderful organization named Snappin’ Ministries in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, offers a variety of support services to families with special needs children ranging from monthly meetings to meals. With regards to attending Sunday worship, Snappin’ Ministries provides an individual caretaker to accompany a child with special needs to Sunday school, Children’s Church, or Vacation Bible School.

There are also various organizations offering support to worship organizations to learn how to better include those with special needs.

• The Christian Learning Center Network offers training, products, and services to churches nationwide who want to ensure that those with disabilities truly feel welcome.
• Developmental Disabilities Ministries provides a free workshop to those who want to start a ministry for individuals with special needs.
• Nathaniel’s Hope offers a program to assist churches in establishing a respite program designed to give parents of kids with special needs a break from their daily responsibilities.
• Jesus Cares Ministries provides training and direct assistance to those desiring to establish Bible classes that provide special education.

It is important that churches, synagogues, and other places of worship take a look at the desires of families with special needs children. Many families stop attending weekly services because it becomes too difficult. Other families, who may never have attended services before, could find comfort and acceptance if they knew how to fit in with their child.

And don’t forget the children with special needs themselves. They more than anyone, thrive in an environment that accepts them unconditionally. Hopefully some of the changes that we have observed will become more commonplace over time and special needs families will find it easier to join in on Sundays.