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Redefining special ministry Sunday school for all abilities
Special needs ministries on the increase in churches
However, the message of His ministry was for everyone, said Carlton McDaniel, special needs specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“The second half of that story is that by meeting the needs of those He helped and gravitating to people in need, He really modeled love to the able-bodied,” McDaniel said during the July 11-14 Sunday School Week at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center.
Considering that attendance at special needs conference sessions has quadrupled from past Sunday school conferences, churches may be getting that message.
“I see people with disabilities being more visible in the community, more included in life and not shut behind doors any more, praise God,” said Jo Ann Banks of Weaverville, N.C.
For five years, Banks has led the special needs Vacation Bible School at the Ridgecrest Sunday School Week, and for 25 years has led a special needs ministry. At her church, Woodland Hills Baptist Church in Asheville, N.C., Banks teaches a class of adults with special needs.
She said increased attendance at the conference could be due to churches seeing not only the need – but the opportunity to provide Sunday school options for individuals with special needs.
Banks’ daughter Kelly, 28, has mild cerebral palsy and a developmental delay.
“God has shown me we have to look at their abilities and not their disabilities,” said Banks.
McDaniel said there is hesitancy among churches, mostly because of the unknown.
“We’ve heard people say, ‘I don’t feel equipped,’” McDaniel said.
The sessions at Sunday School Week varied from understanding learning needs and learning styles of individuals with special needs, to introducing tools and materials to help a special needs ministry.
LifeWay developed its “Special Buddies Bible Studies for Kids” curriculum, released in the fall of 2007, with an adaptable format geared to developmental levels that also allow for plenty of repetition, application and review of biblical concepts. LifeWay has also added a new VBS line for children with special needs.
“Pastors are very interested, but it’s an incredible responsibility to take on a ministry that is this labor intensive,” said McDaniel.
For Banks, leading a Sunday school class with adults with special needs is also an outreach to the group-home workers who accompany residents to church.
“We’ve found that 98 percent of group-home workers are not believers,” Banks said. “I have a good rapport with the workers. Sometimes the only exposure they have is watching how you behave on Sunday.”
Having a ministry in place also provides natural opportunities for individuals with special needs to feel needed, she said.
“They want to serve. They want to feel like they’re part of society and they have a purpose for being here. Kelly has such a servant’s heart. She does better to serve others than to be served,” Banks said.
According to McDaniel, starting a special ministry takes “changing the definition from people-driven to people-centered.”
That’s what happened at Thompson Station Church in Tennessee, said adult Sunday school teacher Mike Yates. When he noticed two couples in their class seemed to “tag-team” coming to church, he found out the reason was they each had a child with special needs with whom one spouse stayed home alternately.
From there, the church started a special needs Sunday school, and a monthly respite program that gives a night out for parents of children with special needs.
Reagan Wagoner, youth and missions pastor at Thompson Station Church, said in the short time the program has been operating, at least 25 different families have been reached.
“If you go into the schools, there are specially trained people – even one-on-one attention – for the kids with special needs,” Wagoner said. “Why should the church be any different?”
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