There are many pieces of practical advice I can give on being a buddy to an individual with special needs: Always make sure to grab your buddy bag, don’t take your eyes off your kiddo, notice how the class interacts with them, and work with the other ministry leaders through challenging behaviors. But something that…
How do we meet the needs of teenagers who aren’t comfortable in the youth group environment but want to build true friendships with peers? Our church offers a reverse inclusion class! This class is designed for students with disabilities and invites typical students from the youth group to join for the purpose of friendship….
An important skill in disability ministry and any ministry with kids and teens is how to support positive behavior choices and decrease opportunities for distracting behavior. All behavior is communication. It’s our job to figure out what the child is communicating with the behavior and fill the need before it leads to distracting behavior. The…
Knowing where to being with policies and forms can feel intimidating, but you don’t have to create them from scratch! Below are the Google doc versions of forms we’ve created for our ministry that you can download and adjust for your needs! Disability Ministry Adult Volunteer Application Disability Ministry Youth Volunteer Application Family Care Plan Individualized Spiritual…
A family care plan is an info sheet kept by the staff to help know the family who needs care and organize how to meet their needs. You can customize it to fit what your church offers. Who can see the FCP? It’s up to the family, but generally the staff, small group/ministry leaders,…
What would happen if you asked 10 of your closest friends how they define the word worship? Probably, they would each say something a little bit different. Worship is not definable by one thing, and that is part of its beauty! Worship is not one thing, it changes from culture to culture, church to church,…