Customer Reviews

Special Needs, Special Ministry

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The book begins with a moving forward by Joni Eareckson Tada who herself suffered a tragic accident as a teen that left her paralyzed. This book gives very practical and step-by-step information about starting a special needs ministry at your church. "Why do we need a special needs ministry?" "What do families with special needs children REALLY need?" Chapter 3 offers a checklist as you prepare to launch a special needs ministry. There is practical advice on getting the word out to your community, partnering with other special needs agencies in your community, and even a section to answer questions about facilities and liability. Case studies show how other churches have done it and there are 4 sermon outlines and 10 bulletin inserts. Kenneth Lay, a retired minister, makes this profound statement in the final chapter, "Special needs children can play a far greater role in our lives and in the lives of our churches if we allow them to. Children with special needs sometimes are ignored and not always loved. The blessing is ours when we love them, accept them, cry with them, and allow them to fulfill their mission. I wish I had done more." This book will launch you into 'doing more'.

This book provides an excellent intro for those considering a Special Needs Ministry. The case studies provide inspirational examples although each church embarking on this ministry will have it's own unique set of circumstances to deal with. I found the sermon suggestions to be of least help. By really examining the the possible problem areas one can avoid lots of trouble downstream.

This is the first special needs ministry book I ever read, with contributions from Louise Tucker Jones as well as two other pioneers in this ministry area, Jim Pierson and Pat Verbal.

It contains a balanced mix of practical how-to and thoughtful why-to do special needs ministry. Because it is co-written by several folks, it does have a somewhat disjointed feel, and I certainly had some chapters I liked more than others. All in all, though, it was instrumental in setting the stage and getting the ball rolling for much of what we are doing now at our church.

Here's what you'll find:

(1) Why Your Church Needs a Special Need Ministry by Pat Verbal
--This is one of the foundational chapters for the whole book, running the gamut from dispelling excuses against special needs ministry to providing a brief biblical foundation for it.

(2) What Do Families With Special Needs Need? by Mary Ann McPherson
--She does a solid job of sharing her personal experience and offering more universal suggestions for supporting families that may or may not have the same needs as hers does.

(3) The Special Needs Ministry Launch Countdown Checklist by Pat Verbal
--Here, once again, Pat is strong with the biblical support.
--My favorite lines were those that she used to "check your motives." She warns against the motivation of pity (because it doesn't give the passion necessary to sustain this kind of ministry), of guilt (because the guilt will be gone once a program is in place, and you may not follow through with it), and of your own child's needs (because you'll only be involved in that ministry until your child ages out of it, and it will need leadership that will last beyond your tenure there). The right motivation? Love.

(4)Case Studies: Special Needs Ministries in Real Churches by Louise Tucker Jones
--Louise did a great job here of presenting different models across various churches and denominations. This is so incredibly helpful because many of my suggestions are rooted from being at a large Southern Baptist church that is blessed with a number of volunteers who have backgrounds in special education. I realize that our realities aren't the same as every other church, so I try to take off the blinders created by my own weekly context, but it's great to hear about what other churches are doing.

(5) First Steps for Launching a Children's Special Needs Ministry by Jim Pierson
--So practical. And so very, very good. Jim is one of my heroes in special needs ministry. In this chapter, he does a great job of laying out the initial steps to beginning a special needs ministry.

(6) Getting the Word Out About Your Special Needs Ministry by Pat Verbal
--Pat walks through ways to communicate with three audiences: your church leadership, you church membership, and your community. This is the go-to chapter for me right now, because our ministry isn't too far into this. Some aspects are very well-known, and others simply aren't. I'm not using all of her tips, but they helped generate some ideas of my own.

(7) Recruiting and Training Volunteers by Pat Verbal
--Good tips here, but not the strongest chapter in the book.

(8) Case Study: The Life of a Special Needs Ministry by Louise Tucker Jones
--Building from her previous chapter, Louise shares how the ministry at her church began and grew.

(9) Evangelizing Children With Special Needs - And Their Families by Pat Verbal
--I've heard it said that you can judge a family's priorities by their finances. Pat writes, "If someone were to judge a church by its programming, it might be easy to decide that in the minds of some churches, special needs children aren't part of the group Jesus came to reach." Ouch, but true.

(10) How to Partner With Community Agencies by Pat Verbal
--In the USA, the secular community has often times done a better job than the church in meeting the needs of people with disabilities. This chapter is helpful for considering partnerships with those outside of the Christian community. (This chapter may be limited in its usefulness for those outside of the USA, though. In many other countries, neither the government nor secular groups have provided support for or shown love to these families. If you're in that situation, you have the opportunity to lead the way, which is what the American church should have done in the first place.)

(12) Case Study: The Wrap-Around Model - A New Opportunity for Children's Ministries by Larry Shallenberger
--Perhaps this chapter was more revolutionary in 2004 when the book was published, but I didn't really see a novel approach here. What Larry suggests is essentially that we ought to be individualized in our approach instead of creating one size fits all programs and that we need to holistically support the family rather than isolating the child's needs and strengths.

(13)Facility and Liability Considerations by Pat Verbal
--Our church meets in an old hotel building, which means a lot of this didn't apply for us (i.e. the hotel was designed to be accessible, we have chairs in our worship center - which used to be the hotel ballroom - instead of pews so wheelchairs are easier to accommodate for us, and so on). For most churches, though, the facility considerations are different, and Pat's guidance is great.
--The liability concerns part of this chapter could be a launching pad to more conversations, but - at only a couple pages - it provides just enough to get your started. You and your team will need to fill in the rest. (One way we're doing that right now is through conversations with other churches about their policies and forms.)

(14) Sermons for Your Pastor by Jim Pierson
--Jim provides four outlines for a devotional or sermon. These could be presented to others or just used for personal reflection in your ministry.

(15) Special Needs Heroes by Larry Shallenberger
--These reproducible bulletin inserts each provide biographical information, a passage to ponder, a prayer, and tips for further exploration. The individuals features are Billy Graham (Parkinson's disease), Don Bartlette (physical disability, speech impairment due to untreated cleft palate), Dave Dravecky (cancer, amputation), Dennis Byrd (spinal injury), Frank Peretti (cystic hygroma), Ginny Owens (blindness), Heather Whitestone McCallum (hearing impairment), Joni Ereckson Tada (quadriplegia), Pihl Keaggy (missing one finger), and Rick Warren (allergy to adrenaline). While these were good, they primarily focus on physical limitations, and - if there is ever an updated version released - I would love to see a hero with an intellectual disability, autism, or ADHD.

I do want to note that this book doesn't consistently employ person-first language. And its strength - the variety of perspectives - is also its weakness because it can seem scattered from chapter to chapter.

As a primer for special needs ministry, though, it was a good tool for me.

For those that understand and desire to start a ministry for special needs children and their families, this book shares very useful information. It can be adapted by any denomination.

A must have for all parents, pastors and leaders of churches/temples in enabling our children to be a part of the faith as well as teaching others in the church/temple tolerance and acceptance of those who are "different" from the "norm" (whatever different or norm are).