Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
Creating Accomodations for Spiritual Growth
Discover how to transform your church into a more inclusive and welcoming environment for individuals with disabilities. Learn actionable strategies that are both practical and cost-effective, like integrating frequent breaks, utilizing fidget tools such as stress balls, and embracing flexible seating and standing options. These small yet impactful changes can make a significant difference, allowing everyone to participate and engage more fully in church services. By varying physical activities and seating arrangements, churches can prevent monotony and cater to diverse learning needs, ensuring that each member feels valued and included.
Join me, Tracie Corll, as we explore the critical role of inclusivity in fostering spiritual growth. This episode emphasizes the importance of intentionality in creating a space where everyone can deepen their relationship with the Lord, regardless of their abilities. We'll discuss how churches can continue the conversation around disability ministry to offer opportunities for people of all abilities to know Christ, grow in their faith, and serve with their unique gifts. Together, we'll reinforce the message that everyone has a place and purpose within the faith community. Let's work towards a future where every individual is welcomed and celebrated for their contributions.
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas.
Speaker 1:Hey, welcome to this episode, and we're talking about basic accommodations. What are some simple things that we can do on a regular basis to support people with special needs in our churches? Let's start with some really easy, low cost, less invasive accommodations that anyone can really do. So one is providing frequent breaks. This can be beneficial for people who have ADHD or maybe some sensory sensitivities or just struggling in some sort of way with self-regulation. We can offer breaks through, whether it's in the room, in the spaces that we provide, or with a buddy, and here are some things that you could do. You could offer a stress ball or a fidget. Super simple Can happen in the space that you're at. Here's what I want to tell you about a fidget tool or a stress ball or anything that is in that kind of realm. Let's just know that, no matter what you offer someone or the strategy that you use, let's not be willy-nilly about it. Let's make sure that we have set up some boundaries and some understandings so that we don't get to a point at which we then have to remove, or the fidget is an added problem instead of a help. So you want to set out some rules, simple as hey, you can use this, but we can't distract others with it. I would also say that any fidget that you have or that you need doesn't need to be noisy and should not have any kind of distracting parts to it or otherwise. We have now created another issue that didn't need to exist, created another issue that didn't need to exist. Another super easy thing to do, and maybe less easy with adults, but definitely youth and children you can incorporate physical movement into your Bible lessons. Whether that is, you know, a drama acting things out, whether it's movements to engage in the story, whatever it might be, all of those kinds of things are beneficial and only help the brain to learn, even at a greater depth. Now again, harder in an adult situation, unless you have a specific adult special needs class, then all of those strategies are easy to employ.
Speaker 1:Another thing we want to consider is to allow the individual to stand. I have told this story before about a gentleman who attended my church at one point. He is diagnosed with ADHD and he told me that on a Sunday morning if he has to sit in a chair and listen to the sermon, that he struggles to really be able to listen to anything because he's so focused on being able to sit in the chair. But if he just stands in the back and kind of shifts his weight from one foot to the other, he said that he can basically tell pastor his sermon right back to him, can basically tell pastor his sermon right back to him, and so offering that availability to just have a different way to engage and listen. Again, we don't have to always fit the mold right. Just because we fit the mold doesn't give us a gold star. Fitting the mold just makes it easier for the person that's in charge, so we can find strategies and things that work that benefit everyone in the space.
Speaker 1:In addition to that, you know, standing we can offer flexible seating, which are just different options of seating in the space. This is really really easy to do outside of a sanctuary space. In the sanctuary you typically have pews or chairs, and in some of those spaces they're not movable and so you're kind of stuck with what you have. But that doesn't mean that you can't put something on the seat, like a wiggle seat, or put a rubber band, a stretch band, on the legs of the chair while you're in there. But in a children's space or a youth space you can offer all different kinds of seating which may be more comfortable for someone else to sit in. So those are really great, easy accommodations to make in the spaces and, in all honesty, a lot of that stuff is available at kind of minimal cost. We don't have to necessarily go therapy grade in all the purchases that we have Now. If you have something that's a staple and you want to keep it long term and the investment makes sense to put in, absolutely go for it.
Speaker 1:No-transcript. Also, consider alternative seated and physical activities. When I taught first grade, this was the way that I taught all day long. There is not one human being living on this planet. Okay, maybe there are, and you guys are extra special, but it is not something I can do If you take me and put me in a room and tell me to sit there all day long in the same chair at the same table and not move. Okay, I've got to eat my lunch there. I've got to eat my dinner there. I'm going to stay, I'm going to struggle, and this is the same case for other people. Listen, I, I. Okay, I'm going to say something and I might regret it, but if, for example, if you're in the Catholic church my husband, who has never been to a Catholic church except to a wedding with me for my family he was like what is all this deal with the up and down, the sit, the stand, the kneel, the move, the thing, all of the things?
Speaker 1:However, they're changing up the space and they're changing up the pace and it really helps your brain to connect and keep track because you're not getting bored with the movement that you're in In any other space. In my Pentecostal church, we're going to stand and we're going to worship. We're also going to stand whenever the scriptures are read and then for the rest of the service if I'm in an adult service, I'm going to be sitting for the rest of the time. Now we can go and talk about attention spans and what the typical attention span for every person is. But the benefit to movement and changing things up are really really helpful to keep the brain engaged. Now, on a previous podcast we talked about transitions and this requires transitions. But if you're prepared for it, if you are consistent in it, then those transitions will help and move faster and help people to stay engaged.
Speaker 1:Another thing that you want to consider is it doesn't matter if you are in children's space, youth space or adult space. There are jobs, volunteer assignments that have to happen in all of those spaces to make the ministry run okay. Those job assignments for a lack of a better term assignments for lack of a better term really help people to engage in that movement, have a purpose and find ways to become connected and involved and those actually end up being utilized as a break whenever you have to get up and do something for that volunteer position. So whenever I was teaching one of the things, if we knew that a kiddo in the room needed a break, sometimes I would just write a little note to my next door teacher and say this child needed a movement break. Close that up, stick it in an envelope and send the child on an errand and have them come back Just because they needed some movement. They needed to be able to do something, to engage at that moment, and those are beneficial accommodations that can do.
Speaker 1:Also, this is something that's used in the education world and we call them brain breaks, and I think they could be called brain breaks, sensory breaks, whatever you want to call them, but it's just an option to move, to change, to engage in something different, to kind of catch the brain off guard and re-engage it into the same thing, because after a while especially a child with ADHD you've lost them because they're trying to maintain attention on something for a very long period of time. But if you switch things up and move things and change whether that's a little Bible quiz in between the transitions of the things that you're doing or a game In children's church and youth this is the easiest because, in all honesty, most of you are already doing this as you are engaging kids with the Bible and turning it into different things. So earlier I had mentioned doing those movement breaks or going from sitting to standing, to moving to all of those different spaces. Well, let's just consider a basic schedule in a children's church or youth You're going to start with games. Then you're going to enter into worship and after worship you are going to do maybe for the younger kids like an object lesson type thing. Then you're going to move into the scriptures and the Bible but maybe through that you're going to do an acting out or reader's theater or some kind of a drama to engage that and then after that you might have a response to the altar or prayer stations or something like that. All of those things are movements and different ways to engage.
Speaker 1:I would say we have to have a couple of things to be intentional about that Plan your transitions, prepare for your transitions, provide visual schedules so that people know what's coming next through all of those things. And then also, you're going to really want to be intentionable about the time spent on each thing and especially considering the age groups that you're in and the needs that they have, so that you know if you spend 30 minutes on a Bible lesson where they're just sitting and listening, you're going to lose them, regardless if they have ADHD or sensory sensitivities or any of those kinds of things. That's not where their attention span is. They have a less ability to do that because of their age and you're going to only increase that time as they get older. But, again, be aware of everyone in the room and the needs that they have.
Speaker 1:And all of these strategies, everything that has been shared with you today, really benefits every single person in the room. These things are not super costly. They are not super time consuming. However, again, you need to be intentional about it, plan for it, prepare for it and, once you do that, set up those boundaries on some of the things that you're offering, like flexible seating and the fidget tools, that kind of stuff, so that you're specific and expectations are known. These will be great benefits to any space that you're ministering, to ministering in and to the people that will be engaging in those activities with you. It will be a huge benefit.
Speaker 1:It opens up the doors, helps for more engagement, which means we're discipling, which means people are growing in their relationship with the Lord and they are knowing that they are welcomed into the family, that they have a plan and a purpose for their lives, because Jesus prepared for it long before they were ever born. And we can do it with intentionality and purposeful choices so that every person belongs and every person has a place and a seat at the table. Do I know everything about disability ministry. Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not. I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not. But we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. We'll see you next time.
