For individuals and families living with special needs and disabilities, connecting to full life in Jesus Christ can be a challenge in traditional church settings. For many, it can feel like they’re just not meant to go to church because it’s just too hard to engage in the life of the church. Others find a place to belong, but it requires them to drive a distance.
Yet, everyone needs to know Jesus. That’s why our Special Needs Ministry exists to identify the accommodations and opportunities that may enable all families and individuals to gather to worship, grow and groups and go and serve.
Among the ministry offerings is our Teen & Young Adult Group that meets once a month. Ask one of the families that attend the group what the group means to them, and you may get an answer like Sherie’s: “It’s everything.” At home, it’s just Sherie and her son Matthew. Other than her parents, there isn’t someone else to step in and care for Matthew. “Church Party,” as Matthew calls it, is an opportunity for fun and respite. “I love to watch him with his peers,” says Sherie. “Although he may not interact completely, there’s excitement in the car all the way here. He likes to watch everyone play. He’ll just circle the room and that warms my heart because for these two hours a month we aren’t thinking of autism. I am seeing my son with his peers and he’s laughing and he’s watching them and he’s having a great time. For me it means everything.”
Several years ago, Irene had been looking up different things for her son Justin to do and the Teen & Young Adult Fun Night popped up. “Finding this was so wonderful,” she said. “It’s just so nice. The people here are so friendly and outgoing, and they truly love our children. They try to make it such a great experience for them.” Justin is a top-notch bowler and has competed (and medaled!) in the Special Olympics. His Friday night bowling schedule conflicts with the Teen & Young Adult Fun Night once a month, so they skip bowling because Justin doesn’t want to miss a thing here.
Looking back on the growth of the ministry and the stories from families like the Sheri’s and Irene’s, there’s little doubt God’s hand has been in this. Those first few Teen & Young Adult Fun nights were attended by less than 10 individuals. Within a few months, word had spread and the group more than tripled in size. Colleen’s daughter Autumn was part of that small original group. A friend had invited the family to attend PCTR, encouraging Colleen to check out the Special Needs Ministry and all it could offer. It took several invitations before Colleen and Autumn came, but when they did, “Wow,” says Colleen. “I came here for her. I came here because I wanted her to have a religious education. I was struggling to give her that. Even though we don’t have any problems communicating, I didn’t really know the religious signs. So that was really hard for me. And she’s a little sponge. The more she learns, the more she wants to learn.”
Autumn wasn’t the only one benefiting from the new connection. “We went to Saturday evening worship – which is much different from the type of worship I grew up with – I really do enjoy it. I have found it’s really brought me back to my faith. It strengthened my faith. I was very faithful as a child, I went to Catholic school, but then adolescence came, and life came, and I got away from that a little bit,” shared Colleen. When it comes to those Teen & Young Adult Fun Nights, Colleen said, “This was really Autumn’s only socialization outside of school. She says all the time ‘We should do this every Friday.’ I don’t think what I’m saying is really unique by any stretch of the imagination. Life is busy for everyone, and it’s not easy to have someone come in and say ‘Why don’t you get a cup of coffee, why don’t you step out. I’ll take care of things.’ I don’t have anyone like that in my life that can do that unless I was really in an emergency. That’s what makes this so special.” This ministry has built a sense of community among the families that attend and the volunteers that come alongside them each month to have a fun evening with the young adults and teens. (Parents are welcome to linger in the room, to spend time in the “Parents’ Lounge,” or to leave and come back later.)
As Sherie explained, “I love that sense of community. We can all learn from each other, in terms of acceptance and love for each other and in God’s work through these volunteers.” She continued, “There’s this community that says ‘I want you to go relax.’ The volunteers of this ministry do amazing work so that someone like me…I am at ease because I know he’s okay. That’s a rarity in these families, not having to worry about it. I hope someone reading this thinks ‘Wow, I do know someone that could benefit from this ministry’ and I hope they introduce them.” “It’s a family,” said Irene. “We’ll be here forever. A lot of the things our kids get involved in are things they eventually age out of. They stop. But not here. God is with us forever and I feel like we’ll always be welcome.”