Faith communities include many compassionate people who genuinely care and want to include persons with disabilities. Often the greatest barrier preventing these folks from truly welcoming new persons is the simple “fear factor.”  Many people are simply afraid.  “I don’t know what to say.”  “I don’t know what to do.”  “I am not trained as a special education teacher or a nursing assistant, etc.”

Many times, simple awareness-raising and training resources can help people overcome such fears.  Some initial reading combined with hands-on experience can often make a huge difference in how supportive a congregation becomes toward persons with disabilities. Below are some particularly useful resources for faith congregations. See also the Awareness page.

This Orientation and Training section focuses on giving persons practical tools to work with persons with disabilities.  The Education page focuses on educational resources for persons with disabilities that affect the mind (intellectual, developmental, autistic, psychiatric).

General Training

CCFH Ministries
Christian Church Foundation for the Handicapped (CCFH) seeks to enable others through training, resources, and encouragement to effectively minister with persons with disabilities. They provide educational resources in the form of interactive and video-based training platforms, books, pamphlets, and blogs. Many of the resources require a membership to access.

Challenging Behaviors

Persons with developmental disabilities, autism, and mental illness sometimes exhibit behaviors that other persons find challenging.  Welcoming such persons with love and acceptance is often enhanced by greater understanding and training.

Gentle Teaching
John McGee’s principles have found warm acceptance among persons who advocate a community-based, non-violent, non-aversive approach for relating to persons with challenging behaviors. McGee’s approach is particularly adaptable to family and educational settings and seeks to enable persons with many fears and much pain to experience safety, acceptance, and love. The website has a wealth of material including books and presentations, some of which are available free for downloading.

Greeters and Ushers

Greeters and ushers provide a crucial ministry in many faith congregations.  Their attitudes and actions often set the tone for whether families and persons with disabilities feel welcomed or rejected.  The United Methodist Church provides the following resource: “On Greeting Persons With Disabilities: A Suggestion Manual for Ushers and Greeters”

This page focuses on resources for religious education that includes persons with disabilities that affect the mind (intellectual, developmental, autistic, psychiatric). The Training page focuses on training persons to work with persons with all types of disabilities.

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, will generally do well by being included in regular classes with adaptations in the curriculum, teaching methods, and/or staffing.  Sometimes, if a congregation is large enough and there are a number of upper elementary and early adolescent children around the same age and cognitive level, a “special education” class may be appropriate.  Care should be taken to find alternate ways of integrating these children with the rest of the class(es) of the same group so that they do not become isolated, but are able to interact with their peers.

Adults with developmental disabilities present a different kind of challenge. Sometimes, they can also be integrated with existing adult classes. Where separate classes are formed, past practice has often been to adapt children’s curriculum under the assumption that this is where their reading and thinking level is.  However, congregations need to remember that these are adults with adult interests.  Good options now exist for curricula that is written more simply for a lower reading level, but still takes adult interests into account.

The following are resources that can be helpful in addressing educational concerns for persons with intellectual challenges.  Most are developed in a Christian context; exceptions are noted.

Guides for Educators
A Drama of Love : A Christian Educator’s Guide to Creating Classes Where Everyone Belongs

A resource list with “Sunday School Resources for Teaching Individuals with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities” compiled by ADNet.

Resources & Curricula
Friendship Ministries
Inter-denominational publisher of materials to include people with intellectual disabilities.  Materials in English and Spanish are used by 60+ denominations.

Services for Teachers
CLC Network
CLC Network provides education and support services to faith-based and public charter schools, home educators, and churches nationwide. Many of its printed resources are published in cooperation with Friendship Ministries (see above).

Individual Spiritual Formation Plan
Barbara Newman introduces this concept and provides a sample ISFP form in her book  Autism and Your Church.

Comprehensive bibliography

Dimensions of Faith and Congregational Ministries with Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families. Ed. William C. Gaventa. New Brunswick, N.J.: Elizabeth M. Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. Order or download from the Elizabeth M. Boggs Center.  A comprensive bibliography and address listing of resources for clergy, laypersons, families, and service providers. Resources are organized by category, including worship and sacraments, the arts, architectural and attitudinal accessibility, mission, theology, pastoral care and counseling, religious education, resources for families, Jewish resources, etc.

Inclusion Theology and Practice

A Church of All and for All, especially paragraphs 51-55. reflects theologically on disability and capability within the community of faith, and offers practical suggestions for using the gifts of persons with disabilities. This statement is from the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network of the World Council of Churches.

Faith Communities and Persons with Developmental Disabilities, an entire issue of  Impact  on the topic of inclusion of persons with disabilities within faith communities.  Impact  is the newsletter of the Institute on Community Integration  of the University of Minnesota.