Inclusive Practices in Church Ministry: Promoting Engagement of Children with Special Needs JazLyn Bumbalough, OTDS | Huntington University

Area(s) of Focus: Advocacy, Education, Leadership

Area of Practice: Disability Ministry

Primary Site: Grabill Missionary Church

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jamesdean Visley, OTD, OTR/L, ATP, ECHM

Expert Mentor: Reverend Angela Kidd, MA, BS, COTA/ROH

Needs Assessment

In east Allen County alone, there were 1,346 children receiving an Individualized Education Program (IEP) during the 2018/2019 school year (NCES, 2020).

Grabill Missionary Church in Grabill, IN is in a location to serve children with disabilities in east Allen County and surrounding areas.

An identified need within the church is education and training for staff and volunteers within the children’s ministry as there is currently no training available.

Literature Review

Ault and colleagues (2013) found that 33 percent of parents of children with disabilities changed their place of worship because they felt like their child was not included.

Researchers also found that 56% of parents report keeping their child from participating in religious activities due to lack of support and half stated they had never even been asked the best way to support their child (Ault et al., 2013).

Carter et al. (2016) found more than half of parents indicated that the following supports would be somewhat to very helpful: a support group for parents, congregation-wide disability awareness efforts, resources for families, a congregational advocate to work specifically with families, respite care, modifications to religious education programs, a spiritual or religious education plan for their child, or someone to support their child during worship services.

Outcome Measure #2:

Advocacy

Student will develop skills in advocacy and leadership by engaging the church body in inclusive practices supported by the OTPF 4 framework as measured by a presentation to the congregation.

Learning Objective #4: Student will promote increased advocacy for inclusion of children with special needs as measured by development of a flyer related to inclusive practices of the church body.

Outcome Measure #3:

Competence in Disability Ministry

Student will demonstrate skills in effective disability ministry by engaging persons, groups, or populations in inclusive practices as measured by an open letter regarding personal experience and knowledge.

Learning Objective #5: Student will build working knowledge in disability ministry as measured by completion of the Certification Course: Special Needs Children’s Ministry.

Training the Church

I utilized the training manual guidebook and training materials from the staff workshop to develop a presentation and outline for future leader and volunteer trainings.

Additional Resources

Continuing Education

Curricular Threads

Christ. Scholarship. Service.

Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ … as each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

New Living Translation, Ephesians 4:12-16

Professional Impact

Establishing a special needs children’s ministry helps better serve children with disabilities and their families while also providing more opportunities for them to participate in the church services and programming.

In order for a special needs children’s ministry to be successful and sustainable, the church staff and leaders must understand and value the decision to fully include all of God’s people.

Occupational therapy practitioners are able to offer unique perspective, guidance, and instruction in the development of disability ministry.

I would like to thank Angela Kidd, Jamesdean Visley, and the staff at Grabill Missionary Church for their endless support and encouragement throughout the doctoral capstone experience. It has been an honor to work with each and every one of you.

Ault, M. J., Collins, B. C., & Carter, E. W. (2013). Congregational participation and supports for children and adults with disabilities: Parent perceptions. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 51, 48–61. https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-51.01.048

Carter, E. W., Boehm, T. L., Annandale, N. H., & Taylor, C. E. (2016). Supporting congregational inclusion for children and youth with disabilities and their families. Exceptional Children, 82(3), 372–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402915598773

National Center for Education Statistics. (2020). Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=east+allen+county&DistrictType=1&Dist rictType=2&DistrictType=3&DistrictType=4&DistrictType=5&DistrictType=6&DistrictType=7&DistrictType=8&NumOfStu dentsRange=more&NumOfSchoolsRange=more&ID2=1802850&details=

*Full reference list and image reference list available upon request