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Wanting to grow a special needs ministry beyond just a church class, in 2013, Roseman started offering monthly outings for adults and teens with special needs.
Wanting to grow a special needs ministry beyond just a church class, in 2013, Roseman started offering monthly outings for adults and teens with special needs.
People at the church gather for games and, midway through, have a three-minute devotion. When they aren’t playing, they sit and talk. The church uses pickleball both for in-house reach and outreach as members invite friends and neighbors to come play.
Whether remodeling or diving into new construction, church leaders must consider a number of issues in order to create the most accommodating and inviting atmosphere for building church space to serve current church members and attract visitors.
What foster kids crave the most is to be shown that they are worthy of love.
Pastor Gary Moritz and his wife Jana say they fell into church revitalization by default. City United Church in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, thrived in its heyday with a daycare, a Christian school, a radio station and a 1,000-seat auditorium. However, when Gary and Jana were called to serve there in 2012, the church was in bankruptcy, and fewer than 70 congregants remained, marking a significant challenge for their church revitalization efforts.
Liquid Church has both a global and a local signature mission. Their local mission is to serve families living with special needs. Their global mission is to bring clean water to families in Africa and Central America through initiatives like their Coffee with a Cause.
Manley Baptist Church now has a robust special needs ministry called Special Friends, and offers three Sunday school classes for those people with special needs—one for children, one for adults and a third for parents of children with special needs.
“We want them to come here to rest for a bit before they have to start making decisions that will impact their lives,” says Slade, who hopes that other area churches will follow suit.
In addition to its growing local ministry, the church hasn’t lost sight of its commitment to carrying the gospel to other nations. Over the past 20 years, College Heights has sent teams to the Rifians in North Africa and to the Pashtun people in Central Asia, both unreached people groups that are less than 2% Christian.