Tag: Christy Heitger-Ewing

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.

All the big productions and illustrated sermons are designed around the idea of having something congregants can invite their friends to.

Back in 2001, the leadership team at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, launched a vision plan that laid out some lofty goals....

“Our pastors have said that the people are so grateful to receive a meal when something tragic happens—or when good things happen, like the birth of a baby—because that part of their daily life has been taken care of,” says Hoffman.

To meet the needs of people in their reach in a time when people have so many views of church, the pandemic and the issues they face, New Day uses a variety of approaches to reach the diverse population.

“We wanted to do something for them that would encourage them to relax and take a moment for themselves,” says Cornwell. “Moms, in general, wear so many hats, but single moms have to wear every hat.”