6 Ways Your Church Can Welcome People With Disabilities
By Steve Bundy
The class of 4-year-olds marched into “big church” with giggles, wiggles and flushed faces. Parents strained to find their children as the hesitant young performers began their first, well-rehearsed song. Melissa and I craned our necks left and right searching for our son, Caleb, knowing he would likely be in the back row, with his head down. Given his developmental delays and autism, Caleb usually tried to avoid the spotlight. When we couldn’t find him on stage, I anxiously rushed to his classroom to see what was wrong. I found Caleb safe and sound. Relieved, I asked why he was in the classroom while all the other children were performing. The volunteer said that he had been told to stay with him, because Caleb didn’t need to participate. The unintended message: Caleb doesn’t belong.
Unfortunately, scenarios like this play out every Sunday in churches everywhere. Whether it’s exclusion from an event or from the church overall, families affected by disability are deeply wounded, and many leave the church altogether as a result. Such exclusion is not usually intended to cause harm. Often it’s simply a lack of awareness. But with more than 1 billion people in the world affected by disability, pastors and church leaders must recognize the urgent need for outreach and disability ministry. And churches are uniquely designed to come alongside these families. Churches need to welcome people With disabilities.
Like all of us, children and adults with disabilities have a great need to belong. A caring friend can be a lifeline to those who often feel isolated and alone. In Luke 14, Jesus taught the religious leaders of his day that in the kingdom of God we should embrace and befriend those with whom we would not normally associate in our social settings. In fact, he gave us a new guest list for dinner parties: “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind” (14:13).
RELATED “WHY LEADERS LEAD WITH PRAYER”
These are people that society has marginalized or relegated to places of lower social status. Jesus specifically indicates in this passage that one sign of true spiritual maturity is welcoming the marginalized. This outreach is so important to God that he promises eternal rewards for those who embrace the disabled in this way (14:14).
