Katie Wetherbee and I first met at a special needs ministry conference around 2010. She made a beeline to my book table and introduced herself. I attended Katie’s workshop and loved what she had to say. Before the end of the conference, we exchanged email addresses.
We quickly became good friends.
Maybe because we had a lot in common. We were both the parents of kids with special needs. We were both former public school teachers. We both had special education backgrounds. We shared a similar philosophy about inclusive education. We discovered that we had used many of the same strategies to create inclusive classrooms for our students. We also decided that if God had every granted us the opportunity to teach together, we would have been an administrator’s nightmare.
We also both loved to cook.
So we should have known, when we cooked up the idea to co-author a manual to equip children’s ministry volunteers to make every child welcome in their programs, that one of us would suggest using a dinner party theme to make the book hang together.
That someone was Katie. She’s the creative one.
After all, she explained (and I nodded my head enthusiastically), “Everybody eats. And chances are, church volunteers like Sunday school teachers and mid-week church club leaders and others who work with kids know a little bit about cooking and dinner parties.”
So the dinner party theme made sense to us.
But just because it made sense to us, it might not make sense to you. At least, not yet. So in the spirit of inclusion and with my teaching-to-different-learning-styles hat firmly in place, here’s a peek at Every Child Welcome’s table of contents:
Does it make more sense now?
Each chapter is packed with strategies for making church activities more accessible for children with emotional, behavioral, developmental, and physical special needs. But to be honest, why we wrote the book offers motivation for volunteers to implement what’s in the book. So instead of giving examples of the strategies, I’d like to share the first 2 paragraphs of the introduction to Every Child Welcome.
Jesus sets a high standard in Matthew 19 when He says, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” His invitation is inclusive. No gender is specified. The call is not limited to children who will sit quietly at His feet and listen, color between the lines, raise their hands and wait to be called upon, and who work at grade level. No child is disqualified because of pre-existing physical conditions, mental illness, and behavior issues.
Jesus sets a high standard that can be difficult for children’s ministry volunteers with willing, servant hearts but without professional child development or educational training to attain. Difficult, but not impossible. Because when God issues a command like “Let the children come unto me,” He equips people with willing, servant hearts to carry out His will.
Now do you understand why we wrote the book?
Now do you understand why we want to equip children’s ministry volunteers to make every child welcome? It’s because Jesus calls every child to come to him. And he calls us to bring them close to him to meet him.
We are very excited to give away a copy of Katie & Jolene’s new book to one of our readers!
Just leave a comment telling us why you want to read the book (Do you volunteer in special-needs ministry? Do you want to share the book with your church? Do you want to learn more so you can teach your child with special-needs?). We’ll pick a winner Monday morning and contact you using the email address you provide when you leave a comment.
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We launched ‘Uniquely His’ at our church in January and I am working to engage, recruit, match, encourage, schedule etc our Sidekicks to our Heroes. I also love to cook!! I can’t wait to read your book! I would love to have a copy! Diane
I am a Family Navigator for families with children who have special needs at Child Health Specialty Clinics associated the University Hospital of Iowa City, Iowa. (for one week now!) I also write for SHINE Christian education curriculum. In both worlds, I would love to have access to your ideas. I’d also be happy to review and recommend your book.
I am the Children’s Church coordinator at our small church with a daughter who has special needs. I have been searching for something that is easy for our volunteers to read through, and to help them learn how to show Gods love to ALL children. This book looks like it might be the ticket! 😉
I attend a large church with a LOT of kids. Most everyone has been very patient with my kids. I have thought about helping start an autism support group at church. With a church this size, there are bound to be several families who would be interested. Just reading your post and all the comments has sparked several ideas for using the material to train our children’s ministry staff, help the other kids learn love and acceptance, and to use it as an outreach to families who don’t know where they can go to church with their special needs kids! I can’t wait to share this with a few others at church who I know would be great advocates!
I just came across this, and oh, how I would love to get a hold of your book! I’m a mom of 2 kids with complex medical and special needs, and also run the special needs ministry of our church. We are one of an isolated number of churches reaching out to special needs (in South Africa). While it has been easy to reach out to families when it is only the families with special needs attending, it has been a much greater challenge to include our kids in sunday school, where there is already an accepted strategy and framework. A book like this would help enormously as we strive to achieve full inclusion. It’s great to see such resources becoming available
As a child my favorite book for my mom to read to me was called On Beyond Zebra. It talked about how if we are all equipped we can accomplish all that we can imagine. I am currently volunteering in our special needs ministry at church. I have a special education background & have been several administrators nightmares! I am hoping to help grow our ministry & would love this book. I would also love to meet y’all and talk about what evidently is a shared passion. Making the gospel accessible for all.
I haven’t taken my daughter to church for years because there is nothing for her there. It breaks my heart. I’ve been beginning to realize though, that maybe the change in the church has to start with ME! Our church does not address special needs AT ALL, and I’m hoping I can learn from this book where to begin a ministry for our kids. The thought is SO scary to me, but I know that God will give me what I need to answer His call.
I would like to win this book so I can share it with my church. We have been trying to expand our offerings for special needs children.
Our church is willing to accommodate the special needs children among us (one of whom is my daughter) but as a mom and a volunteer, I realize that being willing without being equipped can lead to frustration and discouragement. I would love to read and share this book with our church’s leadership and volunteers so that we might not give up the fight for inclusion!
Hi, I have two children on the Autism Spectrum who are 6 & 7 years old. Both of my children are incredibly spiritual and I’ve been teaching them about Jesus and the Bible on my own. I stopped going to church when they were toddlers because of their behaviors, outbursts, etc. This year I tried taking them to Religious Education. It didn’t go well and we never went back. The denomination I belong to does not have a special needs ministry in the city I live in. I have been thinking about to talking to them about starting one or offering to help start one. I would love to read this book!!
I have a 6 year old daughter with special needs. We desperately want to attend church as a family but cannot find a church with a special needs program or even a congregation that know how to react to our daughter.
I can’t wait to read your book. A friend and I started a special needs ministry at our church a few years ago. Our church has more than one campus, and the main church already had a special needs ministry so we figured it would be welcomed. We were not allowed to promote it and therefore weren’t able to get many quality volunteers. Our main church is a mega church that Tim Tebow selected for one of the special needs proms held recently so I don’t know why we’ve been kept in the background. Most people I talk to have no idea that we even have a special needs ministry. I’m hoping to find ways to help the church understand how desperately needed this is and how it blesses so many families who would not be able to attend church without this ministry. Thank you so much!
My brother in law and sister are pastors of a new church plant. They could really use this book in their church, because they have a good start already with a few special needs kids in their church.
i am a mom of a sweet boy w autism. God is leading me into special needs ministry. I am currently researching what a special needs ministry need to entail for our church. I need this book in my arsenal!!
I would love to read this. I have children with special needs and we have had a difficult time attending church. I would like to encourage pastors, children’s pastors, and the church in general to make room for these family. There are so many other families like us, who cannot attend a church service because there is no place for their children. I would like to see that change.
Our son has special needs and is very welcomed and loved in our church. However I would love to learn more about building special needs ministries for kids, especially as our son gets older and can’t stay in the preschool setting.
Oh, I wish…
Our children’s ministry is currently led by such fear…it keeps getting harder…
Your book would be so helpful. I am hoping to begin a special needs Sunday School class in my church next year. My son is 9 and in the first grade Sunday School class this year. Next year he will not be able to keep up with the next level but I know he can learn about Jesus and the bible. He will be the only one in the “class” so far.
Thanks,
Lorraine Reich
I have a son with special needs and have felt the heartache of not fitting in to the “normal” church. I now have a heart to help other mothers with special children never feel that way; especially with in a church. Our church is very small, but I have shared my vision and they are in full support… so now I need to know where to start 🙂 looks like this would be a great read!!
I’d love to read this! After a move, we are in the process of finding a new church. With special needs kids, this can seem overwhelming. It sounds like this book could be helpful in this process!