Are you wanting to know how you can serve families affected by disability? Great! I’ve got some practical advice to share with you. One of the best ways that you can show you care as a church is by providing a respite ministry.
Having a child or loved one in the family that is affected by a disability can be exhausting. Depending on the disability, there are often many unknowns that happen over the course of the day, and something like getting to church on Sunday morning is often a feat. Offering a few hours to do what they please is a huge relief to many families. There are many different ways that a respite ministry can be done, and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Offer a Buddy Break through Nathaniel’s Hope
There is a wonderful organization called Nathaniel’s Hope that has a respite program already set up and ready to go, and they are ready to train volunteers whenever a church reaches out. For only $400 they offer a full package of training and ongoing support to churches who want to start a respite ministry. This is a great and affordable investment into serving the community around your church. It’s an especially wonderful opportunity for the church that may feel nervous to jump into a ministry like this. You have an organization willing to help you along the way!
Here is a link to their site:
Reach out for support from Joni and Friends
This is a different way that your church can receive support. Joni and Friends has regional support offices all throughout the United States. They are there to help equip churches to serve those affected by disability and have vast resources to help churches be successful in doing so. To see if there is an office near you, follow this link:
https://www.joniandfriends.org/about/locations/
If there isn’t an office in your area, I would encourage you to still contact the office closest to you, and I’m sure that someone would be willing to help guide you to resources and ways you can be supported to be a blessing during the process.
Practical Tips
Now that you’ve seen some resources for helping, here are some tips to get you started on the logistics of setting up a respite ministry at your church and some questions you should be asking as well.
First, get leadership on board with this initiative. It is extremely hard to have a ministry and be successful when your leadership has not bought into the fact that the ministry is necessary. Not only that, but it will be hard to secure things like finances to help fund the ministry when there is pushback. To do this, you could meet with your elder board, or whatever group of people are making leadership decisions in the church. It shouldn’t take too many statistics to show them that there is a huge need for families affected by disability to be served.
I have some statistics in this post, I have also have a post on getting buy-in from leadership here.
Second, start small. Don’t try and do something that you don’t think you can handle. I would suggest starting with a bi-annual or quarterly respite to see how the church and the community respond to it.
Depending on the size of your church, it may not be a bad idea to start with limited spots available. This will give you a chance to work out kinks and not be too overwhelmed in the beginning. It also gives you a chance to recruit more volunteers and have the testimony of other volunteers to how amazing the respite volunteer experience is!
Don’t worry, if there’s an amazing response to it and people are rearing to go to volunteer and get this respite event on a more regular basis (i.e. monthly), then go for it! You can always add more dates in. It’s much easier to make things more frequent than it is to back off in the beginning.
Third, it doesn’t have to be fancy. Yes, you want toys and activities that will make participants feel at ease, but don’t worry about having all the latest sensory toys available.
You can do things like:
- Have a movie room
- Have a sports room (if your church space allows for it, or even outside if it feels safe enough)
- Have an arts & crafts room
- Have a quiet room, maybe with a few bean bags, books, and dim lighting/soft music
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list, just a few ideas to get you started
Lastly, remember the siblings. I’m not saying your respite events need to include siblings right away, but several churches I have been to and spoken to have included siblings in the event at some point. They have a sibling room/area of the church where there are crafts, food, movies, etc. This gives a chance for siblings to have a break, parents to have a break and spend time together, and to hang out with other siblings who understand their unique family dynamic. This is a vitally important piece to the puzzle.
Always keep in mind why you’re doing this ministry, especially when things get hard. Families affected by disability often do not get many breaks, so this is a wonderful way to serve their family, as well as share the Gospel with a family who may not yet know who Jesus is. This is an important and fun ministry to be a part of. Bathe it in prayer, enjoy the ride, and have fun with the volunteers and families you’ll be serving with!