Seeing God's Gifts in People of All Abilities
What a joy it is to be able to be in ministry with "people of all abilities!" That was the "take away" from yesterday's meeting of the Connectional Ministries team which has been focusing on creating awareness of the "special needs" members of the community that surround our churches. In fact, one of the bright moments was when one of "special needs" persons in attendance, who is a leader in the "special needs" ministry at Due West UMC, inspired us to reconsider the term "disabilities" and replace it with "people with special gifts."
In the days ahead, this team will be working on several different issues that they hope will be helpful to the local church, e.g., getting to know the "special needs" members of the local community, resources to audit their church for "special needs" friendliness in worship, discipleship and service and resources to help families living with "special needs" issues navigate the complex world of caring for their loved one, just to name a few.
It is their hope that every local United Methodist church will know where to start should they find themselves in need of direction and inspiration when God has called them to be in ministry with "people with special gifts."
-- Herzen
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