April 5, 2024
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across the Jordan followed him. (Matthew 4:23-25)
First, let me say “thank you” to all who participate or contribute in any way to our AATAP fall and spring events. Each event we host brings anywhere from 150-250 people together to celebrate the lives of these special individuals.
This will probably not surprise you. A new study has found children with autism are almost twice as likely to never attend church or other religious services. And children with other disabilities—like developmental delays, attention deficit disorder, or anxiety—often are missing from the pews as well.
“Just to get your children out the door is a big hassle” commented one parent of an autistic child.
One of the two, dad or mom, have to take care of the autistic person so both parents working is not always an option. Parents of autistic children often hire trained aids to assist in the family setting giving the family less privacy and added expenses to pay for such care.
There have always been and will always be the autistic among us. Someone could be an autist their whole life and not even realize it. Others can get by in their autism without detection and live nearly normal lives. Autist’s love ritual and routine words. They pay careful attention to words. My understanding from talking to one of our Children’s Worship teachers “children with autism are very engaged in the classes.” They often shout the answers to questions and listen intently to the stories being told. They also possess an unassailable trust that other people have honest intentions.
In an article published in The Christian Century (April 2023 edition) called: “Five ways your church might already welcome autistic adults.” Writer Victoria Wick said: A lot of autistic adults really like church, and not just because of widely held stereotypes about autism and rigid beliefs. Every autistic person is different, but because autistic brains have more neural connections than the average human brain, many autistic people are drawn to explore nuance and complexity. When a congregation succeeds in fostering theological curiosity and encouraging a variety of perspectives, it assures me that my differences might be welcomed and celebrated, too.
As Christians, it can be challenging to know that the work of inclusion and accessibility is never truly finished. That said, there may be ways that our congregation already accommodates autistic and disabled children and adults without even realizing it.
We are friendly to lots of different kinds of needs. Although we are far from the “cutting edge” we have made accessibility a priority, especially given our limited means. We are equipped with a wheelchair ramp, an elevator, accessible parking spots and one bathroom that is handicapped ready. We do have available hearing amplification devices for worship (They don’t always work well depending on the degree of one’s need). We have a private nursery offering a live stream of the worship service, and we even have activity bags for kids. Many of these accommodations have benefits not only for a disadvantaged group (for example, folks in wheelchairs), but for everyone else as well. (parents with strollers, workers with carts, others with mobility challenges). When churches already have a culture of accommodation, people see how important caring for all God’s children is to them so that everyone can participate in worship regardless of disability or difference.
SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE!
We have a partnership with Whole Life, thanks to Cathy, Corrine, Sioban, and Jenny. The folks that come into help with our food pantry and other things they can do to make life easier on the body of Christ, has decided to adopt our church. They bring frozen meals in to pass out to the sick and shut ins, they are collecting socks to donate to our “Socktober” event, and they have totes around various places taking in donations for our food pantry.
May God Bless and Keep You!
Dave