Pastor John wrote his thanks to God for Bethlehem College and Seminary this morning. I join him in praising God for this initiative at Bethlehem!
Disability ministries need pastors who have been prepared like Pastor John hopes they will be through BCS:
At the heart of this vision is the invincible God, the infallible Bible, and the indispensible Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want future pastors to be stunned by the greatness of God. And stay stunned by living in the Bible. And spread this amazement to sinners, who qualify through faith alone because of the Gospel.
We want them to love the church. The real live, blemished, blood-bought bride of Christ. So we sink them into ministry while they are here.
Why is that so important for a disability ministry?
Because disability is hard. We need to know that God is sovereign over all things and good at all times in the midst of hard things.
We NEED pastors who are stunned by the greatness of God.
We need our pastors to be rock-solid in their understanding of who God is, able to articulate the truth of the Bible, and able to personally demonstrate how glad they are to be dependent on him. Then they can love people in the midst of deepest pain and struggle – because God will provide for them and through them what their hurting people need.
So I am excited about BCS and invite you to join me in praying for them, for the sake of churches that may not yet even exist and children with disabilities not yet born and adults who have not yet experienced disability.
The Works of God 
i have a son with a disability but am not in your area. is there anyone that works with families like us from a distance?
Hi Laurie,
We didn’t begin with a programmed disability ministry; we began with a few volunteers to help give parents (me and my wife) access to church. Many of these precious people had never even thought about disability or the special challenges families face. God helped them, and through them God helped us.
So, in answer to your specific question, we don’t have a program we can give to you. But there might be other ways we could assist. I’ll email you. JPK
Dear John,
I cannot even remember at this point how I stumbled onto your blog, but God always gives good gifts and this has been one of them, thank you. I enjoy reading it often.
I enjoyed reading this entry and the one from the other night where you were blessed at the Christmas services and mentioned toward the end that the many people and blessings you experience in your Church did not happen all at once or all in the beginning.
It challenged me as a parent of a child with special needs to press on within my Church in the area of disability. I really want to help make a difference by teaching those around us how they can minister to us more effectively and in turn how that will free us up a bit to minister as well.
Do you have ideas on the best ways to go about this? Is it sitting down with those in leadership and really talking from the heart, is it volunteering in the already existent program to teach in action?
Would love some feedback. At times, I want to retreat….retract because it is hard to figure out the many details, but I know I am with dear people who do love. And, I don’t believe retracting is out of love. I think it is born out of fear, weariness and it only isolates which does not educate.
I would be open to any ideas on how to participate in bridging the gap more if you would have time to share.
Thank you,
Tabatha Romey
Dear Tabatha,
I deeply appreciate your comments – that God would allow us to encourage you to press on is a great gift! I’ll email you but will make a few public comments here.
God orchestrated several important things for us at church.
1. He gave us friends. When we abandoned our church, there was one couple who refused to let us go. After God gripped us in a new way, these same friends became advocates at church. They were the first people to encourage us to sit down with the pastor and minister for children to talk about what we needed and wanted. That first conversation has turned into one of the most important relationships I have. Pastor David Michael is a hero to me (and one of the creators of Children Desiring God).
2. As we made our needs known, God raised up a couple of other people to help. I had grand ideas about what ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ happen. God kept allowing disappointments – but he also allowed my wife and I to attend church TOGETHER. Worship and time in the word were what we really needed.
3. The pastoral leadership has been incredible. Pastor John has never wavered in his support, and that is true for many other pastors as well. About two years ago God brought Pastor Kempton Turner to us, who also has a significantly disabled child. What a gift to have a parent on the pastoral team!
4. He brought other families like ours to Bethlehem. I’ve written about a couple of them. They were and are huge encouragements to us.
5. When we started looking around at what might be possible, the Elders were more than open – they welcomed us! What a gift that was.
6. A couple of years later we suggested we needed a paid coordinator, and they welcomed us again (even in a down economy and with other huge needs). God’s kindness shined even brighter.
7. We keep finding how little we know and how much there is to do. We are even more dependent on God than before.
There are a hundred details with each of the above! I look forward to this conversation.
I loved reading this and am very interested in the ministry at your church. I am a special educator who teaches children with Autism, Significant Disabilities, and Multiple disabilities in public schools. My husband is the pastor of a small church in Lynchburg, VA with very few members.
I am really looking forward to growing our church body and having a more diverse population that includes people with disabilities. I hope to be able to get together with people like Tabatha Romey in the post above and hear what they have to say about how they can be ministered to best and how they can be freed to minister. I hope to be used by God to provide a ministry that will enable those things to happen.
I know that a ministry like that will take a lot of time, planning, prayer and guidance. I really like your take on your “Disability Ministry” and the people that you serve as the “Works of God”. I know that I’ve read the passage from John 9:1-3 multiple times but had never read it with that emphasis before. I hope that in the future as our church grows I will be able to use you all as a resource to answer questions or give guidance. I also know that you all must be very busy yourselves. Is there anyone that I could get in contact with in the future who would be willing/able to provide mentoring in this area?
Aaron Turner
Dear Aaron,
What a ministry – husband as pastor and you in special ed! I talk very rarely about our school experience, but God has helped us there as well. It is no small thing to have people with real affections for our boy working with him in the public school setting.
One of the ‘Cadillac’ disability ministry programs in the United States is at McLean Bible Church in McLean, VA: http://mbctysons.org/access
I know that’s a big church with many resources, but what impresses me about them is that it began with a leadership emphasis because of their pastor. When the leadership of a church engages the issue, it is far more likely that things will happen.
My favorite example of a disability ministry, with elements I pray will come to Bethlehem someday, is the Barnabas Ministry at Grace Church: http://www.atgrace.com/barnabas-disability-ministry
Why is that one of my favorites? It is very well lead and staffed, entirely by volunteers! And the people involved with it are incredible and passionate about the sovereignty of God in all things.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to start with what God has placed right in front of me. At BBC, our main work is with children with disabilities; we have barely touched access and opportunity for adults. And we aren’t really keeping up with the children, either.
I’ll email you as well. Thank you for joining this discussion!
[…] the beginning of orientation for the new students of Bethlehem College and Seminary. This post from December 30, 2009 continues to reflect my desires for and affections of all the people involved with this new […]