Hospitality
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Posted on April 24, 2012, 10:09 am
Topics: Hospitality
Tom Hoeksema and his wife, both white, decided they needed to visit Grace when their adopted African American son asked during a communion service at their previous church, “Do black people ever get to serve communion here?” The first time the Hoeksemas visited Grace, a member who had an intellectual disability walked up to them, reached out his hand in welcome, and said, “Hi, I like you!”
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Posted on February 28, 2012, 8:51 am | 2 comments
Topics: Hospitality
Making your congregation welcoming and accessible can be done because it has been done—somewhere by people just like you. Amazing Gifts tells those stories.
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Posted on January 9, 2012, 2:31 pm
Topics: Hospitality
Seminary students and people with intellectual disabilities need housing. Why not together? In this article by Matt Floding describes the Friendship House, in which 18 seminary students and 6 adults with intellectual disabilities live together in community.
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Posted on January 6, 2012, 9:36 am
Topics: Hospitality
This blog by Shannon Dingle invites the church to learn a lesson from Target and thereby increase the size of the church's "bucket."
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Posted on September 12, 2011, 3:41 pm
Topics: Hospitality
Creating groups in church that are separated by age and interest makes some sense, but this approach also isolates the parts of Christ’s body from one another, and weakens a church’s hospitality and welcome. Churches need to supplement their curriculum for children and adults with events that bring the church together around Scripture.
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Posted on August 16, 2011, 9:38 am
Topics: Hospitality
I have been asked to leave church more than once because my son is autistic and can be disruptive. It is painful for our family to miss church, but we have spent more years outside of the church than inside.
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Posted on August 3, 2011, 12:53 pm
Topics: Hospitality
Lucas, who has cerebral palsy, cannot walk, nor can he articulate words so that others can understand. He uses a computer to communicate. Lucas' small Pentecostal African American Church in the Mississippi Delta embraces him for who he is and encourages him to use the gifts God has given him.
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Posted on May 4, 2011, 8:40 am | 2 comments
Topics: Hospitality
With about 20 percent of the world's population living with disabilties, bringing the gospel to people with disabilities is one of the greatest opportunities today for churches worldwide. This webinar examines the biblical basis and presents practical tools for engaging people with disabilities in church life.
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Posted on April 26, 2011, 10:58 am
Topics: Hospitality
Diversity magazine posted their top ten places to work for people with disabilities. The practices of these companies can apply with little adaptation to churches as well such as making sure that people with disabilities are involved in leadership teams and training for employees so that they can be competent in interacting with fellow employees with disabilities.
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Posted on April 12, 2011, 10:04 am | 6 comments
Topics: Hospitality
Ten households in the immediate neighborhood of your church would like to participate in a church. If your church would welcome and engage them, they would get involved. Today's blog and a webinar I will lead on April 13 will explore how.
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Posted on March 29, 2011, 10:54 am | 2 comments
Topics: Hospitality
When I dream about the church as a welcoming community of God, I picture a church that fully engages people with disabilities in its life and ministry. Some churches have made this a reality, but most are still on the road. Chelwood Christian Reformed Church in Albuquerque has done exceptionally well at including people with intellectual disabilities, so well that this is a significant part of their outreach ministry.
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Posted on March 1, 2011, 1:41 pm | 1 comment
Topics: Hospitality
Too often, people with autism are characterized by various deficits compared to neurotypical people. Yet, as autism becomes better understood, people are waking up to their positive qualities. Lisa Jo Rudy wrote this top ten list with that in mind. Unfortunately, she sometimes identifies them with their disability, "autistic people," but aside from that, it's a helpful article.
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Posted on February 8, 2011, 3:52 pm
Topics: Hospitality
“A family attending our church has a child with disabilities. We want to help. What should we do? Where do we start?” This little resource is packed with great ideas to help you and your church get started.
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Posted on January 11, 2011, 11:55 am | 2 comments
Topics: Hospitality
Temple Grandin highlighted people in her life that made the difference for her between institutionalization and international acclaim. Among others, her mother, a nanny, a high school science teacher, a college professor, an engineer on a job site all believed in her, encouraged her in her gifts, and helped her navigate the challenging matter of understanding the mysterious world, to her, of human relationships.
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Posted on December 23, 2010, 2:53 pm | 4 comments
Topics: Hospitality
Healthy churches think about and work at hospitality. Like our Lord himself, they give and receive hospitality graciously. In the body of Christ, all of us are hosts and all of us are guests. All of us reflect the Lord himself, who received and gave. All of us have something to give and something to receive from each other.
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