{"id":5886,"date":"2023-08-29T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T20:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2023-10-16T14:37:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T20:37:11","slug":"inclusive-ministry-kidmin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/inclusive-ministry-kidmin\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive Ministry: Seeing God&#8217;s Wonder in His Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">It&#8217;s so important that we value ministering to and building relationship with children who have different levels of abilities. Whether we may have a dedicated special needs coordinator or not, we should value and make space for each life in our ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on levels of ability, it&#8217;s important to speak with parents and build a plan together for the needs of each child, whether they need a buddy, <a href=\"https:\/\/ministryspark.com\/sensory-toys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sensory spaces<\/a>, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal should be to include children in the class time as much as possible in order to engage them in community, however each child will have varied needs. We should do our best to love them in the ways that work best for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Each child was created on purpose for a purpose, and they deserve a community that treats them as such.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning to Pivot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As children grow, you may have to change your plans a few times. For example, what&#8217;s your plan for a child who is heading into middle school? <a href=\"https:\/\/ministryspark.com\/inclusion-in-kids-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">It&#8217;s important that we partner<\/a> with our church as a whole to love and have community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what happens when the plan you have for a child isn&#8217;t working? We would say to pray, speak with their family or an expert to try a plan b, or maybe c, or d. We can&#8217;t give up when at first we don&#8217;t succeed. Because no matter a child&#8217;s ability, they deserve to know how loved and valued they are by their Creator in heaven, and by you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can&#8217;t get so focused on accommodating their disability needs that we don&#8217;t think about their social needs and desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can&#8217;t let our plans outshine helping the child feel known and loved as part of the church. Work together in relationship. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ministryspark.com\/vibrant-special-needs-ministry-church\/\" target=\"_blank\">A vibrant program<\/a> that values every life will change a church.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"6836\" class=\"elementor elementor-6836\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-44db1a4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"44db1a4\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3fd2177\" data-id=\"3fd2177\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44f2d06 elementor-widget__width-auto elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"44f2d06\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-xl\" href=\"https:\/\/app.wonderink.org\/?page=RegisterChurch&#038;_gl=1*1vf7quv*_gcl_au*MTg0ODQ5OTU5Ny4xNjg5Njk5NjI3*_ga*ODkwNTM3NjE0LjE2ODk2OTk2Mjg.*_ga_D2HKCMMJ9V*MTY5Njk2NTE2My41Ni4xLjE2OTY5NjUxODMuMC4wLjA.\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Try for Free<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9dfdb8d elementor-widget__width-auto elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"9dfdb8d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/app.wonderink.org\/?page=RegisterChurch&#038;_gl=1*1vf7quv*_gcl_au*MTg0ODQ5OTU5Ny4xNjg5Njk5NjI3*_ga*ODkwNTM3NjE0LjE2ODk2OTk2Mjg.*_ga_D2HKCMMJ9V*MTY5Njk2NTE2My41Ni4xLjE2OTY5NjUxODMuMC4wLjA.\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img data-opt-id=1573953086  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/mlzai04amy7e.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:80\/f:best\/https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Wonder-Ink-logo.png\"   decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"311\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-6197\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0955910 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0955910\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: small;\">Wonder Ink\u2019s 3-year, 52-week children\u2019s ministry curriculum offers kids space to fully find their place in God\u2019s Big Story. Children discover they are Known by God, Loved by Jesus, and Led by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-opt-id=434830420  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/mlzai04amy7e.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:80\/f:best\/https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/GettyImages-1049273800.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"school girls sitting on steps\" class=\"wp-image-3912\" style=\"width:660px;height:439px\" width=\"660\" height=\"439\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit:Getty Images\/DigitalVision\/Klaus Vedfelt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inclusive Ministry: God\u2019s Purpose and Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As humans, we have limited sight lines to fully understand someone&#8217;s experience. And we can limit others based on what we think they need. Our prayer is that we we would each begin to see others the way that God sees His kids. Look for the light and the potential that is within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as we expand the scope of our inclusion ministries, our conversations with families will change. We should focus on God\u2019s purpose and plan for them as we foster&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ministryspark.com\/how-buddies-help-strengthen-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\">inclusion and engagement with their peers.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>No matter a child&#8217;s ability, they deserve to know how loved and valued they are by their Creator in heaven, and by you.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Challenge and support those connected to your ministry to see each child&#8217;s unique purpose and how their lives can tell of God\u2019s goodness and wonder. It takes a lot of time, prayers, energy, and effort, but it is so worth it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each child was created on purpose for a purpose, and they deserve a community that treats them as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More Ideas and Insight for Your Church<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find more insights and ideas for family engagement in our free guide:&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/kids-faith-formation-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What If We\u2019re Failing Kids at Faith Formation? (And How Not To)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inclusive ministry shows that no matter a child&#8217;s ability, they deserve to know how loved and valued they are by their Creator in heaven, and by you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Inclusive Ministry: Seeing God&#039;s Wonder - Wonder Ink","_seopress_titles_desc":"Inclusive ministry shows that no matter a child&#039;s ability, they deserve to know how loved and valued they are by their Creator in heaven, and by you.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"blog_topic":[27,26],"blog_type":[13],"ppma_author":[22],"class_list":["post-5886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_topic-faith-formation","blog_topic-leadership","blog_type-blog"],"authors":[{"term_id":22,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"wonder-ink","display_name":"The Wonder Ink Team","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/wonder-ink-favicon.svg","url2x":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/wonder-ink-favicon.svg"},"author_category":"","user_url":"https:\/\/wonderink.org","last_name":"Ink","first_name":"Wonder","job_title":"","description":"The Wonder Ink Team is made of ministry volunteers, leaders, and experts who work with David C Cook. We\u2019re passionate about equipping leaders as you empower volunteers, engage families, and inspire children on their journey of faith. Discover more about Wonder Ink children's ministry curriculum at WonderInk.org."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"blog_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_topic?post=5886"},{"taxonomy":"blog_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_type?post=5886"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wonderink.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}