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EQUIPPING THE CHURCH
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'The most wonderful time of the year’ isn’t wonderful for everyone. Many schools take a brief intermission to celebrate the season and welcome the new year. And for our children who thrive on regularity and routine, Christmas break can feel more like a Christmas breakdown. If you want to have a big impact on your community this Christmas, utilize these five tips to make your Christmas Eve service both inclusive and accessible for individuals and families impacted by disability.
Read MoreAs summer’s curtain comes to a close, our special educators, students, and parents affected by disability are preparing for another year of school. Learn how your church can support and encourage these individuals in your community with these 4 tips.
Read MoreWe believe the Church is disabled when it doesn’t include people with disabilities, including the disabilities that we cannot see. Katie Matthews, Executive Director of The Banquet Network, was selected to give a QuickTake at Key Ministry’s Inclusion Fusion Live Conference. Learn about Matthew’s discussion on, “Opening our Eyes to Invisible Disabilities.”
Read MoreIt’s ok to do something small. But everyone needs to do something. At the “Every Child Belongs” special needs conference, Allie McCarty, Communications/Operations Manager at The Banquet Network, led a discussion on equipping children’s ministry leaders to include children affected by disability. Learn a few tips on how you can include children who have disabilities in your church.
Read MoreAs a father to a child with a disability, CJ Matthews, Pastor of Bethany Church Columbia, challenges churches to ensure families affected by disability are welcome. This is article is based on the recent “Every Child Belongs” Conference hosted by The Banquet Network, the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, Cresthill Church, and The Gathering Place.
Read MoreThe Banquet Network participated in a Night to Shine event through the Tim Tebow Foundation in the Dominican Republic from February 9th-13th! Learn all about our trip here!
Read MoreGod gave us Jesus, the light of the world, so we can be that light to others. Who needs His light this Christmas season? Who needs to feel the love of Jesus through you?
Read MoreI have found myself hurting for my fellow church shoppers. I think of families affected by disability and wonder how hard finding a church must be. Some of the families with children who have special needs have told me that when their family was searching for a church, they chose the church that best welcomed their son who has a disability. After the service, a member of the church took this family on a tour of the building and asked how their church could make his family feel welcome—and that’s what made them decide to stay.
Read MoreWe, at The Banquet Network, recognize how important it is to be in a constant learning posture particularly as we seek to submit to the Church in our work. Our growth is contingent upon learning from people of different backgrounds and pursuing relationships with churches of many denominations. This list of resources from various authors and origins has given us a framework to shape our thinking around true inclusion in the Church.
Read MoreAt the young age of three, Danny was introduced to the Deaf community. He began learning sign language at this time and through the years built strong friendships with Deaf individuals. As a college student, Danny started a job as an American Sign Language interpreter and went on to interpret in school systems, legal settings, and became one of very few medical interpreters in Kentucky.
Read MoreMichael Beates outlines in his book, Disability & The Gospel: How God Uses Our Brokenness to Display His Grace, the characteristics of a “disability effective leader”. Our prayer is to see church members and leaders alike grow in and exemplify these characteristics.
Read MoreFor many of us, there is an unspoken discomfort that arises in us when we enter a room and there facing us is a person with a visible disability. It might be a child in a wheelchair or an adult with Tourette’s syndrome, but regardless of the disability, the feeling is the same. We feel a sudden need to avoid the individual completely to ease our discomfort, or we fearfully fumble over what we should do or what we should say.
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