{"id":4587,"date":"2007-07-13T17:25:30","date_gmt":"2007-07-13T22:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=4587"},"modified":"2010-12-20T11:07:06","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T16:07:06","slug":"5718","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/07\/13\/5718\/","title":{"rendered":"New Disabilities Group Seeks to Network Congregations"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (July 13, 2007) \u2013 Several decades ago, when Jim Swanson was pastor of Calvary Covenant Church in Cranston, Rhode Island, someone began pounding on the door of the church. When the pastor opened the door, he found a young boy of grade-school age with Down syndrome.
\n
\n\u201cCan I come in?\u201d Swanson recalls the boy asking. \u201cIf that wasn\u2019t a prophetic wake-up call . . . he wanted to see the inside of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The congregation didn\u2019t know how to minister to the boy or his family, who had left another church to find a place that would care for them. So the church turned to nuns teaching at a nearby school for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you knew it, we had Sunday school classes going for children and for adults (with disabilities),\u201d Swanson says, and the needs of the families also were being addressed.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the number of Evangelical Covenant churches engaging in ministries to people with mental and physical disabilities has been growing. A newly formed Disabilities Ministry Resource Committee, working under the auspices of the Department of Christian Formation, hopes to network those congregations. The committee also seeks to encourage and provide resources for other churches to begin special needs ministries. The committee has met twice since March via conference calls, and a third meeting is scheduled for later this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development of this committee is a tangible statement that we believe everyone is made in the image of God,\u201d says Millie Lungren, a member of the committee and director of the Covenant Resource Center. \u201cIt’s time the church truly reflects the whole of the kingdom, acknowledging the gifts and receiving the blessings of all persons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swanson\u2019s daughter, Karna, was born in 1971 with Down Syndrome and was a charter resident, first of Bjorklund House and then Independence Place, where she now lives. Both houses are part of the denomination\u2019s Enabling Residences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

People with disabilities need the ministry of the church, including proclamation of the gospel, even if some are mentally unable to understand, Swanson says. \u201cThe gospel of grace isn\u2019t just a matter of intellect. Who really understands communion? Who really understands God?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the committee was formed only recently, definite action plans have yet to be set. Swanson says some of the committee members\u2019 many dreams include working with North Park University to promote awareness of special needs as well as making the campus more handicapped accessible, empowering youth at CHIC to take control of their lives and contribute to the ministry of their churches, and integrating people with disabilities into the life of the church so that they are no longer \u201cministered to,\u201d but are \u201cministering with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some churches are hesitant about starting special needs ministries because they feel ill-equipped, Swanson says. \u201cI want churches to realize there are more resources in their communities than they realize.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encourages congregations that don\u2019t have people with disabilities to consider starting special needs ministries as a way to reach out to others beyond their church walls. \u201cIf you\u2019re not prepared to receive them, they\u2019re not going to come,\u201d he reasons.<\/p>\n

Lungren requests churches interested or already engaged in special needs ministry, but have not been contacted by the committee, to contact her by calling 800-338-4332 or by emailing Millie Lungren<\/a>. A bibliography of related material can be found on the Covenant website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (July 13, 2007) \u2013 Several decades ago, when Jim Swanson was pastor of Calvary Covenant Church in Cranston, Rhode Island, someone began pounding on the door of the church. 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