How to Involve Volunteers with Disabilities in Your Ministry

by | Leadership, Team Development

By Stephanie Lippi

Your congregation is filled with people of varying skills, talents, and interests who would be interested in serving in a ministry at your church. It’s likely that some of those people may have disabilities, and you may be wondering how to help them best serve.

According to STEPS (Student Training & Education in Public Service), an estimated 12.6% of the U.S. population lives with a disability, and one in every four adults. Most challenges are physical (14%) or cognitive (11%) in nature, although millions of Americans also have difficulty with vision, hearing, and overall self-care.

Learn About the Volunteer’s Disability

When working with a volunteer with disabilities, learning about their disabilities can help you find things that suit them. According to the World Health Organization and STEPS, there are 8 categories of disabilities that may affect their lives:

  • Mobility/Physical Disabilities impacting a person’s “movement, coordination, or dexterity.” This includes amputations, arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
  • Head Injury/Brain Disabilities affecting “how a person thinks, their personality, and who they are.” These include epilepsy, stroke, and dementia, as well as physical trauma to the brain resulting from an accident.
  • Spinal Cord Disabilities causing “a loss of movement or sensation of the impacted area.” Common types include multiple sclerosis, Spina bifida, and para- or quadriplegia. Often, they will require a wheelchair or other walking aid.
  • Vision Disabilities including any sort of partial to complete blindness, cataracts, and glaucoma.
  • Hearing Disabilities ranging from partial to complete hearing loss.
  • Cognitive & Learning Disabilities that make it difficult to accomplish certain mental tasks, including reading, learning, or speaking. People with these conditions may also have trouble with “memory, problem solving, attention, words, numbers, or visual processing.”
  • Psychological Disabilities which “affect a person’s emotions, thinking, and behavior.” Common disabilities include bipolar disorder, depression, and eating disorders.
  • Invisible Disabilities which are not obvious, but still make it difficult for a person to accomplish tasks. These can include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Diabetes.

Work Together to Find the Right Fit

Once you have a better understanding of the challenges they face, you can begin helping them find their niche in your church’s ministry opportunities. Here are 6 ideas to encourage your attendees with disabilities to find their niche in your church.

  1. Ask them what their passions are to find the right fit. Don’t just assume you know what’s best for them. Laurel Neff Swanson, Administrator at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Altoona, IA, shared, “We had a member of our church who was blind, and he could actually paint for us—no joke!” They never would have discovered that if they hadn’t asked him how he would like to serve.
  2. Provide them with routines and/or assigned tasks in a specific area. Many individuals with disabilities have developed routines in their personal lives. Routines and spaces they’re familiar with provide a sense of security that allows them to more freely serve. Find tasks that can be done to fit within the boundaries that they need.
  3. Offer suggestions if they’re unsure. Perhaps they enjoy vacuuming spaces, or wiping down the nursery toys to disinfect them. Maybe they would be great at learning how to work the audio-visual equipment in your sanctuary. Or they might love being Sunday School teachers. Having a list of ministry needs ready will help you ask the right questions to find their niche.
  4. Include their family and friends in the conversation. Sometimes those closest to us know us better than we know ourselves, and they can offer insights that the individuals may not have considered.
  5. When thinking about their fit in ministry, consider things that may trigger strong emotions or behaviors. For some individuals, certain situations may cause flare-ups or panic attacks. Make sure to discuss these things with volunteers so that you can help them have a plan in place when these things happen. This also can help you choose ministry options that will minimize these triggers from happening in the first place.
  6. Pray with them. It may be that nothing you suggest sounds interesting to your potential volunteers. If this is the case, spend time in prayer with them, which is the simplest idea at the heart of ministry.

Ultimately, the goal is to help every person in your church get connected so they can better serve together. Individuals with disabilities want the same chances to do this as every person, so work together to discover the right fit. These steps can help you connect those with and without disabilities and better understand where their God-given gifts, talents, and abilities best fit.

Sign Up for the Worship Facility Newsletter!

NEW THIS WEEK

Winterization and Your Church Facility

Winter is here, but there is still time to look at some of the ways you can winterize your church facility. There are several valuable resources out there that detail many of the most common items to check. Check Your Facility’s Outside Faucets Outside faucets are one...

Resolve: 4 Unexpected Leadership Skills to Master

As a pastor or ministry leader, you wear many hats. That’s an understatement, right? Spiritual shepherd, visionary, counselor, and often an administrator. But in the coming year, leadership demands are shifting. To navigate this dynamic season, it’s time to adopt some...

Valley Community Church Finds High Point in New Audio System

Over the past 55 years, Valley Community Church (VCC) in the East Bay suburb of Pleasanton, has focused a large measure of its ministry efforts on providing humanitarian aid and compassionate service to its neighbors. From feeding the hungry and helping the local...

Ultimate Support Systems Venue Mic Stand Now Available

Ultimate Support Systems’ new VMC-T-T Venue Mic Stand is now shipping.Designed in direct response to requests from venues, production companies and touring crews around the world, the stand brings Ultimate Support’s best-in-class design, construction and materials to...

Smaller Option Video Displays

For a house of worship, the decision between a 98” flat screen TV and a 4' high x 8' wide video wall depends on factors like visibility for congregants, content flexibility, and ease of use. large box stores are now now selling 98" screen TVs and they are easy to...