The whole body of Christ

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LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 11th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: A church welcomes people with special needs.

Most Protestant pastors and churchgoers say someone with disabilities would be welcome at the church. But one estimate states that about 80 percent of churches have no form of special needs ministry. And as autism rates rise, more and more families will face the prospect of feeling excluded from church life.

MAST: WORLD senior writer Mary Jackson takes us to Scottsdale, Arizona, where one church took up the challenge to keep that from happening in their own church family.

GLORI NUESSLE: We’re following you bud, you’re the leader.

MARY JACKSON: On a Saturday afternoon in October, Glori Nuessle and her son Cody gave me a quick tour of Highlands Church. It’s a congregation of about 2,000 people.

GLORI: We’re just going to follow you, Cody. Do you want to tell Mary more about this? This is the worship center itself. And the nursery’s here, go in through the front way on that side.

Cody is able to use some words, but he’s considered nonspeaking. He has autism and a motor disorder that makes it difficult to speak. It’s called apraxia.

In 2004, Cody became the inaugural member of Highlands’ special needs ministry. 

Missy Farrington leads that work.

MISSY FARRINGTON: We started with one little boy, his name was Cody, and when he was four years old he was diagnosed with autism, he was just struggling in the typical Sunday School classroom. So his parents at that time decided that one would stay home with him every Sunday and one would come to church with his older brother, and then they would swap weeks.

Cody’s dad was an elder at the time. But he had to tell church leaders why they would not be seeing the family together very often.

FARRINGTON: And the leadership said, "Well, that’s unacceptable, that’s an unacceptable solution. If this is happening in your family, this must be happening in other families. You need to be in church together as a family, and Cody needs to come to church and realize that God has a plan and purpose for his life, too."

Missy was a stay at home mom at the time, but she has a background in special education. So she agreed to spend time with Cody during the service.

FARRINGTON: We would pray and I would tell him about Jesus and we would play on the playground. And if we could go into the classroom I would sit with him in the classroom. And then it just grew from there.

Cody has grown a lot, too. He’s 24 now. 6’5, 225 pounds. The morning after I toured the campus, I met Cody and his parents in the noisy foyer just before the Sunday service.

AUDIO: [Noisy foyer]

CODY: [Humming]

GLORI: Good morning, how are you guys?

Cody usually sits with his family for the singing portion of the service.

WORSHIP LEADER: [It is well with my soul]

Then, he heads to the special needs class. 

On a given Sunday, up to 100 people attend classes. Missy says the ministry is not babysitting. It’s built on the premise that participants understand a lot more than we may think.

FARRINGTON: We believe, without proof, that they are understanding everything that we're teaching. I believe that someday I'm going to be held accountable, and I never want to stand in front of the Lord and say, "I didn't teach them because I didn't think they would understand." Cause that is, that's not an acceptable answer. My job is to teach them, and it's God's job to do the rest.

The lesson is from 2 Kings.

AUDIO: [Jeopardy music] All right, let’s see what you learned today.

That’s Steve Richards. He’s been volunteering in Highlands’ special needs ministry for about 4 years.

RICHARDS: Here we go. Are you ready? In today’s story, who is God’s prophet? Was it Elisha, Elijah, or Jeremiah? Show me. Jeremiah, that’s right, good job. [Clapping] Good job listening.

He’s roving the room with the mic. Most of the participants are at a table coloring. One looks out a window. Another fiddles with a toy.

The next question is for Cody.

RICHARDS: Okay Cody, this one is for you. Did God decide it was time to stop giving second chances and third chances and fourth chances and fifth chances?

CODY: Yes.

RICHARDS: That’s right, God decided it was time.

Steve teaches the adult class every Sunday.

The church hopes to recruit more teachers. Missy admits that as the ministry grows, staffing is a challenge. Especially since volunteers need specialized training to handle the range of physical and emotional needs they encounter.

FARRINGTON: Probably the biggest obstacle is always having enough volunteers. I mean, there are so many things that we would love to do, but we just need more help.

But she tries to keep focused on the mission.

FARRINGTON: Our job is to, as teachers, to teach them about Jesus. Everybody needs Jesus. Our friends with disabilities are, they're human, they're sinful, and they need Jesus just as much as we do.

She hopes to find more ways to involve everyone in the church.

VOLUNTEER: Latte for Vickie?

After class, Cody volunteers at the church’s coffee spot, serving drinks between services.

VOLUNTEER: Cody, you’re still in here, we’re not done yet.

Cody and his friends have put on plays with the church’s theater ministry. Every year, the church hosts a prom experience sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation. They call it Night to Shine.

Missy and her husband, who is a special needs pastor, have helped other churches start special needs ministries. They hope more catch the vision.

FARRINGTON: We tell them our story and how we started. It's also important for me for them to realize that their story is not going to look like our story. Just because this is what a special needs ministry looks like at Highlands, doesn't mean that that's what God has planned for their church.

Back in Cody’s class, Steve closed with prayer.

RICHARDS: And as we trust in Him as our Lord and Savior we get to walk free, we are truly free. Thank you Father, we love you and we praise you. 

And James says, Amen!

[Cheering]

Thank you for being such good students this morning, awesome.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona.

RICHARDS: And remember, what do we always say? Love God, love people, make disciples. 

MAST: To read more about how nonspeaking individuals are learning to communicate using a method called "spelling," you can read Mary’s story in the February issue of WORLD Magazine.

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