Latest / Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community / Differently Wired in Community | Introduction With Guest, Corinne Thomas

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Differently Wired in Community | Introduction With Guest, Corinne Thomas · Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community

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What does loving your neighbor actually look like? This
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is Journey with Care, where curious Canadians get inspired to
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love others well through real life stories and honest
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conversations.
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Hey, before we get started, I just wanted to remind listeners that Journey with
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Prayer, our 5 minute prayer and activation series based
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on each Journey with Care episode can be found on its own podcast
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feed. Find it on your favorite podcast player or check the show notes to
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subscribe and follow. Let's take these interviews from the head to the
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heart every week on Journey with Prayer. Okay.
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We are back with the Journey with Care podcast. It's Johan here. I missed
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last week because as Wendy mentioned, I was working on a special
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little project that more information will be coming out soon.
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And, Wendy, we are kicking off a new series. Yeah. I'm excited
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that, we have a new series kicking off today called Differently
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Wired Together, and we've got several episodes in
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store that, I think our listeners are in for a treat. In this series,
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we can expect to hear from a lot of different people with different perspectives
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and experiences, related to neurodiversities
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and people with disabilities, people living with mental illness,
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and those that are caregiving in these spaces. It is a place
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that I I feel that we as a church have a lot to talk about
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and a lot to learn and grow in to create belonging
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for the whole community because there's an illusion that there's this
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baseline of what normal is, and yet we often don't necessarily
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realize the challenges and
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the barriers that are there for people that Park
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differently wired. It's just a kind of broad term that we're referring to
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here. But to kick off our series, I am so excited. I
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met a pastor. As you know, I was in Calgary recently speaking at the
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one conference with Global Leadership Network Canada. And at
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this conference, I got to meet pastor at Center Street
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Church, Corinne Thomas. She's a pastor
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of special needs, and welcome to the podcast, Corinne.
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Thank you. I'm very excited to be here today. Well, I was so excited
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to meet you at your church in new facilities that,
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that are being launched there in Calgary and the many good things that you're doing,
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but particularly the role that you have. Can you tell us a
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little bit more about what you do at Center
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Street? And I'd also love to dig
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into what got you down this path. Well, yeah, I
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do a lot at the church, and and I just love every minute of
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it. So, actually, I'm gonna start back and tell you a little bit of how
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I got into it because it really plays into, I think, why I do what
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I do, and I love what I do. I felt God call me back
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when I was 16 years old to work with people with disabilities.
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There's nobody in my family. I'm not impacted that way. But just when I was
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16 years old, I was working at a summer camp and just had the opportunity
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to love on this young girl with Down syndrome, and that's
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just where my passion started. And so being relatively
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new to this, I wanted to go to university, so I enrolled in a
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college here in Calgary, and they actually needed to do a practicum
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before even being enrolled. And I wasn't going to Wendi Street Church
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at the time, but decided to contact them because I knew they had
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this newly formed special needs ministry. So I signed up and started
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teaching Sunday school to 3 kids with different diagnosis,
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and that was almost 30 years ago. I love what I hear you saying.
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It was that one girl, that one child in camp
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that changed the trajectory and gave you that moment. She taught
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you what you needed and awoke with something in you, and
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you just took one step in front of the other. And you started you made
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yourself available to teach these 3 children in a church that's
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beautiful. So then what happened? So like I was saying, it was
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almost 30 years that I was volunteering there. One of my passions is
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looking at the whole person and how important the spiritual
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component of this group of people is. And
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so that was just something always on my mind. But my career is
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actually mostly in the and I'm using quotation marks here, the secular
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disability world. I've worked in many different agencies and organizations,
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including government bodies, over the years. And why I
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say this and why it's really, neat, part of my story is 7 years
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ago, I came on as the pastor of the special needs ministry, totally
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thinking I was going to do this one role and do it well because
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God called me to it. So of course, he's gonna be with me and do
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all this. But I'm just seeing how my history of working
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in the secular world of disability has really broadened the
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scope of what we can do as a ministry to help families. It
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isn't just the spiritual component, which is what I love and what I'm passionate about,
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but it really is looking at the whole person and helping them and
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helping their families navigate through the complicated system of
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having a child with a disability. So I just love God's
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hand in my whole journey story. So Yeah. And
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I I love the fact that it was actually within the
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other sector outside the church that had something to teach
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you to bring into the church. How was that
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transition from from working with outside the church in these
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spaces in specialization that taught you a lot and had
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something to offer the church, how was that transition bringing that into a
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church setting? Oh, it was a real learning curve because the
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church is almost a different world when it comes to people
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with special needs, disabilities, looking at the whole person, the
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spiritual side, and just constantly going back to different bible passages
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and speaking about, you know, every person is made in the image of God. He
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created them with a purpose. They have gifts and talents and and things like that.
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That is missed a lot. It's getting there. Like, we have the gifts and
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capacities, approaches, and things like that, but they're very different, and it
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was a big learning curve for me. It very much shaped how we're
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able to really support and love the people that are
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part of this ministry. And my coordinator, also has a degree
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in community disability and rehab as well. And so it's
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really great to see the pairing that we're doing to bring both
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worlds somewhat together, but recognizing their differences, but being able to
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support in a really holistic manner. So I think it's been a blessing, but
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a challenge too. And do you have a large congregation
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in those that you are pastoring, at Center Street? I know
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Center Street in Calgary is a huge church. But what does that look
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like for those with special needs in your
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pastoral care? Well, we have, 2 very distinct groups
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that are part of the special needs ministry. Our adult ministry, which probably takes up
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about 75%, and we have close to probably a 100 families
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or individuals. Individuals, when they're adults, tend to make Center
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Street Church their church, and their parents can still attend their home
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church. So I'm not necessarily supporting whole families when it comes to the adult
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group, but there is almost a 100 of them, and I would say close to
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50 parents with younger children that we're supporting in in
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that world as well. So very different. And, of course, then we have
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the the ones that are kind of falling through the cracks that maybe have not
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a significant developmental disability, but still need some supports. We
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have one individual that, is in a wheelchair and should have a power
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chair, but he doesn't right now. And so just even having someone meet him at
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the door to wheel him into the worship center and then back out just to
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providing those back in support. So our group can attend church and be
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filled with the love of God and the messages that he has for them.
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Yeah. So you so that they feel included and are included
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in the bigger body of Christ. And and I guess that's one of the things
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that we're looking at in the differently wired. When we talk about
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that, each individual is so uniquely created and loved
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by God and and has different needs as we all have
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different needs, but I think a lot of people get by because we don't
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have any of neuro differences or or things like that.
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When we're looking at differently wired in community,
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we're we're looking at that we are all made in the image of God. We
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are all created differently with different unique experiences
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and wiring, giftings, and and certain tragedies
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or disabilities or other for whatever circumstance has
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created a package we each come with when we come into the church,
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and we don't wanna really focus on labels that they are this and that
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person is this. We wanna look at them as whole created beings
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in the image of God, each made equal in the image of God.
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But when we're looking at special needs, we have to also acknowledge that there are
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certain things that in order to love them, their true
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authentic self, we need to accept them for who they are and what they bring
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and to see them for who they really are. And so rather than
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looking at the labeling of, like, you will hear the term out
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there in society, neurodiversities, what we're looking at is what
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is it like for a person with autism to experience
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church, and how can we really love them? When a person comes in
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with ADHD, what does that look like, and what is their experience? How
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can we accommodate so that they really feel connected and belonging?
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These are some things that, speak near and dear to my heart because I
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I live with people with these diversities. And quite honestly,
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there's a lot of churches we cannot be part of, not because churches are trying
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to be unwelcoming, but they just there's signals and things
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that they just do not fit. I think of neurodiversities,
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as really like Apple and Android. It's not so much of a disability, but they're
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just we're just wired differently, and I wouldn't have known this had I not walked
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with with others. Do you experience that as well? Oh, absolutely.
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Everybody comes with their own set of things that make them
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unique, and we wanna work on having the goal of acceptance,
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belonging. And so what does that work look like? Working with them, working
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with their parents. For example, we have one family who who has a
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son on the spectrum, and, yeah, he cannot attend church. Our church is
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huge, like you saw. Like, we have, I think, 2,000 people that can sit in
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our worship center. That is just too much for some of our people. And
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so we have an overflow room that was just available that
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if church ever got too full, usually on Easter or Christmas, that we would open
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it up for them. And so I just went to our guest services team and
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I said, hey, if we have this room already, can we just open it up
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at the beginning of the service and just have families come? And it's
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right near our west door, so they basically 5 families,
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because 4
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or 5 families, because we've just launched this since Easter, so it's still pretty
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new. But an opportunity for them to come. And it's not specifically, you
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know, a sensory room or a disability room or anything like that. It's just
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a space that people can come even if the church is too loud. Like, yeah,
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sometimes our music gets loud. Sometimes the lights are a little bit bright
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for people. So it's just where we've dimmed the lights, the music or the sound
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is quieter, and it's a smaller space. Everybody is welcome in that space
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just as much as people are welcome in our big worship center. It is good
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to see that there is a church out there that's getting ahead of the
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curb and making a space for Getting ahead? I think they're catching
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up. Because everywhere else in society, in the malls and and
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schools, they're doing this. I think it's beautiful that the church is doing it. The
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movie theaters have caught on to this. Like, they have nights where it's a lot
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quieter, where the lights are on a little bit, so it's not so much
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contrast in there. So it's really good that the church is
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starting to catch up hopefully, and we have a lot of work to do, obviously.
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So I love it. And, also, this is a a neat fun fact. Yes. You
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need space to do it, and some churches will have those constraints. But it's
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not a huge budgetary item. It's just a matter of seeing the
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child, seeing the family and the needs, and and really listening. You
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you wouldn't have known that they needed this had you not listened to that
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family and their sense of belonging. And and
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whatever we come with, we know when we fit. We know when we
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are we are cherished and beloved, and and you made that
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accommodation, which is which is beautiful. Then we have some more obvious
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things, like you were talking about somebody, in a wheelchair.
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There's simple things of becoming more accessible
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for, like, physical disabilities and and other things.
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What kind of accommodations have you had to make for
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people with visible disabilities? It's about making
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the the church accessible in terms of physical
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situations as much as possible. Like, with all of our renovations, for instance,
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we've widened all of our hallways because we have a couple of people that are
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wheelchairs that are actually in oversized wheelchairs. So, yeah, we've met the
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the building standards, but we've exceeded them by making hallways a little bit
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better, bigger. We've made a lot of open spaces, lots
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of areas where, yeah, there is things that are just movable
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so that we're not set with a big board table in the middle of a
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room, like traditional kind of ways. So there's lots of multi use
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spaces. I'm very excited with our new space. We actually do have a sensory
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room that we're developing, and I'm super excited to be able to use that
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when it's done. We are in the process of working with a consultant to get
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it all put together, but just opportunities for those that need a little
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bit more stimulus or those that need a little bit less and how
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working through that as an opportunity for kids or adults that just
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need help with regulation. But another part of it too is
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just really taking time to train our volunteers on how
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to just navigate because that's one of the big things that I see
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is people don't know what they don't know. There's dhikma out there. There's
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discrimination out there. I hate to say it, but it's true in our churches. It's
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there as well. So raising awareness and just providing extra
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training, even as simple as how do you talk to someone who is nonverbal?
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We have one guy that is the most social guy, and he's wired to be
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social, but he's not very limited in a traditional speaking, but he has
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an iPad. So just going around and talking to a few key people
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saying Wendi he comes up to you, take the time because he's gonna type it
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out on his iPad. So take that time and do that. And so he
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has made some really great connections and he feels like he belongs and he does
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belong because he's made these connections because me going behind the
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scenes and and supporting him so that he can be successful in
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terms of having a place and feeling connected. And so I feel that
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that's a lot of what we do as a special needs ministry sometimes,
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not, is like just being the back end to build a
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structure and a foundation so that people can be more successful, not
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be scared, not know what to do so they don't do anything. And I think
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that that just raising that awareness has just come a long way for our church
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community just to feel more comfortable with this population that is more
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and more visible within our community, our church community. I
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love that because what you're you're telling me is that that belonging,
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that sense of belonging is cocreated together
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with the volunteer and the one with
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whatever presenting disability that they're learning together to to
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connect together and not just being served,
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but to actually have something to offer and to teach the rest of
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the church that, what belonging looks like. And that
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is a beautiful example. And and I saw that firsthand in in just the
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facilities that you created and everything, and I I think that's just a beautiful thing.
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I I would imagine that if I was the person on this
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journey in a wheelchair, if I rolled through those those
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hallways, I would feel seen and I would feel loved
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beyond words. Right? Beyond saying Jesus loves you just the way
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you are, and yet you're being squeezed out of the hallway and
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and normal interactions wouldn't do it. But
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you really demonstrated it, and I think that's that's
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takes a lot of intentionality and putting it into budget
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so that churches put their their money where their mouth is. If they say
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that everybody's equal, how are we reflecting that to create that
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equality within our spaces in a very practical sense, in the
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sensory rooms, and those things? Because when I came through your church, I'm like,
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oh, this is where where my family could fit, and I
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I loved that. I felt loved as a parent, in your hallways.
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Oh, well, that's good. Glad to hear that. Yeah. There's this other aspect
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that, sometimes in is a little bit more invisible.
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Although, I would say now in society, it's becoming more common
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in a healthy way to talk about it is some of the complexities
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of mental illness that some people live with that
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isn't necessarily a disability or special needs per se, but
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sometimes there's a lot of comorbidities and there's a lot of of
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things that interfere with people's experience
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with church in society and how they can go about day
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to day finding that belonging. Have you had any
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experiences in your ministry helping people through
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some mental illnesses and supporting them in that journey as a
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pastor. Unfortunately, at this point, we don't really have a
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formal ministry for that demographic, and we've talked about
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it a lot. It pairs often with the special needs ministry
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just because of that comorbidity, component. And so I
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do a lot. And then it also we have, what's called a center for the
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city. So that's where people that are, struggling
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financially or need a bit of extra support, new to Canada, that kind of thing.
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And so both of our areas tend to have a higher demographic
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of people with mental illness. And so we have talked quite a lot
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together and and trying to build a structure of
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pastoral care in terms of being there,
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listening, praying, but also knowing when to actually access
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these resources that are out there. Just this past week, I had a
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conversation with someone who actually don't know what I I
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can tell there was some sort of mental health concern. He was
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presenting very manic, and I was just listening to him,
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and and then he just started talking about if, you know, if he doesn't get
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help, there's gonna be self harm and and things like that. And so he was
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gonna come to the church and come talk to me some more or find another
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pastor to talk to because maybe a man might be better. And he he was
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just all over the place. And finally, I just stopped him, and I said, I
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think you actually need to call 211, which is has a distress
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number because at first, I was feeling a little bit guilty about that because I'm
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like, surely we can do something to support this individual. And absolutely,
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we prayed together and and things like that. But just knowing that we have
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external resources in this season when we don't have really any type
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of formal ministry. But just being able to walk alongside
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someone, be there to pray for them, get updates from them,
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knowing that you care. Yes. You can tell me the same story 20 times and
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I will still listen. I still love you. You are still a child of God
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in the midst of this. No, we don't understand all of what's going on,
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but God does. And let's see how we can work
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with community resources to to support in that
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recognizing our limitations as a pastoral team or
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as a church in terms of what we can and can't do. And he is
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now, yeah, connected with a distress center and they are they're helping. I
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mean, he still wants to talk to me every day and that's fine. I don't
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have a problem connecting with him, praying with him, and just being
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available. And I know that that really helps him feel that he has a
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place within the church and he is still getting the help he needs.
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Just one very, pertinent example that's been Park of my week this
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week, and I know many fall through the cracks still, but this is
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just one story that just really fresh in my mind. And and, again, not
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doing everything we possibly could, but it's a starting place. No. I
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think that's really good, Corinne, because I think no matter what role of
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ministry, whether we're in a pastoral role or part of
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any type of ministry, these are things that we
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will encounter. It's not necessarily even a department for a
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church to work through. These are not people to be fixed, but people
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to find belonging with. And and you even gave that beautiful example of referral.
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Like, we we're not here to fix people, but we can we can hold space
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for them. Right? And even in our ministries, we are going to
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encounter mental illness and and people going through challenges,
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and
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being able to accept people however they present,
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but create felt safety and belonging that you obviously
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created with this this individual, which is beautiful. Yeah. And I just
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one other part of it, sorry, I just wanted to add is, we have a
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monthly potluck, and it is designated for our special needs ministry and their
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families. But he's like, well, can I come? And I'm like, absolutely.
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This is a a safe place for you to come and
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absolutely be a part of this. We don't, you know, we're not exclusive in terms
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of, oh, Paula, you have to have a developmental disability to get in. No. We
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welcome everyone. And so it's next Friday night. So, you know, I'm
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praying that he does come and find some connection within our community
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because, again, we're not an exclusive community in and of itself either. We
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want people to find belonging within our community no matter
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what they come with in terms of diagnosis or
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just lived experience that they just need a place where they can connect
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in this season. So Yeah. And there's a a cool resource.
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Friends of Care Impact, Daniel Whitehead runs a
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ministry called Sanctuary Mental Health. They have a beautiful
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resource and free resource for churches to lead in
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in small groups, beautiful resources, not to try to get a
21:28
handle on mental illness, but how do we create congregations that
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are safe places? How do we work through our own barriers so that we can
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create belonging and safety? Because we might feel that we have
21:39
the the the perfect, most welcoming church, but those that are
21:43
going through it could be mental health, it could be disabilities
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or neurodivergence, all the things that we've been talking about, they will know if
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they're accepted, But we often have those blind spots. So this is a
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beautiful, graceful way of bringing awakening and awareness
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to everyday individuals on how do we all create that
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safety for, people going through through different
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illnesses and, complexities that we might not be familiar with.
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And we don't have to know everything. We don't have to be psychiatrist to to
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be able to help to create that belonging and presence. So
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And I believe they just came out with one for teenagers as well. So
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Yes. It is coming out for youth as well. There there's a new one coming
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out, and I I would highly recommend that churches all
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churches, check that out. Yeah. We did it as a as a small
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group here at Care Impact, and it was really well done, really
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impactful. I've worked with people with mental illness in the past,
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and I wish I woulda had this information. And I believe the whole church really
22:42
needs this. Definitely recommend that, and we'll we'll throw in the show notes as well.
22:46
And another one that doesn't necessarily fit within what we would
22:50
call special needs or disabilities or
22:54
mental illness. But this whole area of people coming
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into our churches, into our communities with
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complex trauma, whether in their past or they're
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living through, current traumas right now.
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And that's something that our team has been passionately training
23:12
churches to be trauma informed and to create felt
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safety in our churches. There's so many things that can
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alienate people. They they have this radar
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if they belong or not. Is it a safe place for them or not?
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The most welcoming churches won't realize that, oh, but if
23:31
you don't fit this bill, you you're not really gonna fit in, or I can't
23:34
really drop my mask. I have to pretend everything's okay. And so that
23:37
is another area that actually is a barrier. It
23:41
actually changes our biology and our our our wiring
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when we go through trauma, that there is healing, but something that
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also could be looked at to reduce the barrier
23:53
within churches to for people coming that are differently
23:56
wired. I would love to shift over to your personal journey
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and and dive into some of more insights. There's so much within you that
24:03
you come into this ministry with. Can you share a
24:07
personal experience or encounter that has deeply
24:10
impacted your understanding of inclusivity
24:14
and why you are contending so hard in
24:17
Calgary to create supports for the people you pastor?
24:21
Well, I've just felt that Centre Street Church in general is quite
24:25
accepting of those that are differently wired, and
24:29
I'm sometimes just blown away. I'll sit in our cafe and I'll just observe
24:32
the different engagements and interactions. And like you said, people are saying,
24:36
hi, they're they're welcoming. Hey, sit together. Or, you
24:40
know, it's okay that, you know, someone maybe awkwardly comes and interrupts a
24:43
conversation or they're very visible in our church, and I
24:47
just love that that generally they are accepted. Now does that
24:51
mean that they Park belonging yet? Not really, but it's it's a
24:54
definite start, and I just love that. I have one story that, we'll have a
24:58
couple of stories to kinda speak into this. But one story specific
25:01
is we had a gentleman with Down syndrome who worked in our cafe
25:05
for many years, and there's a lot of labeling,
25:09
that was going on at the time that everybody wanted to know what everybody's diagnosis
25:12
was. And I was just, like, a little bit frustrated because I'm, like, doesn't matter.
25:16
We they're persons first. Like, they're people. They have names. Let's use those
25:19
identities. And so I was sitting there, and I overheard one
25:23
conversation on the one side of me. They're like, oh, I don't know where to
25:26
put this tray. And across the room, he was putting things away
25:30
and he was wearing a baseball cap. And the gentleman said, hey, that guy over
25:33
there with the baseball cap, he's the one that you need to talk to for
25:36
putting trays away. And my heart just about exploded because I'm like, oh, it wasn't
25:40
the guy with the down syndrome. It wasn't any of that. It was just
25:43
so very exciting, and it just filled my heart to hear that
25:47
people are getting the message that we're trying to say. And again, we
25:51
are going behind the scenes and just trying to empower people so
25:54
they are more comfortable. Like, we have one gentleman that just,
25:58
he will seek out one of our participants and he'll ask every
26:02
day, how is it going? What's new? And they'll sit together and have coffee.
26:05
And that's just been a very organic friendship just just because she's
26:09
around. We have a midweek program that runs Tuesdays Wednesdays.
26:13
It started as not everybody impacted by disability can attend
26:16
church because of situations and staffing and agency
26:20
things. And so we started offering that on Tuesdays
26:23
Wednesdays and and just different opportunities at different levels of understanding. So
26:27
we have music for those that really can hear the gospel through
26:31
music. We have a bible study for those that are wanna be disciples more
26:34
intentionally. We have horticulture for those that are more interested in learning
26:38
about Jesus, but through creative means like horticulture. And then we have a
26:41
social club, but we also have volunteering and just
26:45
how the volunteers are appreciated. They clean the worship center 1 morning
26:49
a week and people will go out of their way to come and just say
26:52
hello and just thank them for what they're doing. And
26:56
I just really appreciate that they're being acknowledged for
27:00
being in church. And I mean, it shouldn't be that way. Everyone should just be
27:03
more natural with it, but it's just a cool thing that is growing and
27:07
developing and changing within the church environment. And So
27:10
you're actually creating belonging by
27:14
involvement and not just serving people,
27:18
in a certain sector, but they are being
27:21
grafted in into volunteer positions and and ministry leads. So
27:25
they are actually leading your church into a a greater
27:29
understanding of inclusion and, being blessed.
27:33
That is beautiful. I actually worked in that sector for several years
27:37
where I provided supportive employment for those living with
27:40
disabilities. I always ask the question, like, where is the church and
27:44
where can he contribute to the church? Why am I not seeing
27:48
these with Down syndrome in the church? Where is that safe space? So
27:52
hearing what you're doing here is really exciting even for me,
27:56
and I just have hope for for those that I worked with in the past.
28:00
And I think there's a huge piece there that could go untapped and
28:03
missed that every single person is made in the image of God,
28:07
and they have inherent gifts and abilities that light them up,
28:11
that actually contribute to the body of Christ. I think of of some
28:15
people that I know on the autism spectrum, perfect pitch,
28:19
best sound, like, you you couldn't even get it on a computer.
28:23
Why aren't they running our IT and our RPA system? Because
28:26
they will have it top notch. They are gonna cringe and walk out of your
28:29
building because the sound isn't right, but they've got it. What if
28:33
we use their expertise in these ways to to be
28:37
able to serve the body of Christ rather than be people that
28:41
are kind of on the fringe that will will care for it of kind of
28:44
charity. I think there's a lot of abilities there.
28:47
No matter what the person is coming into the building
28:51
with, let's be curious on how has
28:55
God wired them, and what are the image bearing qualities within
28:58
them that the body of Christ would be missing? Because they are
29:02
spiritual gifts too, and they can contribute. Oh, the prophetic. And
29:05
there's so many ways that I have been ministered to by people
29:09
that others would say might not. We we don't know what to do
29:13
with. You know? And I would like to just add with that too is
29:17
is not to give up. Like, we have one gentleman who
29:20
is a little bit more complex, on the autism spectrum, but
29:24
he wanted to volunteer with kids. He wanted to be a one to Wendi buddy.
29:28
And so we put him in one environment and it failed miserably.
29:32
So he thought he was done and the children's ministry was kind of like, okay.
29:35
Well, that didn't work. And so I just prayed about it because I'm like, no.
29:39
This is his desire. He wants like, this isn't the end. And
29:42
so we figured out what was it that was lacking and that put him in
29:46
an environment, and he is thriving as a one to
29:50
one buddy within a different environment that he is able to help
29:53
this child. He's learning skills. He loves it. He's
29:57
making connections, friends. He's part of a community of a that huddles
30:01
together every Sunday before church and prays together. He
30:04
shares his comments, hopes, dreams with them, and it's
30:08
just you know, So we can't give up just because we've tried once and said,
30:12
oh, you know what? Sorry. That didn't work. But we've just gotta keep trying and
30:15
finding that niche because there is, I believe, there is a niche
30:19
for everyone to give of their gifts and talents to the church.
30:23
It's gonna look messy. It's gonna look complicated, but just
30:27
need to be able to be willing to try. And
30:31
just that belonging within the church will come when we are
30:34
successful and we team together to work that way. I just
30:38
love being able to see those success stories. And maybe
30:42
that's the challenge to the broader church, those that haven't been facing
30:45
some of these disabilities or special needs
30:49
that we need to overcome our insecurities and get vulnerable
30:53
and tread into areas that we would otherwise
30:57
not, but we're gonna take risks. We're gonna do things differently
31:01
for the sake of inclusion, for the sake of creating belonging
31:05
even when we feel uncomfortable. We often don't realize
31:09
it. And I think also maybe you've experienced this in a in a day to
31:13
day way. But when people come in with
31:16
a disability or an exceptionality that is
31:20
different, it makes their life harder to navigate. Let's just face it. There are
31:24
some more complexities. When there's some things that
31:27
are harder, I often find these
31:31
individuals are exceptional in other ways. So
31:34
maybe they don't have visibility. Maybe they don't have eyesight.
31:38
But they are attuned to the emotions in the room, or they
31:42
have a beautiful voice. Like, they excel in other ways
31:46
where they don't have abilities in in certain capacities, and
31:50
they actually have something to teach us in exceptional ways
31:53
because of that. And looking at how they're wired too in terms of
31:57
even just people skills or yeah. Like, we have one lady who
32:01
was visually impaired and had cerebral palsy, and she
32:05
loved greeting people, and she was so friendly. And so for many
32:08
years, she was the main greeter at one of our doors. Everybody knew
32:12
her. She was just like such an important part of
32:16
that ministry, that it's a guest services ministry and of just
32:19
welcoming people and helping them feel welcome. And, yeah, you wouldn't necessarily think it
32:23
because, yeah, she's visually impaired and doesn't have much to give in
32:26
our traditional sense. But, just figuring that
32:30
out and then just empowering them to move forward to to be
32:34
all they can be because of who god created them. Well, Corinne,
32:38
there is so many things that we could continue talking on. We will have
32:41
to have you back because I know there is more that we could dive into.
32:45
I wanna welcome listeners to put in their questions and
32:49
feedback, and maybe, we can follow-up on this
32:53
conversation. This is the kickoff to our differently wired in community
32:56
series, and and I'm excited that we're gonna be bringing guests on that are
33:00
living in some of the exceptionalities that we've been talking about.
33:04
They're gonna be sharing their story of inclusion or
33:08
their challenges that they've had within the churches, and we're gonna have some rich
33:11
conversations of them and also some other caregivers that are
33:15
living out in these these ways. And so, Corinne, thank you
33:18
so much for taking the time to to be with us.
33:22
Are there any final thoughts or words of encouragement that you would love
33:26
to, share with our listeners? Well,
33:30
I think an important part of belonging is absolutely making
33:33
the facility accessible like we talked about earlier, but I just wanted to
33:37
talk briefly about making the gospel accessible to them. And
33:41
I think that that is something that I would love to challenge more
33:44
churches to do. Their traditional ways don't work for our
33:48
group, a lot of them. And so what does it look like to
33:51
introduce discipleship to someone? You know, is it a group of
33:55
people coming together and doing a bible study together and how they can be
33:59
challenged to grow in their relationship with Jesus? And what does
34:02
that look like to, yeah, just to
34:06
make the gospel accessible in terms of that type of example?
34:10
I'm trying to think of an example right now, but just that's just
34:14
something that God has really placed in my heart these last few months as
34:17
we're building a room and a space for our special needs community. He's kinda
34:21
saying, yeah. That's good. But now what about the gospel? That is what's you know,
34:25
God is with a great commission. He has called all of us to go make
34:29
disciples of everyone. And so the traditional gospel may
34:32
not work for our group. And so, Corinne, what
34:36
does that look like? What are you gonna do about it? So that's kind of
34:39
my challenge to, put out there is how do we make the gospel
34:42
accessible as well? That's great. Thank you so much. And,
34:46
yes, we are looking forward to more conversations hopefully with you in the future,
34:50
and we have some exciting guests coming on to tell their stories as well.
34:53
So everyone out there, be sure to share the podcast with, your
34:57
friends and family because this is something we wanna see normalized in
35:01
the church where everybody can participate. Everybody has a role.
35:05
Everybody has giftings that the church needs. And the Lord desires
35:08
us all to be part of this great and wonderful
35:12
church family. Thanks for listening. We will see you next week.
35:18
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