Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs

A very helpful primer for working with kids with special needs and their families. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone in children's ministry.

Every Child Welcome is not simply the most complete special needs ministry resource I've ever come across...it's the best resource I've ever seen for Sunday School teachers, children's ministry staff and volunteers.Katie and Jolene have successfully managed to distill a lifetime of experience as educators, ministry leaders and parents of children with disabilities into a concise guide for anyone seeking seeking to share the love of Christ with kids. Every Child Welcome is STUFFED with hundreds of practical ideas and strategies for including kids of all levels of intellectual, physical, developmental and emotional disability into the environments and activities in which we help them to grow to know and love God. This is not a book that will be read once and stuck on a shelf...well-worn copies will be found on the desks and in the workspaces of those serving in children's ministry, family ministry and special needs ministry because it is destined to become the "go-to" reference when leaders look for answers in seeking to minister with kids with disabilities and their families.While I can't buy a copy for every children's ministry or special needs ministry leader in the country, I can (and did) buy copies for the ministry leaders serving at my church.

Katie Wetherbee wrote down things I have believed and dreamed four years. As I read this book I said, " Yes! That's what I've been trying to say!" A wonderful, practical, helpful book! I highly recommend this resource!

Great book. Thanks

Good.

Do you have children with special needs in your ministry? Or do you desire to include children with special needs in your ministry? If you have answered yes to either one of these questions then your ministry to children must be accessible to every child that comes through your doors.Unfortunately in most of our churches, children with special needs are shoved aside due to what seems like insurmountable walls that we have unwittingly place around our church ministries. Yet if you desire to break down these barriers, there is a book that will help you in this endeavor, Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs, by Tate Wetherbee and Jolene Philo. This book is produced by Kregel Publications, takes Jesus’s words spoken to his disciples in the gospels very seriously specifically when he stated “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for two such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”Even if our hearts desire is to minister to all the children in our ministry or welcoming those who have special needs into our ministries, then a game plan needs to be devised to include those who need to hear the gospel in a way that is tangible to their ears. In Every Child Welcome, Weatherbee and Philo demonstrate to children’s ministry leaders how to create an environment that is not only welcoming to children with special needs, but includes them in activities that makes them feel a heart of the local church. One thing that the author stress is to avoid singling any child out due to their inability or problematic actions to any lesson, game, or activity.With this in mind Weatherbee and Philo lay out a great philosophy of ministry but truly focus on how to practically and faithfully fulfill that philosophy. This is a book that a children’s ministry leader will come back to again and again, not only for ideas for the children’s ministry but how to fine-tune their Ministry to make it more accessible to any and all children who desire to hear God’s word from their local church. As a children’s Minister myself I highly recommend this book as a practical tool for not only children’s pastors but for each and every children’s ministry leader so that their hearts may be melted in their arms may be opened to welcome any and all children who enter their ministry.This book was provided to me free of charge from Kregel Press in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs© 2015 by Tate Wetherbee and Jolene PhiloPublisher: Kregel PressPage Count: 176 PagesISBN: 978-0825443503

When we talk about ministering to and helping children, whether in the church or in the culture, we often use the phrase “the least among us”, in part, to emphasize the responsibility we have to them. They often do not know or cannot be a voice for their own needs so adults are given the responsibility to do so for them. While ministering to them can be a challenge at times, it can also be one of the greatest sources of joy and blessing. There is nothing quite like explaining the gospel of Jesus to a child and seeing the lights turn on in their eyes as you teach them the Bible.Added to the natural challenges of teaching children are the challenges brought on by children who have special needs. Whether it is autism, learning disorders, physical handicaps, or children who suffer from one form of abuse or another, ministering to children with special needs is a challenge that very few are equipped to handle in a church setting once or twice a week, let alone feel comfortable handling.As a father of two special needs children (two girls who were born without eyes) and as a children’s teacher in my local church, I am daily living with the challenges of working with children with special needs. While there are a lot of resources out there to help parents with special needs children, there are not many resources to equip children’s workers in the local church to more effectively and confidently minister to special needs children for the few hours a week they might have with them.Since resources are sparse I welcome new works aimed at equipping children’s ministry workers to work with special needs children. One such new resource is Every Child Welcome: A Ministry Handbook for Including Kids with Special Needs (Kregel, 2015). The authors, Katie Wetherbee and Jolene Philo, are definitely equipped and qualified to write this book. Both of them have children with special needs, have degrees in education, and have spent most of their professional careers teaching special needs children in public schools.The premise of Every Child Welcome is that every child, despite having special needs, needs to be ministered to with the gospel in the local church. This is grounded in Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Since Jesus’ statement included ALL children so should the aim of our churches children’s ministry. The kingdom is for every child and “no child is disqualified because of preexisting physical conditions, mental illness, or behavioral issues.” (9)As the subtitle of the book indicates, this is a handbook. As a handbook, the book is structured more like a manual on how to address needs and apply the numerous strategies the authors lay out in the book. This style of book fits well with the goal of equipping children’s ministry leaders to clearly see, understand, and effectively implement the various suggestions and strategies the authors present.While the content is presented in a handbook style, it is woven together through the picture of how a person would host dinner guests. Each chapter addresses another stage in the meal process for guests. From the main dish to desert. For ministering to children with special needs this ranges from creating a space that is welcoming and sensitive, to creative ideas for enhancing their learning through fun activities meant to supplement the lesson.While there many ideas that would work for non-special needs children, the authors definitely give workers a ton of helpful advice and tools that will equip them to more effectively, and less stress-fully, minister to children with special needs. Some readers will feel overwhelmed with all of the advice offered. There is no need to feel like everything in the book needs to be implemented overnight. What you are reading is the result of years of working with children and not overnight quick fixes. It will take time to implement the strategies suggested. There will be trial and error as their was for the authors. But the children are worth it.Every Child Welcome needs to be read by every children’s pastor and children’s ministry worker. The authors have thought of everything and have presented the material in an easy to read and helpful format for easy referencing. This book will help to ease the natural frustrations that children’s ministry workers may feel when ministering to children with special needs. Though the desire to minister is there, the tools and ability are not always. This book will give you the tools, thus enabling you to minister with more understanding and confidence to those children with special needs that God has brought to your church.I received this book for free from Kregel for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”