We asked. You answered.

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had so much fun focusing on how to fill and balance your ministry calendar. You might be thinking, Those tools are great, but I’m not sure what events to actually put on the calendar.

Good news. We asked the social media community what events their churches have hosted or events they have attended, and wow did you guys deliver. We’ve taken all of those amazing ideas and put them into the 4 levels of events we’ve been talking about for the last couple of weeks.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a starting point! Some of these may not work for your church, and that’s totally okay.

You’ll notice that there are a lot more Level 1 Connection events on this list, as they are usually the easiest to come up with! But I want to encourage you to think about how you can involve people with disabilities and their families in the Body of Christ after they’ve met you at a “Come and See” event.

It’s also important to remember that your church likely already has a calendar of events planned for the church as a whole. People with disabilities belong at those events. It may take some creative thinking to get them there, though.

Below are some typical church events and some possible accommodations to make them more accessible to families impacted by disability.

An “event” doesn’t have to mean doing something complicated or elaborate. It doesn’t even have to mean a huge turnout.

A quick story:

A few years ago, I hosted an event that I thought was going to be amazing: Popsicles in the Park. I posted about it on social media and emailed all of our families. I got enough popsicles and ice cream sandwiches for about 50 people and headed to our local accessible playground. Friends, only two families came. I was so confused! It was summer break! Where was everyone?? When the event was over, I left feeling pretty discouraged.

But my coworker had a different perspective.

Because only two families came, we got to know them really well. We heard their stories, and they heard each other’s stories. We laughed and we talked and we ate way more than our fair share of popsicles. Then, the next time these families showed up to an event, I knew what they needed.

Sometimes, your events and programming won’t look exactly how you think they should, or have the attendance that you are expecting. But if we believe that God is sovereign over everything–even Popsicles in the Park–then we can believe He will bring the right people at the right time.

Events and programming are great. They’re fun, they’re discipleship opportunities, they’re connection points. But most importantly, they are an open door to the Gospel for families who may not have heard it.

We are praying for your ministries, families, and churches!