Area church makes special needs a ministry in itself

  • By Shelly Webb
  • February 12, 2010
  • 669
                        
When Pastor Russ Ham of Christ United Methodist Church in Newcomerstown first came up with the idea of starting a special needs ministry, he knew it would take some time and coordination. Luckily for him, church member Chasity Opphile agreed to serve as coordinator and help get things started. “After spending some time in prayer about what the special needs ministry should entail, I asked for volunteers who would be willing to be on a leadership team for this ministry,” Opphile said. “I met with the group several times and we discussed what we would like to offer and how to do it.” Opphile and others took the time to visit various churches that already had special needs ministries in place and this helped the group gather ideas. “We had many ideas of exactly what we wanted to offer special needs families in our community, and decided on two specific areas as a starting point,” she said. “One part of the ministry is Helping Hands Sunday school class and the other is a Kidz Club program especially designed for special needs kids and their siblings.” According to Opphile, the goal of the Helping Hands special needs ministry is simply to be the hands of Jesus for special needs families. “We want to make it possible for parents with special needs children to be able to attend church and we want to provide a safe, fun and developmentally appropriate environment for these children to come to know more about Jesus,” she explained. “We also want to provide a network of support for these families to help them and support them in whatever areas they have need. We feel that families with loved ones who have special needs are under large amounts of stress and lack in outside support. It is our goal to alleviate some of that stress and serve as the support they need.” The Helping Hands Sunday School is held during the 10:30 worship service every Sunday morning and the Kidz Club is offered several Saturdays throughout the year and last from 1-4 p.m. “The Kidz Club schedule for this year is March 13, May 15, Sept. 18 and Nov. 20,” Opphile said. “These programs provide a safe, fun and developmentally appropriate environment for these children to come to know more about Jesus. They also provide an opportunity for them to interact with other kids in a non-school type setting.” Opphile is glad the church can facilitate these programs because at the present time, there aren’t many activities or programs offered for people with special needs in the area. “This program is aimed at providing them with fun, enriching and biblically sound activities while also providing some much-needed free time for the family members caring for them,” Opphile said. “Kidz Club is only for children with special needs and their families. However, we have many other options available for other children to be a part of, aside from the Helping Hands programs.” Opphile said that during the Helping Hands Sunday school, special needs children and adults are included in the regular Kids Own Worship classes whenever possible. “We also have a Helping Hands class for those for whom inclusion is not an option,” she said. “In the Helping Hands class, we use a variety of activities to teach biblical stories and principles in a safe, supportive and developmentally appropriate environment. The Kidz Club is a great program as well and includes story time, games, activities, crafts, music and much more. Each Kidz Club has a specific theme and Bible story and is geared around that theme. “For example, our Kidz Club for January was A Day at the Beach. We decorated to make our fellowship hall look like a beach and children did many activities with a beach theme, such as digging for seashells and making sandcastles.” Making God’s Word fun and instilling His love in children is the number one goal of most churches. Christ United Methodist Church in Newcomerstown seems to be on to something with this new, exciting program that makes ministry to everyone the top goal. For more information, contact Opphile at 740-498-8134, ext. 211.


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