Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast

Engaging Volunteers at Your Church – Bret Welshymer and Lauren Garner

Episode Summary

“People are people and everybody has a place in the church family. When you get to know somebody, you can help them to be a part of the family. If you never take the time to get to know them, that’s not going to happen.” -Bret Welshymer Everyone who comes through the church doors should feel welcomed and be included. But when a new family at your church includes children or adults with disabilities, how do you gather and train volunteers to meet their unique needs? Today on the podcast, Crystal is talking with ministry experts Bret Welshymer and Lauren Garner about what it takes to serve people with disabilities in your church. Listen as they share practical ways to recruit, train, and encourage volunteers to get to know families impacted by disability. Bret and Lauren offer ways to dispel fears and also share structures for helping volunteers find their place. Everybody needs to be loved and unconditionally accepted – serving families impacted by disability gives you that opportunity! Download 8 Steps to Starting a Disability Ministry a www.joniandfriends.org/podcast

Episode Notes

“People are people and everybody has a place in the church family. When you get to know somebody, you can help them to be a part of the family. If you never take the time to get to know them, that’s not going to happen.”
-Bret Welshymer

Everyone who comes through the church doors should feel welcomed and be included. But when a new family at your church includes children or adults with disabilities, how do you gather and train volunteers to meet their unique needs? Today on the podcast, Crystal is talking with ministry experts Bret Welshymer and Lauren Garner about what it takes to serve people with disabilities in your church. Listen as they share practical ways to recruit, train, and encourage volunteers to get to know families impacted by disability. Bret and Lauren offer ways to dispel fears and also share structures for helping volunteers find their place. Everybody needs to be loved and unconditionally accepted – serving families impacted by disability gives you that opportunity!

Download 8 Steps to Starting a Disability Ministry a www.joniandfriends.org/podcast

Joni and Friends was founded in 1979 by Joni Eareckson Tada who in a diving accident was left a quadriplegic at 17 years old. Ministry began as Tada, joined by friends around her kitchen table, responded to letters she received from people with disabilities in search of support. Over the past 40 years, the ministry has grown to serve thousands of people impacted by disability worldwide: Joni and Friends has delivered 150,000 wheelchairs and Bibles through Wheels for the World and provided Christian care to 63,000 special needs family members through Family Retreats. The organization also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses through the Christian Institute on Disability.

www.joniandfriends.org