Pastor, wife spearhead 'inclusive ministry' model for people with disabilities

California pastor Russ Ewell and his wife, Gail, know firsthand the struggles parents face finding churches that know how to care for and minister to their children with severe disabilities, a barrier within church and community settings they are now helping congregations break. 

The couple's first son was born in 1991 with Down syndrome, a genetic condition caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 that can result in developmental delays. A few years later, the Ewells had another son who was later diagnosed with autism. 

"When my firstborn was a baby, [my wife] couldn't put him in a children's ministry because they didn't have any kind of service where people understood someone with Down syndrome and how to work with him," Russ Ewell, the executive minister for the multi-campus Bay Area Christian Church in Palo Alto, whose ministry career has spanned four decades, told The Christian Post. 

"So, we began training people, and then out of that became the Spiritual Resource Ministry."

The Spiritual Resource Ministry is described as an "inclusive aspect of children's ministry," with more than 150 volunteers. It operates across the Bay Area's eight campuses, and each location includes a coordinator who selects and trains the volunteers. 

Sixty volunteers are actively working, with the 150 volunteers rotating in and out. For example, Ewell said some volunteers may assist with the ministry for six months before taking a break. 

SRM also has teams of peer helpers who are around the same age as the other children in the ministry, as well as adult volunteers who accompany children with disabilities.

The ministry serves not only children with special needs but also children who are neurotypical.

"So they not only have a great experience in children's ministry at church, but they also build friendships that are lifelong," Ewell said.

Bay Area Christian also helps other pastors and churches looking to start similar ministries by offering a free online manual that equips churches with the tools they need to create a ministry for special-needs families. 

Although a 2019 Lifeway Research study found that almost all pastors believed people with disabilities would feel welcome at their church, only 29% said their church offers classes or events for people with disabilities. 

"I think some of it is just not looking at the ministry of Jesus, of helping those who have less and helping those who are disadvantaged, oppressed, suppressed and ignored," Ewell speculated. "Some of it is that, and the other part of it is not knowing what to do." 

The culture at some churches could be another factor, Ewell said, adding that when he usually speaks during services that have a large number of children with autism, some of them stand up and walk around while he's talking.

"And some people don't want that. Some people in church feel like, 'Hey, I'm here for me and what I would like to get out of the service. And I don't want to be distracted by or have the service disrupted,'" Ewell explained. "What's really cool about our service is that no one is bothered by that." 

"So some of this comes down to one pastor having to revisit the Scriptures and see what Jesus actually did," he added. "And then two, be willing to change the culture, and then three, start small."

Other efforts spearheaded by the Ewells to create friendship opportunities for children with special needs include the E-Life initiative, a collection of free community programs, including E-Sports and E-Gardening, that allow children with and without disabilities to participate in activities together.

E-Life has over 500 volunteers across 28 programs around the Bay Area, according to Ewell. The inclusive sports initiatives operate through partnerships with college athletic teams and sports organizations to engage more volunteers and provide inclusive activities. 

"We started with eight kids," Ewell said. "Then that eight kids grew to 50 kids. That 50 kids grew to 100 kids. And from there, we've seen it reach thousands of kids here, as well as parts of the Philippines and Nigeria and India, where we had friends who took the program and implemented it as well."

Ewell and his wife also launched an effort to build the "Beacon of Hope Village." The project's goal is to build a tiny home community where adults with special needs can live with volunteers, who are college students or retired seniors. 

"What we want to do is make it so that, from the time a child with special needs is born, through the full length of their life, through the end of life, they have a community to be part of," the executive minister said. 

Ewell has begun visiting prospective properties for the tiny homes community. The goal is to launch the project within three years.