Faith Inclusion Network takes root in the Basin

Apr. 29—Tom Jones, formerly enforcement manager of SHARE, is present helming the Faith Inclusion Network.

It carries connected immoderate of the aforesaid enactment arsenic SHARE, which stands for Sharing Hands A Respite Experience, by encouraging churches to see radical with disabilities and their families.

The nonprofit Faith Inclusion Network is headquartered successful Midland. It was successful Norfolk, Va., previously.

"When I retired from SHARE, I wanted to get progressive successful immoderate religion inclusion, inclusion successful churches for radical with disabilities. We ne'er addressed that contented astatine SHARE," Jones said successful a telephone interview.

He recovered the Faith Inclusion Network. They assistance churches and different religion communities see radical with disabilities.

Faith Inclusion Network provides resources, grooming and consultations and holds conferences and seminars for antithetic churches.

"The 1 happening that they did that was truly chill is that they had a listing of each the churches that included radical with disabilities and had programs. When I saw that, I thought ... I'd accidental 90% of our SHARE families bash not spell to religion ... One of the reasons, I think, is due to the fact that they don't cognize wherever they're going to beryllium welcomed, and they don't cognize if they're going to beryllium told to permission oregon we can't enactment with your kid.

"I thought thing similar that would truly beryllium adjuvant to peculiar needs families present successful Midland and Odessa ... the aforesaid country that SHARE covers. I talked to them astir starting an affiliate retired here. That's what started my involvement," Jones said.

What besides contributed was that helium couldn't find backing for a faith-based enactment successful Virginia and helium didn't person the connections and the ones helium did person turned them down due to the fact that they were faith-based.

Jones told the committee helium could find backing successful West Texas and the determination was made to relocate Faith Inclusion Network to Midland.

It is present housed astatine First Christian Church successful Midland.

"Our mission, benignant of akin to SHARE, includes Midland-Odessa ... We privation to marque an effort to interaction those towns similar Monahans and Andrews and immoderate of those smaller West Texas towns, due to the fact that we are conscionable truthful isolated retired present from resources. There are truthful galore things going successful disablement ministries nowadays, and we conscionable don't cognize astir it.

"We're not connected. We're not successful the large metropolis wherever a batch of these things happen. That's 1 of the goals that I person for the Faith Inclusion Network, is to bring immoderate of those resources, marque them available, retired here, to our radical present successful Midland, Odessa and West Texas," Jones said.

Faith Inclusion Network offers grooming and connections that they request to beryllium palmy successful including radical with disabilities.

They clasp an institute connected theology and disablement and this twelvemonth it volition beryllium successful Denver.

One of the archetypal churches Faith Inclusion Network worked with locally was Grace Christian successful Odessa. One of the parents who attends determination was successful SHARE truthful she reached out.

"I was capable to spell successful and bash immoderate grooming with the Children's Minister, curate and volunteers, and got them started" connected however to commencement a peculiar needs ministry and what's important to include, Jones said.

He added that the Grace Christian ministry has taken off.

"They person a fantastic peculiar needs program, and conscionable precise arrogant of them and the mode they've taken disconnected and assistance families successful a batch of antithetic ways," Jones said.

Catholic churches person besides started peculiar needs masses.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has 1 quarterly conscionable for radical and their families that person radical with peculiar needs.

The clergyman astatine Our Lady of Guadalupe has 1 erstwhile a month.

Father Bala Anthony Govindu astatine St. Stephen's Catholic Church conscionable started 1 past month, and volition bash 1 connected the 2nd Sunday of the month, Jones said.

"There's a peculiar needs wide connected the archetypal and the 2nd Sunday of the period successful the Catholic Church, and there's astir 100 radical that attend," helium added.

Jones noted that helium volition enactment with immoderate religion, religion oregon denomination.

"It truly does connection a place, and it's interesting, due to the fact that you spell into that wide and radical are making noises. They mightiness blurt retired successful the mediate of a sermon and conscionable each kinds of antithetic things. But cipher cares. It doesn't matter. Sometimes the radical with peculiar needs are portion of the service. They mightiness bring the elements up successful front. They mightiness bash a reading. In that respect, they're providing a spot for radical who are raised Catholic to person a spot to go," Jones said.

He added that his occupation is to speech to churches, spot who's doing disablement ministry, and get that accusation and get the accusation to peculiar needs families.

"So galore of those families person been asked to permission churches, but immoderate of the probe shows that 84% of radical with disabilities archer america that religion is important to them and truthful they privation to person that spiritual facet and conscionable those needs, but ... lone 20% person supports for radical with disabilities. Some of it is churches conscionable don't cognize however oregon they don't person the resources," Jones said.

"That's wherever the Faith Inclusion Network (can) travel successful and fto them cognize that each these families are wanting relationships, and immoderate size religion tin supply those relationships. They're not looking for programs. You don't person to person specialized radical ... What they're looking for is acceptance and invited and a religion that's hospitable, and a religion wherever they tin belong," Jones said.

He added that there's a small spot of acquisition that helium has to bash to fto churches cognize they tin supply a spot of belonging for families.

At SHARE, Jones said helium learned it's not conscionable that 1 idiosyncratic with a disability, "it's the full household that's excluded from worship and from having their spiritual needs met," Jones said.

He added that Faith Inclusion Network is 1 of the fewer organizations that are faith-disability focused.

Learn much astir Faith Inclusion Network astatine faithinclusionnetwork.org