As a children’s or youth leader, you have the privilege and joy of discipling young people. Church and Christian conferences can be some of the best places in the world for a neurodivergent child. But they can also be some of the hardest.
I’ve spent years listening to neurodivergent people and their families describe what children’s and youth ministry is like for them. These families love Jesus and long for Christian community. But without understanding and flexibility, church can become a weekly stressor, a source of shame, or a hurdle too hard to manage. I have spoken to many Christian families who have decided that church is too hard for them.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. When the people around a family grow in understanding, church can be a place where they feel supported, included and loved.
This is why I built the children’s and youth leaders’ hub
Most kids’ and youth leaders I meet love these children deeply and want to support them well.
What’s usually missing isn’t heart. It’s training.
Many leaders of children’s and youth programs have told me that my training material has helped them to understand and better support those in their care. This is why I’m bringing this material to churches in this form.
The core training builds understanding and introduces practical ways to lovingly work with individuals and families. Unlike a one-off workshop, it gives your whole team something to learn through together and keep coming back to.
What you get
Churches purchase access for their team (or individuals can purchase for themselves). Access includes:
The training package
Prep video. Each team member starts with a short video on their own, about thirty minutes, covering the basics of neurodivergence, the realities of church life for these families, and foundational approaches to removing barriers and offering support. Two reflection questions in the accompanying book get everyone thinking before the team even meets.
Team training. The team meets together, books in hand, for the main training, delivered across two parts and running around an hour and a half to two hours including discussion. Rather than sitting through a lecture, your team pauses at key points to talk through your context together, working out how these principles actually apply in your own setting. No one needs to be a trained facilitator. I lead the whole program.
Three-month follow-up. The book guides your team through a reflection: what’s gone well, what you haven’t tried yet, what you could still initiate, plus space to talk honestly about what’s been hard.
Ongoing access
Video library. Because every team’s needs are different, the hub also gives you a library of short, focused videos, ten to fifteen minutes each, on specific topics you can dip into exactly when you need them: sensory spaces, responding to violence, communicating with families, designing accessible activities, regulation strategies, supporting different communication methods, and so much more. Videos are by me, neurodivergent Christians and other experts. One team might need to go deep on sensory environments; another might need the video on violence more urgently. The hub lets each team follow what they actually need, not a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
Resource library. Your team will have full access to further team activities, posters for your spaces, social narrative templates, and articles on specific areas.
Belonging in Christ
The Bible tells us that there is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6). Unity was never meant to come from sameness of body or brain. It comes from God in Christ. When we gather together, we should all look different, and we should all know we are welcome.
The Bible also urges us not to give up meeting together, but to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25). My prayer is that your team, and every family you serve, would know that encouragement, and that church would be a place where every child, however their brain and body work, knows they belong.
That’s what this hub is for.
Express your interest before the launch on November 1 to receive a discount code for your whole team (obligation free). Click here.
