Ministering to the Chronically Ill: 20 Ways That Take 20 Minutes
Rest Ministries, the largest Christian organization that specifically serves the chronically ill, recently did a survey and asked people to “List some of the programs or resources a church could offer to make it more inviting comfortable” They have provided a sampling of some of the 800+ responses, all of which could be done in 20 minutes or less.
1. Encouragement emails.
2. Make sure the handicapped stalls in the bathroom are functioning and clean.
3. Padded chairs or cushions, room for wheelchairs, and plenty of room for my family to sit with me.
4. An open attitude for a support group like HopeKeepers. It would make me feel very special that there was an understanding of needs that are not always visible.
5. More disabled parking, even if they are temporary spots.
6. An awareness on the part of the ushers that those arriving late may have difficulty walking or getting out of cars.
7. Ask volunteers to call people with chronic illness just to check on them when they don’t make it to services.
8. When suppers are given, I need help getting my meal or at least understanding from others that I won’t be able to wait in a long line.
9. Be cautious when hugging. It may topple over or hurt a person.
10. Have a video tape of the service, not just a live web cast. Not all our computers work that well.
11. Check out the church doors. Can someone with an illness open them with ease? If not, install a mechanical button to push them open.
12. Stop telling me that if I truly believed and had faith I’d be healed by now. Please don’t go on and on about how good I look even though I know for a fact that I look terrible and miserable that day.
13. Offer me ways to serve within the church that can be performed regularly, but not on a set schedule. I really want to contribute, but I need some flexibility so that I can do a job when I feel well enough.
14. Make the sermon notes available to download and print out so I can listen later or even just review what I didn’t catch the first time.
15. Acknowledge National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Rest Ministries has a nice book list of top 100 Christian books for the chronically ill. It would make a nice display in our bookstore that week.
16. Just mention about chronic illness! Talk about it in sermons as one of the challenges many people face just like unemployment.
17. Let me know about any Christian volunteers from church who would be willing to clean my house for a small fee. Some have offered to clean my house, but I am just not yet able to accept charity. But neither can I afford to pay a regular house cleaning service.
18. Help even a fraction with the cost of encouraging books and resources for the church library for the chronically ill.
19. Remember all of the caregivers in the church–not just caregivers of parents, but spouses and ill children as well.
20. Have copies for free of the sermon on CD.