ABLE Ministry
Accepted Beyond Limited Expectations
ABLE Ministries is a special needs ministry at Faith Baptist Church. ABLE is an acronym for Accepted Beyond Limited Expectations.
Faith Baptist Church is a place that takes people from where they are to where God wants them to be as we begin, build, and broaden relationships. Special needs ministry provides a perfect opportunity to carry out the mission and purpose of our church.
Our key passion for individuals coming to the ABLE Ministry is focusing on the fact that we are ALL created in his image. Individuals with special needs or disabilities are designed to fulfill their role in the body of Christ. It is our passion to minister to these individuals and their families and take them from where they are to where God wants them to be and to give them an opportunity to recognize their purpose and fulfill their role.
It is important to include individuals with special needs in our church because if they do not feel welcomed at church, them and their families will not come. Statistically, 80% of families affected by disability do not regularly attend church. Almost 1/3 of special needs families have said that they had left at least one church because their child was not included or welcomed. We are all a part of the body of Christ. Individuals with special needs are important members of the body and we need them as much as they need us.
““For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” ”
We believe that God wants to begin, build, and broaden relationships by breaking the barriers of judgement and isolation between the church and individuals and their families affected by disability. We believe that he wants to allow families affected by disability the opportunity to worship and build their relationship with Him alongside a welcoming church family through the ABLE Ministry at Faith Baptist Church.
Individuals with special needs will experience acceptance for exactly who they are created in His image, a safe place to worship and grow in their relationship with God on their own level, and the love of a church family during service each time they come to church.
When families affected by disabilities attend our church, they can expect a safe, comfortable, loving, and inclusive environment for their loved one to effectively learn and develop their faith. They can expect that our church and volunteers will meet them right where they are and show them the love of Jesus. They can expect a team of people who will go the extra mile, make the extra effort, and that have a passion to selflessly serve among families affected by disability. They will see that there is purpose in disability.
For more information about ABLE Ministry please contact Jayde Burnell at (575) 631-7893 or Jennifer Walker at (575) 914-0666.