Collaborative Partners Blog Series: CLC Network

In April and May we are going to introduce several of our very experienced collaborative partners in our community who have come alongside us, our friends, their families and churches to train toward excellent inclusion of our friends and their families. You as Young Life staff and volunteers being aware of these key co-laborers is quite critical for excellence in transition. Historically, as you will read in these blogs, our community "partners” have been the link not just for our Capernaum friends but also for their family members.

We often lead with I Corinthians 12:4-11 as a call toward inclusion of our friends into the body of Christ. What if we read I Corinthians 12:4-11 through the lens of being inclusive of excellent community co-laborers to move us all toward the fullness of the body of Christ? What kind of vision could this give your area? Imagine organizations working together and our friends thriving.

We invite you to introduce yourself to the staff of these ministries if they have a location in your area, and begin to set up potential ways to collaborate as you continue to develop your transition plan with your friends. Have questions? Contact your Capernaum Divisional Coordinator for additional information.


CLC Network wonders…How Can We Support You?

Contributor: Barbara J. Newman, Director of Church Services

I know who you are. God has equipped you with an important pair of lenses. You are on a mission with your pair of God eyeglasses! You see, often when others do not, the gifting in worship that a young adult with Down syndrome has. You see the teen with autism spectrum disorder who has an incredible ability to memorize Scripture. You see the youth group member who is isolated or even teased at times because social skills are not the number 1 (or even the number 15) gifting in this person. And you also see that God’s love and desire for relationship exists for ALL persons with varied abilities and disabilities. Those eye glasses allowed you to see an opportunity within the heart of Young Life where you serve, worship, and socialize with one another – one body together in Christ. Thank you.  

God assigned me a similar pair of lenses. I have had the joy of using those as a special education teacher at Zeeland Christian School. We have had, since 1989, children of all abilities learning and living together as 2^nd graders or 8^th graders or any classroom in the building. Back in the late 1990s, however, I heard about something that broke my heart. You recognize that feeling, don’t you? You have had similar conversations that have broken your heart. It’s something about those lenses that are connected directly to the heart we share with God and others with those same pair of glasses. 

My conversation was happening with families who had a child included 8 hours a day at school but who was getting asked to leave Sunday school, told there was no place for a child with a disability in Youth Group or who had an entire family escorted to the door of the church and asked not to return. My eyes teared up with both sadness and anger. How can this happen? How can others not see the benefit of being together, not just for that child with a disability but also for ALL the others in the congregation? God used those stories to spur me into handing out a new pair of eyeglasses to church communities, and that became an official arm of CLC Network. We now partner with schools, churches, and families to create communities of belonging for persons of all abilities.  

As fellow eyeglass wearers, how can we support you? I would invite you to check out our website and consider: 

1. We offer many trainings. We have taken educational best practices and formed them into tools that can be used in church programs and settings. Are you looking for information on autism spectrum disorder or tools and ideas to use with persons who may have no spoken words? There is a long list of trainings, and I know you have been part of groups I have trained in places around the country. You were present in high numbers at McLean Bible Church in Virginia one year and at the Northwest Ministry Conference in Seattle another year. Perhaps we could learn from one another around these trainings?
2. We offer many books and kits. Again, many of these are taken from educational best practices but put in the context of faith and worship. Would you like new tools to introduce a group member to Jesus? Consider “Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship” as a book you may enjoy. Do you have some struggling readers or writers in your group? What about individuals for whom paying attention might require extra effort. Consider one of our kits – Inclusion Tool Kit or Inclusive Worship Kit. These will give you some practical items to use and instructions on how to use them. 
3. If training from a “live” member of our church team might not work, consider one of our 4 training DVDs on Behavior Management or Inclusion Tool Box. We chose 4 topics that are some of our most requested in a 60-minute format. It’s perfect for gathering around some Mountain Dew and pretzels as you learn together. (I picked Mountain Dew because that’s what my 20 something sons would have chosen. I’m 55, so I pick coffee or water. Still, we can share those eyeglasses together despite our difference in beverage choices). 
4. Do you want input for your group? We also consult, so that if your ideas are running low we can give you a few new tools to try in your community. 

Log on to www.clcnetwork.org and let’s sharpen our vision even further by working together.