YL Capernaum Everywhere

Together, Young Life and the Catholic Church have tremendous opportunity to reach every kid, everywhere with the gospel. Through a shared passion for Christ, kids and mission, this rising tide of cooperation is making significant contributions to the new evangelization described by Pope Francis. Overall, Young Life is committed to working with the Catholic Church by: • Training our staff and volunteers to minister to Catholic teens in ways that respect and reanimate their Catholic faith in Jesus. • Encouraging Catholics to serve as Young Life staff, volunteer leaders and committee members. • Working with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to invigorate the faith of young Catholics. This is all absolutely relevant and true for our Capernaum Clubs and friends too. A significant way Capernaum can come alongside our Catholic families and local parishes is to connect them with existing resources that provide specialized catechism curriculums and plans, inclusion resources, a...

This letter came from our friend Kathy, who is a part of YL Canada. We thought this was a beautifully thoughtful letter. As you read it, have you considered this view point before? We recognize that there may be a variety of theological point of views on this and appreciate Nancy Eisland's as one many of us without disability have not considered. Praying friends, ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”         Rev 21:4    I’ve just started reading this book entitled “Becoming Friends of Time. Disability, Timefullness, and Gentle Discipleship. by John Swinton” and it is rocking my world. Growing up with a brother with a disability and now being so heavily involved in Capernaum I feel like my sense towards disability is quite progressive. But then I read a book like this and am humbly force...

As we all continue to looks towards transitioning our older friends into something that allows them to be a part of lifelong ministry, we wanted to share this encouraging story with you…. Thanks Tallahassee, we’re excited for your friends! Overall, the transition went way better than we could have imagined! With a lot of prayer, planning, and help from ‘on-board’ parents, I really felt that most parents and friends were able to see the heart behind it. In the initial stage of planning, it was important to us as leaders that we give our friends and their family a place to go after the transition- we didn’t want to leave them ‘high and dry’. We know that, unfortunately, there are not too many options for community for people with disabilities after the age of 22. That being said, we decided to reach out to the local church that allows us to use their space for club. This church is one of the few in our area that has a disability ministry (sadly), and the only one who caters to adu...

A few years ago, one of our friends in Capernaum was sharing with us about how much she loved babies and she desired, in her simple yet profound way, for people to know God’s love for them.  Our wheels began churning and not much later, Caitlin began serving at the local Young Lives  club.  Young Lives  is Young Life’s ministry with teen moms and the room is filled with diversity both economically and ethnically.   We wondered how the girls would respond to Caitlin taking care of their babies.  After all, she was a girl with a disability and we live in a world that is quick to judge based on outer appearances.  But we sold these girls short and instead every time they gather, we see people that the world deems as scary and unlovable, come together to serve one another.  I’ve watched a few horrific videos this week and my heart is broken with all that is taking place.  We started filming this video in the sprin...

God is at work in Tucson helping our friends with disabilities be welcomed, celebrated and needed! After months of meeting with pastors and churches throughout Tucson in order to share the vision of our friends transitioning from YL Capernaum into the life of the church, God brought us to a church and a pastor with a passion for that same vision. As a result of this vision, this spring volunteers from the church have started attending our Beyond Capernaum to form relationships with our friends and have committed to start a mid week connection ministry for our friends graduating out of Capernaum in fall, 2016. Their vision is to embrace and disciple our friends, live life alongside them, and encourage them to use their gifts in serving in the church and community. Many months of collaboration with this church brought us to this past Sunday when the church had a service celebrating and highlighting that each of us, no matter our (dis)ability has been invited to the table of the K...

As we head toward spring, some of us are beginning to plan graduation celebrations for our friends as they prepare to age up and transition from Capernaum into whatever comes next. We are so thrilled that around the country, where we are praying, networking, casting vision and looking for next steps, many of our friends are moving into adult small groups or other relational ministries and into the life of their local churches. Now, that is something to celebrate, send out invitations for, throw a party and go wild over! Here are a few awesome examples of that from around the country! As you plan to celebrate your friends, print out invitations!! High school graduation invitations often go out to friends & family alike, why not invite people to your friends’ graduation ceremony or party when they are graduating from Capernaum!? Here are a few samples… Looking for a certificate to commemorate their years in Capernaum? Check out this idea that celebrates our friends, th...

Guest blog by Lyn TenBrink Last week I spent three days at the “Worship Symposium” ( http://worship.calvin.edu/symposium/ ) at Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu/). One of the themes of the time was “Universal Design” of worship. Barbara Newman with CLC was the speaker on this topic. I watched the chapel at Calvin College fill up twice. I sat quietly and conversationally reached out to the people sitting around me on both occasions. Barbara shared thoughtful, theological and practical ideas around thinking about “Universal Design” in the context of worship. A few times she asked us to share our reactions to a variety of things she shared. EVERYTIME the people around me had tearful eyes and the words, “I have never thought about these people in our congregation before.” EVERYTIME!! I think it is time! Watch. Listen. Think. Share. Ask Questions. Live new! You can watch the video here For more excellent resources for worship check out Calvin Institute ...

Beyond Suffering for the Next Generation: A Christian View on Disability Ministry will equip young people to think critically and compassionately about the complex issues that impact people with disabilities and their families, and inspire them to action. This Study Guide may be used by Campaigner groups or to train buddies and leaders in order to gain confidence as we embrace Jesus’ model of ministry to the marginalized, including people with disabilities. It includes 16 lessons presented in 4 modules on the following topics: An Overview of Disability Ministry, The Theology of Suffering and Disability, The Church and Disability Ministry, and An Introduction to Bioethics. For more information, visit  www.joniandfriends.org/BYSNextGen The fourth and last installment of this series is an article called, " Inspiring Youth Ministries in the Church: The Young Life Capernaum Experience ",written by Pam Harmon, VP of YL Capernaum. She wrote it with the help of her friend, Sarah Br...

Beyond Suffering for the Next Generation: A Christian View on Disability Ministry will equip young people to think critically and compassionately about the complex issues that impact people with disabilities and their families, and inspire them to action. This Study Guide may be used by Campaigner groups or to train buddies and leaders in order to gain confidence as we embrace Jesus’ model of ministry to the marginalized, including people with disabilities. It includes 16 lessons presented in 4 modules on the following topics: An Overview of Disability Ministry, The Theology of Suffering and Disability, The Church and Disability Ministry, and An Introduction to Bioethics. For more information, visit  www.joniandfriends.org/BYSNextGen The third part of our series is an article by one of our YL staff, Blaine Clyde, " Friendship Evangelism Among Teens with Intellectual Disabilities"

Beyond Suffering for the Next Generation: A Christian View on Disability Ministry will equip young people to think critically and compassionately about the complex issues that impact people with disabilities and their families, and inspire them to action. This Study Guide may be used by Campaigner groups or to train buddies and leaders in order to gain confidence as we embrace Jesus’ model of ministry to the marginalized, including people with disabilities. It includes 16 lessons presented in 4 modules on the following topics: An Overview of Disability Ministry, The Theology of Suffering and Disability, The Church and Disability Ministry, and An Introduction to Bioethics. For more information, visit  www.joniandfriends.org/BYSNextGen The second part of our Beyond Suffering series is an article by Susan Galindo, called, Serving Adults with Special Needs: Bridging the GapWithin the Body of Christ

Beyond Suffering for the Next Generation: A Christian View on Disability Ministry will equip young people to think critically and compassionately about the complex issues that impact people with disabilities and their families, and inspire them to action. This Study Guide may be used by Campaigner groups or to train buddies and leaders in order to gain confidence as we embrace Jesus’ model of ministry to the marginalized, including people with disabilities. It includes 16 lessons presented in 4 modules on the following topics: An Overview of Disability Ministry, The Theology of Suffering and Disability, The Church and Disability Ministry, and An Introduction to Bioethics. For more information, visit  www.joniandfriends.org/BYSNextGen This is the first of a four part series called Beyond Suffering.  We are excited to share with you this article:  All Things Possible: Calling Your Church Leadership to Embrace Disability Ministry by Stephanie O. Hubach

Jaco Hamman is a wise man and friend who loves Young Life dearly. He serves as the teacher for YL’s training timeline class, “Personal Health and Ministry”. But more than that, his heart is keen for our friends with disabilities. He knows and understands the beauties and challenges that come with doing ministry with our friends with disabilities and speaks so beautifully into some unique ways that we can continue to learn from our friends.  Jaco has written multiple books, including “ A Play-Full Life: Slowing down and seeking peace ” which would be a great follow up read from this post for you. Jaco is also on the Board of Friendship House which works alongside persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (friends), their families and institutions to secure safe, affordable community-oriented housing. We are honored to have Jaco contribute to our blog and to encourage us as we continue to do ministry with our friends with disabilities! Play! Learning ...

What a joy filled and fun video to show what YL Capernaum is all about! Enjoy and feel free to share!  This is a great picture for those wondering what Capernaum looks like and is all about!

Guest post by Joni Eareckson Tada We are thrilled that Joni Eareckson Tada will be joining us at our YL Capernaum Pre-conference at YL75 The body of Christ in America is in need of some muscle toning, as of late. Confessing our weaknesses to one another – as well as our sins – really rubs us the wrong way. It goes against our American spirit of individualism. We like ‘going it alone,’ being independent and pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, thank you. Besides, it’s embarrassing to ask for help. And we secretly feel put upon if we are forced to extend that help. Then along comes a person with a disability. It could be a kid with Down syndrome who plops himself next to us in church, or a teenager with cerebral palsy who asks for our help in a restroom. And suddenly, we are confronted with needs, visceral and urgent. If we look away and ignore the need, then we are ignoring the pleas of Christ to recognize ‘weak members’ as indispensable and to look for the gifts in ...

A guest post by Nick Palermo.... In May of 1987 we finished our first Capernaum club school year. One of our Capernaum friends was graduating from high school. Her mother asked us ‘So, what happens to her now? Are you kicking her out?’ As you can imagine, this was quite disarming. We hadn’t even thought of this need or the reality of this step.   In a moment of time, Beyond Capernaum was born. Being the longest tenured (first ever) Young Life Capernaum ministry, this would not be the first time this question would come up. Beyond Capernaum, as it was called then, grew. Big. It wasn’t that we were trying to become their church, but in the 80s, disability ministry was brand-new everywhere. Young Life was on the cutting edge of outreach to people who had disabilities. Few churches were even beginning to consider children with disabilities for Sunday school, let alone our young adult friends. We searched for churches, and many times the response was ‘of course you are welcomed her...