April 29 – Former Sharing Executive Director Tom Jones is now leading the Faith Inclusion Network.
It does the same work as sharing by encouraging the church to include people with disabilities and their families, which represents sharing breathing experiences.
The nonprofit faith inclusion network is headquartered in the central region. It was previously in Norfolk, Virginia.
“When I retired from sharing, I wanted to be involved in some faith inclusion, included in churches with disabilities. We never addressed this when we share,” Jones said in a phone interview.
He found a faith-inclusive network. They help churches and other faith communities including people with disabilities.
The Faith Inclusion Network provides resources, training and consultation, and hosts meetings and seminars in different churches.
“One of the things they did was really cool, they made a list of all the churches that included people with disabilities and plans. When I saw that church.
“I think something like that will really help families in Midland and Odessa…shared coverage areas. I’ve talked with them about starting a membership here. That’s what I’m involved.”
Also contributing was that he could not find funds for a faith-based organization in Virginia, he had no contact, and he did reject them because they were faith-based.
Jones told the board that he could find funds in West Texas and decided to move the Faith Inclusion Network to Midland.
It is now located in the First Christian Church in Midland.
“Our mission (similar to sharing) includes Midland-Odessa…We want to work hard to connect with those towns like Monahans and Andrews and some smaller West Texas towns because we are here with resources.
“We’re not connected. We’re not in the big cities where these things happen. That’s one of the goals I have for the Faith Inclusion Network to bring some of those resources to people in Midland, Odessa and West Texas, to bring them here,” Jones said.
The Faith Inclusion Network provides training and connections that enable them to successfully include people with disabilities.
They own a theology and disability institute, which will be in Denver this year.
One of the first church faith inclusion networks to work with the local area was Grace Christian of Odessa. One of the parents who attended there was sharing, so she reached out.
Jones said: “I was able to do some training with the Minister of Children, Ministers and Volunteers and start how to start a special needs ministry and special needs including.
He added that the Grace Christian ministry has taken off.
“They have a great special needs program and just take pride in them and the way they take it out and help families in many different ways,” Jones said.
The Catholic Church also began to have special needs for the masses.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton provides quarterly first quarter for people with special needs and their families.
The priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe is once a month.
Jones said Father Barra Anthony Govendo of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church just started last month and will do one on the second Sunday of the month.
He added: “On the first and second Sundays of the Catholic Church, there was a special demand mass, with about 100 people attending.”
Jones noted that he will work with any religion, belief or denomination.
“It does provide a place that is interesting because you get into the masses and people making a voice. They may blurt out in preaching and all kinds of different things. But no one cares. Sometimes it’s important for people with special needs. Sometimes, they may read in front. They may be around those people.
He added that his job is to talk to the church and see who is doing the Ministry of Disability, get the information and get it to families with special needs.
“So many families are asked to leave the church, but some studies show that 84% of people with disabilities tell us that faith is important to them, so they want to have a spiritual aspect and meet those needs, but … only 20% have support for people with disabilities. Some are people in the church, just the church just doesn’t know how or they don’t have resources,” Jones said.
“This is where the faith-inclusive network (can) go in and let them know that all these families want relationships that churches of any size can offer. They are not looking for plans. You don’t have to have professionals … What they want is acceptance and welcome and a hospitality church, and the church they can belong to.”
He added that he needed some education so that the church knew they could provide a place for the family.
Jones said in the sharing, he learned that not only was a disabled person, “the entire family was excluded from worship and fulfilled their spiritual needs,” Jones said.
He added that the Faith Inclusion Network is one of the few organizations that concentrate faith.
Learn more about Faith Inclusion Network at faithinclusionnetwork.org.
