Ability Tree Consulting Branch -- Helping Churches Better Serve their Congregations and Communities

Less than five minutes — even only a matter of seconds — is sometimes all it takes for families impacted by disability to know if they will ever be back to a church or if they will even stay for the service that day. And far too often, families impacted by disability leave a church discouraged, disappointed, and disillusioned.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Ability Tree, a ministry founded and led by Assemblies of God U.S. missionary with Intercultural Ministries, Joe Butler and his wife, Jen, has launched the Ability Tree Consulting Branch. This new branch, led by former minister Janell Petersen, helps churches of any size take its ministry to the next level in making the gospel accessible to families impacted by neurodivergence (different forms of brain processing) and/or disability.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Intimidation, fear, understanding, and finances are all things that keep churches from truly being a church that welcomes families impacted by disability.

But as Joe Butler points out, “We’re all called to the Great Commission. People with disabilities are a part of that Great Commission — it is not optional; it’s a part of it.”

What’s more, Butler adds, when a church doesn’t work to make the gospel accessible to individuals with disabilities or neurodivergence, they’re not only excluding that individual from accessing the gospel, but his or her family as well.

Petersen, who stepped back from pastoral ministry and her career when her son began exhibiting signs of disability and development delays, understands the challenges faced by families impacted by disability; Hudson, her son who’s now 10, has been diagnosed with five different disabilities, including autism and epilepsy.

“Many don’t realize that in the United States 17% of children and 28% of adults have a disability (according to CDC.gov),” states Petersen. “And an estimated 15% to 20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent (according to the National Cancer Institute).”

Petersen explains that a moment of sad realization came to her while visiting a zoo with her son.

“I noticed that the zoo had more things in place to support a family like mine than the local church,” she recalls. “But I didn’t want to complain about the problem, I wanted to do something about it.”

CONSULTING AND TRAINING

In 2023, the Butlers added a consulting branch to the Ability Tree ministries to help churches and ministries improve their accessibility for families impacted by disability.

About six months later, Petersen was connected to the Butlers and to Ability Tree. Soon it was obvious to all that Petersen’s calling, life experiences, background in ministry, and even a pharmaceutical position all helped make her the perfect fit to lead the new Ability Tree Consulting Branch.

“God was like, ‘You wanted to do something about it (churches lacking accessibility) — here you go, here’s a ministry,” Petersen says. “They literally handed me a platform to do what God had put on my heart — I’m still in awe of that.”

The transition to becoming fully accessible to families impacted by disability is not something that happens overnight. However, many of the fears and misgivings that typically surround disability ministry are addressed with solutions customized to each church’s situation.

Petersen explains that the first step — which leads to a heart change in the church body —is a matter of educating staff, training volunteers, and “adaptifying” — adapting and modifying ministries already in place to make them more accessible.

“On the Ability Tree website under the Consulting Branch, we offer churches a free 30-minute consultation,” Petersen says. “In that consultation, I ask a lot of questions, but also listen closely to the responses to help determine how Ability Tree can best serve that particular church in moving to the next level in becoming more accessible.”

In addition to the consultation, the Consulting Branch page offers a “self-test” for church leaders to see strengths and weaknesses in their ministry efforts to families impacted by disability.

“We provide tools to use within the church,” Petersen says. “You don’t have to have any prior experience to use them. The only thing you need is to want to love, get to know, and include those impacted by disability.”

WE’RE GOOD . . .

Many churches are confident in their belief that everyone is welcome to their congregation. However, the reality is nearly every church has room to take their ministry to families impacted with disability to a higher level.

For example, a well-intentioned greeter may deeply offend a family impacted by disability with his or her word choice or offer of “helpful” information. Worse yet, fearful of offending that family, the greeter (and quite likely others in the church) opts to say nothing at all, further isolating the family from the church community.

“I attended a church where a man in a wheelchair visited,” Butler says, “but when he entered the building, there was only a staircase up to the sanctuary or down to the classrooms. It took four adult men to carry him and his wheelchair up the stairs to the service, drawing unwanted attention to himself. To my knowledge, neither he nor his caregiver ever came back.”

Petersen and Butler both note that Ability Tree sees partnering with churches as not just a weekend zoom training, but a long-term commitment to helping each church advance at the pace that best fits them over months and even years.

Some of the resources the Consulting Branch offers includes a training PDF packet, a sensory bag program, equipment recommendation (Ability Tree has an Amazon storefront), in-person or virtual training, educational awareness, proper terminology, appropriate interaction and etiquette, and most importantly, the proper biblical view how God sees the neurodivergent and those impacted by disability.

“One of the challenges for church volunteers and leaders is knowing how to de-escalate an individual who is possibly overstimulated by sound or movement or recognizing they need some type of physical engagement in order to process what is being communicated,” Petersen says. “It’s not always easy, but we help churches discover those keys for their individual situations.”

Butler recalls how one Sunday they received a call from a partnering church who had a person “acting out” and they weren’t sure what to do.

“We took their call, heard what the situation was, clarified a few things, and then walked them through steps to take to help the person regain composure, calm down, and experience a compassionate response to their need.”

Petersen explains that the way to think of the Consulting Branch is "as approachable training so that Jesus can be made accessible.”

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE

Dick Gruber, the children’s pastor at Crosspoint Church in Waverly, Iowa, clearly recalls about two years ago when two women from the church, Stephanie Friese and Molli Burns, who have children with disabilities, wanted to be involved in making the church more accessible.

“I asked the women to make a dream list of resources that would help make the church more accessible to families impacted by disability,” Gruber says. “I then took that list to the pastor — he and the church board approved everything on that list!”

The church also created a sensory room that provided space for those needing engagement as well as those who needed less stimulation. However, there was something missing, so Gruber contacted his good friends, the Butlers, who connected him with Petersen as well.

“When we started in January 2023, we had Stephanie and Molli and one other person helping with me,” Gruber says. “Two Sundays ago, we had a 90-minute training session with Ability Tree and there were a dozen people in that room. People are catching the vision and God is providing laborers for this harvest!”

“Ability Tree has been a game changer for our church,” Friese wrote in a post. “Their understanding, care, and consideration can be felt in everything they do. From a church’s leadership level, to its volunteer level, right down to the families affected . . . they foster unity and biblical relationships . . . As a result, they are building a community of Christ-led disciples and missionaries one family at a time.”

Petersen adds an interesting perspective, noting that when children or adults who have been impacted by disability encounter the Holy Spirit and respond in worship, just as Luke 5 shares, it leaves everybody in awe.

“People in the congregation will have a new perspective on worship and are more in tune to the needs of other people when we include those with disabilities in the body of Christ,” Petersen shares. “They come to see people who are impacted by disabilities as a gift from God — there are no disabled souls, just disabled bodies, and the greatest healing of all is salvation.”