All God’s Children is a non-denominational Christian church service designed for all school-aged children, with a special welcome for families dealing with autism, ADHD, Aspergers, Downs and other developmental disabilities. The tenth year inaugural service kicked off on Sept. 18, initiating a series of twice-monthly worship services at Christ Church Budd Lake, to be held every first and third Sunday at 9 a.m.
Catering to short attention spans, the All God’s Children service is a lively combination of music, prayer, Bible stories, movement and communion. The essential message of God’s love and joy for all of His children is presented in a simplified, meaningful way. This service brings together children with disabilities and children without disabilities to learn together, and from each other, in an atmosphere of understanding and acceptance. Following the half-hour service, parents share refreshments and ideas while the children enjoy snacks with adult supervision.
This unique service has been profiled in several media outlets as a provider of a welcoming worship space for families with exceptionally active and/or vocal children, who often are diagnosed with Aspergers, ADD, autism, or a host of other conditions. Each child participates to the best of their individual abilities along with their families. In addition, several churches across NJ have instituted their own special needs services using this program as their model.
The number of participants continues to grow, along with a growing sense of the importance of sharing the Christian faith with ALL of God’s extraordinary young people. Come and pray for healing, strength, progress, and enlightenment as spiritual journeys are shared!
Christ Church is located at the corner of Smithtown and Sandshore Road by Budd Lake in Mt. Olive. For more information, call the church at 973-347-1866 or email rbonker@post.harvard.edu or visit www.ChristChurchBuddLake.org for sample services and video clips.