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by: LisaCopen
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Rest Ministries, founded in 1997, is the largest Christian organization that serves the chronically ill. They recently did a survey and asked people to "List some of the programs or resources a church could offer to make it more inviting comfortable." Below is a sampling of some of the 800+ responses, all of which could be done in 20 minutes or less.

1. Send out emails that are encouraging.

2. Make sure the handicapped stalls in the bathroom are functioning and clean.

3. Add padded chairs or cushions to make church easier to sit through. Room for wheelchairs is always a need and don't forget to include extra places for family members.

4. An open attitude for a support group like HopeKeepers. It would make me feel very special that there was an understanding of needs that are not always visible.

5. More disabled parking, even if they are temporary spots.

6. An awareness on the part of the ushers that those arriving late may have difficulty walking or getting out of cars.

7. Have a couple of people who could call chronically ill folks and check on them when they can't make it to church.

8. When suppers are given, I need help getting my meal or at least understanding from others that I won't be able to wait in a long line.

9. Be cautious when hugging. It may topple over or hurt a person.

10. Video tape of the service for DVD, don't just do a live web cast. My computer doesn't work that well.

11. Check out the church doors. Can someone with an illness open them with ease? If not, install a mechanical button to push them open.

12. Stop telling me that if I truly believed and had faith I'd be healed by now. Please don't go on and on about how good I look even though I know for a fact that I look terrible and miserable that day.

13. Offer ways to serve within the church that can be performed regularly, but not on a set schedule so that I can still contribute, but there's enough flexibility that I can do the job when I feel well enough to do so.

14. Have sermon notes available so I can listen later or even just review what I didn't catch the first time.

15. Acknowledge National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Rest Ministries has a book list of top 100 Christian books for the chronically ill. Having some of those books in our church bookstore as a display would be a great outreach.

16. Just mention about chronic illness! Talk about it in sermons as one of the challenges many people face just like unemployment.

17. Let me know about any Christian volunteers from church who would be willing to clean my house for a small fee. Some have offered to clean my house, but I am just not yet able to accept charity. But neither can I afford to pay a regular house cleaning service.

18. Have the church help with some of the small costs of providing encouraging books and resources for the church library. The chronically ill often cannot afford all that they'd like to read and will check them out.

19. Remember how many caregivers are in the church, not just caregiving for their parents, but also for their spouses or ill children.

20. Provide copies for free of the sermon on CD.

About the Author

Get a free list of 200 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend from "Beyond Casseroles" by Lisa Copen, just signup for to HopeNotes invisible illness ezine at Rest Ministries. Lisa founded of Invisible Illness Week

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