Our story
It started with one little girl and one buddy.
Sue Hey is a school occupational therapist. In meeting after meeting, she heard parents say their family had been made to feel unwelcome at church. Some were even asked not to come back.
In 2011 Sue attended a Joni and Friends Family Retreat, a week where families of children with disabilities are simply loved on. She went back three years in a row and came home each time wanting her own church to offer that same welcome.
In 2014 Sue told her pastor she felt called to start a ministry for these families. They agreed to pray about it and plan for the fall. The next Sunday, a family visited with a little girl in a wheelchair. Pastor Jon Ferguson spotted Sue across the lobby and told her, "I think we're going to start right now." A young woman became the girl's buddy, the two became friends, and Special Friends began.
Since then, Stillwater has had a buddy ready every Sunday. Families who were turned away elsewhere found a home, and they told their friends. Other churches asked for help starting their own, and several now run Special Friends their own way. This site shares what Sue has learned so your church can do the same.
Why two hands? The logo shows two hands coming together as equals, with a heart between them. Special Friends is about friendship between equals.
What we believe
Every person bears the image of God
Regardless of how a person communicates, learns, moves or behaves, they were created on purpose and belong in the body of Christ.
People with disabilities serve too
Everyone has gifts the church needs. Adults with disabilities from the congregation have helped build a Habitat for Humanity home, using work tables adapted for wheelchairs.
Every child sets the pace
Some children join the group right away. Others need time, a smaller setting or a break first. Lessons are adapted so each child can learn the same truth in the way that works for them.
Fun is part of the plan
When a child loves coming to church, the whole family gets to come.
Buddies get something out of it too
Buddies come to love a child and often find more patience and a closer walk with God along the way. It's a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus at your own church. As one pastor put it, "In some ways they understand Jesus better than any of us."