By William Rogers, Anglican Ink. (Editor’s note: an exploration of ministry to autistic, ADHD and dyslexic children)
William Rogers is the vicar at St Matthew’s in Fulham and is an ambassador for Neurodiversity in Sport. In this article William reflects on the journey he and St Matthew’s have been on towards creating a neuro-inclusive community of faith.
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’
My wife and I have just celebrated 25 years of marriage and to celebrate we spent a few days away. As we reflected on 25 years of marriage, there was much to give thanks for. By God’s grace we had navigated the joys and challenges of so much. We have (nearly) worked out what makes each other tick, what we enjoy doing together (eating) and what we enjoy doing apart (shopping and watching sport!). And just as we were congratulating ourselves, we remembered our attempts at parenting and we were immediately humbled! If there is a gap in the market on how to consistently get things wrong, we will fill it!
We have three children, two of whom have nearly flown the nest, and I am so grateful to my grandpa who once told me that our children grow up despite our best efforts! All three have blessed us and challenged us (not always equally!) and that blessing and challenge has been particularly seen in our youngest daughter who is neurodivergent (she has ADHD, is autistic and dyslexic). In ways that we could not have imagined God has used her to help transform us into the image of his Son and that has been mirrored in our Church as he has blessed us with an ever-growing neurodivergent Church family.
As parents we have spent many years helping our daughter’s schools to make reasonable adjustments ….and yet, if I’m honest, we had done very little to allow the neurodivergent children in our Church family to come to Jesus without hindrance.