Forward in Faith | Spring 2025
The blessing of God’s covenant community is on full display on Sunday mornings at GloryKids.
GloryKids provides buddies to people with special needs from kindergarten to adulthood. In K-5th grade, children can attend the same Sunday morning programs—like KidsThrive and KidsQuest—alongside other children. There are also Sunday morning groups for youth and adults.
“The goal of GloryKids is to teach students to worship God and enjoy Him forever,” says Janet Kelley, special needs curriculum coordinator. “It may look and sound different for those with special needs, but many volunteers find that a blessing.”
Sunday morning curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of each student so the gospel can be communicated in a way that each person can understand. Prayer is emphasized, and buddies and GloryKids pray together before each class.
“Most of our buddies would say that one of the most exciting and glorious things about GloryKids is having your perspective widened about who God is and how people worship Him,” said Janet. “God is definitely revealing Himself to the students and volunteers.”
For parents of children with special needs, it can be difficult to attend church. Approximately 85-90% of families with a special needs member do not attend a church, simply because most churches do not have a dedicated special needs ministry. The more than 70 volunteers in GloryKids enable parents to worship as their children are in the care of a trained, loving community.
“The students are full of Jesus and so are the volunteers!” declares Ly Medeiros, special needs volunteer manager. “A significant portion of the stories of Jesus in the Bible depict His interactions with individuals with special needs, and our volunteers at Perimeter are a beautiful reflection of that compassion.”
To learn more about GloryKids and opportunities for special needs children younger than kindergarten, visit perimeter.org/GloryKids.
The theme for this game was “How You Made Me Is Amazing!”
