Jenan Taylor
7 October 2024
A north-western suburbs parish has seen a significant increase in members ahead of its plans to launch a specialised program for neurodiversity in 2025.
Sunday attendance at St Aidan’s Strathmore grew on average from 20 to 40 people in two years, and many were neurodivergent or cared for neurodiverse family members.
Vicar the Reverend Glen Wesley believes their struggle to find a church they felt comfortable in was among the reasons many of the newcomers turned to St Aidan’s.
Mr Wesley, who is neurodivergent himself, said the church focused on offering services and an environment that made it easier for all people to participate, irrespective of their condition.
He said this included having its long-term parishioners trained to recognise and communicate better with people who otherwise might be excluded because of their diverse needs.
He said St Aidan’s approach grew out of wanting to enable people to participate in Christianity and recognising it needed a niche if it was to be viable long term.
“We’re a prayer book Anglican suburban church, in an area where we have a high number of churches,” Mr Wesley said. “We will be ministering to a community that has experienced exclusion in a way that nobody else is ministering to. This is our niche.”
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Parishioner Christina Spurrell said neurodiversity was not discussed in many spaces, and seeing it as part of St Aidan’s ministry encouraged those whose lives were affected by it.
Ms Spurrell said she had attended church regularly all her life, but had struggled with expectations that she remain still and quiet during services, because of her own neurodivergence.
“Being able to do what I need to do to enjoy worship without a barrier of trying to be something that I’m not, is a really good feeling for me,” Ms Spurrell said.
She was excited about being involved with the project at St Aidan’s as it aimed to open church doors for many people.
Ms Spurrell was particularly interested in seeing how its plans to evolve neurodiverse ministry might progress, because there was no one-size-fits-all formula for helping people participate in worship.
Mr Wesley said St Aidan’s hoped to launch NeuroChurch, a whole of church operations program for people with autism, dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions in February next year.
He said its offerings would include liturgy and other materials in formats that suited neurodivergent people, as well as pastoral care, and a sensory-friendly space.
He said the broader aim was that the neuro church would be a model for other Melbourne diocese churches to better understand neurodiversity and practise better ministry approaches to it.
“If our churches are set up and operating in a way that inadvertently creates stumbling blocks for people to fully participate in their parishes because of their disability, then we have to find ways of breaking that down,” Mr Wesley said.
“We are diminished by not including people with a disability fully for who they are, and celebrating people’s condition as part of their identity can help leverage their talents for building God’s kingdom.”
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