Special Needs

Special Needs

Special Needs


Welcome to Parkside's Special Needs Ministry, Faithful Friends. We pray that you will know the love of Christ in real ways as we care for your loved one. 

Our Vision

We desire that every person at Parkside Church, regardless of abilities, intellect and skills would become a committed follower of Jesus Christ. We recognize that the special needs ministry will look very different than a typical ministry for children, youth, and adults, and we desire that this ministry will:

  •  be a safe and loving place for children, youth, and adults with special needs;
  •  teach children, youth, and adults with special needs the truths of God’s Word in ways they may understand;
  •  show children, youth, and adults with special needs the love of the Lord Jesus Christ in practical ways;
  •  allow parents/caregivers to worship and study God’s Word, free from worry about their children;
  •  be a support group for families with children, youth, and adults who have special needs.

Our History

We began in 1992 with two teens with special needs and two helpers. Both of these teens are now adults who attend the Faithful Friends class. We now serve approximately 50 children, adults, and teens in our three classes: Faithful Friends, Jr., Faithful Friends Teens, and Faithful Friends adults.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Faithful Friends Classes Reopening January 10, 2021

    As we step into the new year, classes will reopen with a couple of important changes. Faithful Friends Jr. and Teen classes will no longer meet on an alternate week basis. Instead, the Jr. and Teen class will re-combine and meet in the same classroom together on Sunday mornings. Class will continue to meet at 9:45am in room A115. We ask families to register ahead for class through Touchpoint. Look for an e-mail further explaining this in January. Classes will be limited to 8 children per our current capacity limits in the rooms. This will enable everyone who would like to attend weekly to have the opportunity to be there and it will help us staff appropriately with the limited volunteers we have. Faithful Friends Adult class will continue to meet weekly at 9:45am in room A117. 

  • Faithful Friends Ministry Christmas Break

    As we look forward to the holiday season, we have prayerfully decided that the Faithful Friends ministry will be on break the weeks of December 20, 27 and January 3rd. This includes all three classes: Faithful Friends Adults, Faithful Friends Teens and Faithful Friends Jr. This schedule will be in conjunction with the Children's Ministry classes and our Sunday morning groups, which will also not be meeting. All classes will resume on January 10th. We hope that you have a very joyous Christmas season! 

  • Special Needs Ministry Update

    As we prayerfully consider how to best reopen our Faithful Friends Classes, our plan is to begin with our adult class. This is our current calendar for reopening:

    Faithful Friends Adults: Nov. 1 at 9:45am in A117
    Faithful Friends Jr: Nov. 15 at 9:45am in A115, alternate weeks
    Faithful Friends Teens: Nov. 22 at 9:45am in A115, alternate weeks


    We currently do not have plans to reopen Faithful Friends Teens at the 11:15 hour in A117 where it previously met. Instead, we will rotate Sundays with the FF Jr class in A115. This will allow us to maintain necessary staffing, and provide both the FF Jr and FF Teen classes opportunity to meet at least twice a month. We hope to continue to seek needed staff and reopen all classes in the future.


    This plan is fluid and subject to change, and we greatly value your prayers and understanding as we plan and implement the reopening of our Special Needs Ministry.

Coordinators

Julie Pelletier