Friends church in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, runs Sunday ministry for developmentally disabled people

Jan Luthardt of Wickliffe leads the Just As I Am ministry for developmentally disabled people, a service held at 11 a.m. each Sunday at Willoughby Hills Friends Church. The hour-long service grew out of a Sunday school class that she and a friend began about 20 years ago.

Luthardt’s son, who was born with Down Syndrome, was a young child then, and she initially envisioned the class for small children. She said the church supported the effort from the start, and the two women visited other programs and attended seminars to learn how to proceed. Because developmentally disabled people vary widely in their abilities, they had to design a program that could meet many different needs. They soon found that the greatest need was among older developmentally disabled adults living in group homes and at Deepwood, which is operated by the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The women wrote a program and distributed flyers. Luthardt said that when her friend moved away, she became the director, though she had not intended to take that role.

Today, Luthardt says she typically sees between 25 and 50 people at the Sunday service. They range from mildly to profoundly disabled and are between 10 and 85 years old. Young children may attend if their guardians wish, but she said most younger developmentally disabled children are mainstreamed into the church’s regular Sunday school classes.

The church originally bought lesson plans designed for developmentally disabled people, but Luthardt said those materials were lost in a church fire in 1992. She then began writing the lessons herself. The service now includes handouts that participants take home to reinforce the lesson. Luthardt said the group is currently studying First Timothy, a study that has taken two years. She said she can design Bible study for members who cannot read because she knows them well. Her husband, Gregg, is closely involved in the ministry, and her daughter, Rachel Leffick, a special education teacher with West Geauga Schools, offers advice on engaging the congregation. Follow-up material includes simple true-or-false questions, and those who cannot read may match colors or look for a smiley face.

Luthardt said that members respond to worship in different ways. She described one man in a wheelchair who cannot speak but laughs at the right moments, and a woman who is profoundly disabled and clearly lets her know when she wants something. She said the group prays fervently, and that music reaches everyone, including an autistic boy who does not speak but plays the piano. “God reaches them on whatever level they are,” she said. She also said that the ministry has helped families who had stayed home from church because their disabled relatives could be loud, and that she understands that concern. Caretakers usually stay with their charges during the service, and Luthardt said the staff and students interact during the program. Members who are hospitalized receive visits from Luthardt, as they would from the church’s pastors. Describing the people who come, she said, “They are simple but they have fears and needs just like all of us,” and that they need to feel loved, a need she connects to comfort in grief (Psalm 34:18).

Luthardt said the ministry comes from the love the group has received from Christ and from the friendships formed within it. Willoughby Hills Friends Church holds the Just As I Am services from 11 a.m. to noon each Sunday at 2846 SOM Center Road in Willoughby Hills. The church can be reached at 440-944-1026.

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