Writing the “Faith and Fidgeting” series on living with neurodivergence in sacred spaces has led me to reflect on a pressing question: How can we reimagine church?
Accessible church spaces are important for everyone, not just disabled or neurodivergent folks. Our congregants represent the full range of beautiful diversity in God’s creation and it should be our joyful mission to make worship and educational spaces that are accessible to all.
During my interview with Rev. Dr. Sarah Boberg, in which we discussed ADHD and faith, she shared her current work with the Empowering Families grant, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment. As part of the grant, from March 28-30, 2025, Dr. Boberg and Campbell Divinity School hosted a spring retreat for families.
During this retreat time, Dr. Boberg reimagined and restructured the worship space to be more accommodating, participatory, and ultimately authentic, with a specific focus on families and children. She reflected on how churches could apply some of the principles and practices to worship services to make them more accessible and inclusive for all people.
The services were only 30 minutes long, consisting of prayer, singing and a message. The planned prayers were more than “eyes closed and head bowed.” They were embodied.
Dr. Boberg described a prayer practice in which congregants turned their bodies to face different directions each time they prayed for a different topic. While not specific to this weekend, Dr. Boberg has also implemented prayer stations where congregants select a station that features tools, prompts, or even people to help them pray in the most authentic and connective way possible.
“Everybody doesn’t learn or interact the same,” Dr. Boberg said. “I think we get stuck doing things because it’s the way things have always been done, and we don’t always realize that people can connect to God in different ways. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve introduced these prayer practices to people, and they have been so grateful and relieved to know there are options.”
At the Empowered Families Retreat, neither children nor adults were required to sit in seats. Chairs were placed further apart to create spacious aisles for antsy children, up-and-down adults, and strollers. Worship tools such as fabric mazes, writing tablets and prayer scarves were offered.
Boberg noted, “The kids were up and down, waving these scarves during worship. And it was a beautiful thing.”
While the 30-minute service with scarf-waving children may not be a model all churches can adopt, Dr. Boberg is doing incredible work to help congregants imagine sacred spaces where families and people, in all of God’s glorious diversity, want to be. To begin the holy work of imagination and inclusion, Dr. Boberg recommends “small changes, clearly articulated both verbally and in writing.”
She said, “churches can keep similar orders of worship, Changing various pieces until they find the ‘sweet spot.’”
This will be different for each congregation. There is a balance between keeping enough consistency and finding change that makes worship more impactful and accessible.
For congregations that struggle with change, two simple yet effective implementations are shorter sermons, approximately 15 minutes long, and a clear order of service. Bulletins that outline the flow and order of the service provide mental ease, knowing there is a plan that honors congregants’ time, while reducing anxiety and helping everyone know what to anticipate.
For those concerned about cost, Dr. Boberg also mused that printed bulletins “provide cheaper doodling material than the offering envelopes on the back of the pew!”
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Erin is a current student at Campbell Divinity School, attending night classes for the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry. During the day, she participates in the holy work of teaching public school teenagers how to cook as a Family and Consumer Science teacher (formally known as Home Economics). A self-proclaimed Jack of all trades, Erin dabbles in an array of hobbies when school allows, including knitting, crocheting, spinning yarn, sewing, gardening, reading, writing, and, of course, cooking.
