Preachers' Conference 2025
Check out the recordings from the 2025 Hugh C. Benner Preachers' Conference: "All God's Children"!
The 2025 Preachers’ Conference was designed to engage and support neurodiverse people. Six sermons and eight workshops will explore how God’s redemptive message can reach “All God’s Children” regardless of where they are on the spectrum or what challenges there may be in accessing the life of the church.
The playlist contains sermons and Q&A from Dr. Lamar Hardwick, along with Dr. Amy Jacober, Rev. Brad Lee, Dr. Diane Leclerc, and Rev. Tara Thomas Smith.
It also includes eight practical workshops from Stephanie Answer, Rev. Ryan Nelson, Rev. Bill Gaventa, and Stephen "Doc" Hunsley, Kris Mitchell, Rev. Jesse Briles, Barb Stanley & Leah Whicker, and Rev. Brad Lee.
This conference is offered in partnership with Nazarene Theological Seminary's Nurturing Care with Children in Worship and Prayer (https://www.nts.edu/nurturing-care/).
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Session 1: How to Handle Your Here
Hear Dr. Lamar Hardwick preach on "How to Handle Your Here" from John 17:9-11, 14-15 (NLT) with a Q&A to follow.
Dr. Lamar Hardwick (D.Min.Liberty University) also known as "the autism pastor," is a pastor, cancer survivor, PhD student and award-winning author focused on the intersection of disa...
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Session 2: Sent to Sit
Hear Rev. Tara Thomas Smith preach on being "Sent to Sit" from Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV) with a Q&A after.
Tara Thomas Smith serves as Co-Lead Pastor with her husband, Brett, at Crossroads Nazarene Church. She has served as a missionary in the South Pacific, doing Community Based Health Care and teach...
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Session 3: Them Bones - Rise Up!
Hear Dr. Amy Jacober preach on "Them Bones: Rise Up!" from Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV) with a Q&A after.
Amy Jacober serves as an outspoken advocate, author, and educator with many interests including youth, disability, and increasingly mental health. Dr. Jacober teaches graduate, undergraduate, and...
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Session 4: A Call & Vision for Special Needs Ministry
Hear Rev. Brad Lee preach on "A Call & Vision for Special Needs Ministry" from John 9:1-5 (NIV) with a Q&A after.
Chaplain (Colonel-R) Brad Lee was ordained by the Church of the Nazarene for Christian ministry after graduation from Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, IL (BA, 1994), and Nazaren...
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Session 5: conDescending to Jesus
Hear Dr. Diane Leclerc preach on "conDescending to Jesus" from Mark 2:1-17 (NRSV) with a Q&A after.
Rev. Dr. Diane Leclerc is Professor of Historical Theology at Northwest Nazarene University where she has taught for 27 years, and where she also serves as the Director of Northwest Nazarene Divin...
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Session 6: Let's Trade Shoes
Hear Dr. Lamar Hardwick preach on Galatians 4:12-13 (MSG).
Dr. Lamar Hardwick (D.Min.Liberty University) also known as "the autism pastor," is a pastor, cancer survivor, PhD student and award-winning author focused on the intersection of disability, race, and religion.
Hardwick was diagnosed wi...
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Bridging the Gap
Led by Kris Mitchell, a licensed clinical family therapist, this workshop equips church leaders to better understand and support neurodivergent individuals in their congregations. Topics include autism, Tourette's, ADHD, sensory processing differences, pathological demand avoidance (PDA), and the...
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Called to Lead, Wired Differently
A Workshop for Understanding Neurodivergent Leadership in the Church
What does it mean to be both neurodivergent and called to ministry? In this honest and insightful workshop, Pastor Jesse Briles shares his personal experience of pastoring on the autism spectrum—offering a window into the joys,...
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Can I Still Pray if I Can't Speak
How worship and prayer can be accessible to All God’s Children.
We often define prayer as “talking to God.” But what does this definition mean for nonspeakers? What other language or practices might create barriers to inclusion in the life of our churches for autistic, neurodiverse or disabled i...
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Disability Ministry and Adapted Church Policies
Church is for everyone, but not all church policies work for everyone. In this workshop we will learn how to look at your church policies through the lens of disability, what policies most commonly need to be adapted (or added), and how to create policies that work for families and for the church...
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From the Pastor's Heart
Disability Ministry may seem daunting or overwhelming to many pastors and leaders. There are so many things to consider: what resources do we need, what questions do we ask, how do we train, etc… In this workshop, Rev. Ryan Nelson will share a personal perspective from more than 16 years of pasto...
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Preaching (on) Disability: Perils, Passages, Paradox, & Parable
Preaching on disability can happen in multiple ways: responding to a Lectionary text, deciding to preach on a text involving disability in the Bible, and utilizing examples, stories and issues from the lives of people with disabilities in our society to illustrate the themes of other sermons that...
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Trauma Informed Ministry for Special Needs Families
From the moment of diagnosis, to the first day of school, to the missed and delayed developmental milestones, and even to Promotion Sunday, trauma is a pernicious conveyor of cumulative stress and isolation. Understanding the uniqueness of trauma and its brutal impacts on families is a gateway to...
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Why Disability Ministry: Becoming a Biblical Church of Belonging
It is a biblical mandate to include individuals and families with disabilities in our church. With 28% of the population having a disability, yet only 11% of churches welcoming these families, we are missing opportunities to fully live out the Gospel in our communities. In this transformative wor...