After an exciting Christmas season at New Way, we look forward to a new Worship experience for Sunday Evenings called EXHALE. We live in a very visual world. Did you ever have a day where the lights and sounds were just too much and you needed a break? Imagine how someone with processing issues feels during those times.
We have identified a need for a calmer, more relaxed service for those who deal with sensory issues (neurodivergent), PTSD, ADHD, Special Needs or any kind of processing issues. We have done extensive research, attended webinars and seminars and surveyed people dealing with these processing issues. Through all this work we found a community of people who are eager to be in church but feel judged when they or their kids act “different” than others in processing life. We want to make a place for them to feel comfortable and to be able to worship without feeling judged.
Part of what we learned is that we need to become a neurodivergent friendly church. We will have fidgets, noise cancelling headphones, flex seating, weighted blankets, calm lighting and many other things in place to help those with neurodivergence for the evening service. This service is for everyone! It will be a little quieter in sound, no flashing lights, acoustic music and moments to process what was said, seen and heard. It will be an opportunity to EXHALE and listen for God in today’s busy world.
Through the work of the sensory team, we applied for and have been chosen for a conference grant of nearly $5,000 for this service! This will allow us to purchase the needed items to make everyone feel at home at New Way including advertising to help spread the word. We have already been in contact with a group home that is very excited to be part of this special service.
In order to get EXHALE up and running, the evening service will take a break starting this Sunday, December 29. The goal is to “go live” with EXHALE in February of 2025. This will allow us time to pray, prepare and practice EXHALE. We will communicate the Sundays we will have practice services for EXHALE and the official launch Sunday for EXHALE. We ask you to invite people to these practice services so we can make sure we have everything in place from the time people arrive to the time they leave.
Please be in prayer for ways to be a part of EXHALE as we reach out to a new community of people eager to be involved in a church to love God and love people.
