Deer Lake Church • Tallahassee

Growing Shine ☀️

An outreach & growth kit for Deer Lake's ministry for children and adults with disabilities — flyers, a slide, and the case for leadership, ready to print and share.

📦 The kit

🌀 Community flyer

For church members to hand to friends & family — designed with a spot for the attached fidget toy ("This fidget is for you — keep it!"). Print on 8.5×11, attach a fidget with a ribbon or zip tie through a hole punch in the circle.

Print PDFPreview

🤝 Partner flyer

For Little Boy Blue Foundation, Future Pathways, and other disability groups to share with clients — "what to expect" focused, first-visit friendly.

Print PDFPreview

📺 Announcement slide

16:9 slide (1920×1080 PNG) for the pre-service and announcement loop — recruits buddies and invites families.

Download PNGPreview

📊 Leadership one-pager

"Why growing Shine matters" — the research-backed case for church leadership, with every statistic sourced.

Print PDFPreview

🌱 Ten ways to grow Shine

  1. Put Shine on the website. deerlakechurch.org currently has no mention of Shine — families search online before they ever visit. A simple page under "Grow" with a warm photo, what to expect, and a contact is the single highest-impact step.
  2. Launch "Shine Buddies." Recruit and train one-on-one volunteers. Free/low-cost training: Key Ministry, Ability Ministry, and Joni and Friends all offer church volunteer resources.
  3. Build a sensory-friendly welcome. A designated quiet room, sensory bags at check-in (fidgets, noise-reducing headphones, visual schedule cards), and "movement is welcome" language in the bulletin.
  4. Start a monthly respite night. "Shine Night" — a parents' night out with trained volunteers. Respite is the most-requested support among special-needs families and the fastest-growing entry point to church for unchurched families.
  5. Partner locally. Little Boy Blue Foundation (autism community), Future Pathways (teens/adults with disabilities), FSU CARD (Center for Autism & Related Disabilities), and Leon County Schools ESE — share flyers, host events, invite their staff to advise.
  6. Include adults, not just kids. Meaningful serving roles for adults with disabilities — greeters, welcome team, ushers, worship. Belonging means contributing, not just receiving.
  7. Make arrival easy. A short "tell us about your family member" intake card (likes, communication style, sensory needs) so the first visit is planned, not improvised. Clear signage from the parking lot.
  8. Train the whole congregation, gently. A 5-minute "what you might see and how to be a friend" moment in each service season — the biggest barrier families report is attitudes, not ramps.
  9. Tell the stories. A Shine moment (photo + one sentence, with permission) in announcements and social media once a month. Visibility tells hesitant families it's safe to come.
  10. Measure and celebrate. Track families served, buddies trained, and respite nights held; celebrate milestones with the congregation so momentum is visible.

💬 Welcoming phrases

We're saving you a seat. Everyone gets to shine. Come as you are — really. Every ability, every Sunday. Belonging, not just attending. Made to shine. Wiggles, sounds & stims welcome. There's no version of you that isn't welcome here. God's light shines in everyone. No church background needed.
Before printing: confirm Shine's meeting times and preferred contact with the church office — the materials currently use the main service times (Sundays 9:00 & 10:40 AM) and info@deerlakechurch.org / (850) 668-0314 from deerlakechurch.org. Everything is editable HTML, so wording, times, and names can be changed quickly.