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A survey recently conducted by Rest Ministries, the largest Christian organization that serves the chronically ill, asked people to “List some of the programs or resources a church could offer to make it more inviting comfortable.” Below is a sampling of some of the 800+ responses, all of which could be done in 20 minutes or less.

1. Send out encouraging emails.

2. Make sure the handicapped stalls in the restroom are functioning and clean.

3. Add padded chairs or cushions to make church easier to sit through. Room for wheelchairs is always a need and don’t forget to include extra places for family members.

4. An open attitude for a support group like HopeKeepers. It would make me feel very special that there was an understanding of needs that are not always visible.

5. Add more disabled parking, even if they are temporary spots.

6. Educate the ushers that people arriving late may have difficulty walking or getting out of cars and will need some assistance.

7. Have some volunteers who will call the chronically ill people just to check on them when they don’t make it to church.

8. When suppers are given, I need help getting my meal or at least understanding from others that I won’t be able to wait in a long line.

9. Be cautious when giving people big hugs. It can topple over or hurt the person.

10. Video tape the service to and put it on a DVD, don’t just do a live web cast. My computer doesn’t work that well.

11. Check out the church doors. Can someone with an illness open them with ease? If not, install a mechanical button to push them open.

12. Stop telling me that if I really believed and had faith I would be healed by now. Please don’t insist how good I look, because I know for a fact that I look terrible and miserable that day.

13. Offer me ways to serve within the church that can be performed regularly, but not on a set schedule. I really want to contribute, but I need some flexibility so that I can do a job when I feel well enough.

14. Make the sermon notes available to download and print out so I can listen later or even just review what I didn’t catch the first time.

15. Acknowledge National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. Rest Ministries Publishers features a book list of top 100 Christian books for the chronically ill. Having some of those books in our church bookstore as a display would be a great outreach.

16. Just mention chronic illness occasionally! Don’t forget to talk about it in sermons as one of the challenges many people face just like unemployment or divorce.

17. Have Christian volunteers from church that will clean house for small fee. Some have offered to clean my house, but I cannot accept charity yet, but neither can I afford to pay a regular house cleaning service.

18. Have the church help with some of the small costs of providing encouraging books and resources for the church library. The chronically ill often cannot afford all that they’d like to read and will check them out.

19. Remember all of the caregivers in the church–not just caregivers of parents, but spouses and ill children as well.

20. Have copies of sermon for free on CD or computer.

Receive 200 tips from “Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend” by Lisa Copen when you sign up for HopeNotes chronic illness ezine at Rest Ministries. Lisa is the founder of Invisible Illness Awareness Week