Grace Space

Why does a church need a sensory space? This past Ash Wednesday, we marked our foreheads with dusty ashes, to claim that our bodies are both sacred and limited. God gave us all nervous systems with amazing powers of feeling, processing information from our five senses, and moving our energy up and down (which is also called “regulating”). But this system can only take so much stimulation before requiring self-care!

This truth came home to me in a new way after I had my children. Not only did their nervous systems drain quickly, requiring a lot of input of naps, snuggles, wraps, movement, and pleasing sounds, but my OWN mother-body got upset and overwhelmed much more easily! Church, with its large amount of people and structure, can be especially draining for our nervous systems, especially for individuals with disabilities such as autism or sensory processing disorders. 

Our new Grace Space is literally just that - a space where we can be gracious to our whole selves and use tools to take care of our nervous systems, so that we can regulate and feel present and ready to engage again with our beloved community. Please step into this space as often as you like to explore all that it has to offer, to learn about sensory needs, and to get to know how different people regulate. We are each of us created just exactly how God intended, and it is a joy to re-create our space in a way that allows all our different bodies to flourish.

with love, Pr. Chelsea