Welcome to the Emmanuel Community Inclusive Park
The park is an inclusive, fenced-in playground with a pavilion and an accessible restroom in Seymour built by Emmanuel and the surrounding communities. Through events and parties and fun, it’s a place where connection happens, new friends are made, and isolation decreases.
Working together, we reach, teach, and serve by offering a community playground where children of all capabilities play side-by-side. This accessible area includes surfaces and ramps for children and adults to engage equipment with or without mobility devices. Emmanuel’s truly inclusive playground is designed for all abilities to participate in various activities at varying difficulty levels within the same space. We share God’s love by respecting and embracing the different ways God has created us. We purposely removed many barriers, so all God’s children feel part of His kingdom and experience the joy of play!
Our faith leads us to establish a community where all feel welcomed and valued. The inclusive park honors this belief by including spaces for multiple uses and all generations.
Park Vision: Belonging – Believing – Becoming
As part of Emmanuel’s Inclusive Ministry, we encourage belonging, nurture believing, and intentionally create opportunities for all abilities to become engaged members of our faith family. Based on the original inclusive park vision, Emmanuel will inspire, support, celebrate, and equip all abilities in our community to fulfill their potential in life.
Park Activities
A variety of fun, family-oriented park events are scheduled April – October. Most notably are sensory-friendly holiday celebrations: Bunny Trail, July 3rd, Christmas in July, and Halloween.
For an updated list of programs and activities offered at the park, please see our Facebook page.
Park Rules
For your safety and enjoyment:
EVERYONE is invited to play at the park!
Be KIND – help each other
Be RESPECTFUL – use clean, kind and appropriate words
PLAY FAIR – take turns and share
Be RESPONSIBLE – take good care of your playground equipment and keep park clean
Be INCLUSIVE – invite friends of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to play together
Keep in mind:
Play is at your own risk – caregiver supervision is key to a safe and fun park experience
No pets, bikes, scooters, skates, or skateboards within the fenced area
No glass containers or sharp objects
No alcohol, tobacco, or weapons
Support the Park
Check Facebook for opportunities to support the park through fundraisers: Bingo Sundays in fall and winter, Giving Tuesday, March 14th Pie Sale, and others throughout the year.
If you would like to give to the Inclusive Park, you can do so here.
Park History
In 2021, Emmanuel was gifted funds to purchase property adjacent to its parking lot. The generous donor’s vision was a community park, not more parking spaces. An enthusiastic Park Team formed and began researching options in early 2022. Inspired by God’s hope and love, Emmanuel’s Park Team conceived the Park Vision: Working together, Emmanuel will build an inclusive & accessible community park to inspire, support, celebrate, and equip neurodivergent children and adults to fulfill their potential in life.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, we set three goals.
Goal 1 – Build an accessible and inclusive park where people of all ages and abilities socialize and play side-by-side.
Goal 2 – Celebrate and inspire neurodivergent individuals and their caregivers through supportive ministries focused on movement, activity, play, and socialization.
Goal 3 – Welcome and support neurodivergent individuals, individuals using mobility devices, their parents, and their siblings in all aspects of Emmanuel’s faith community.
We celebrated the grand opening of the Emmanuel Community Inclusive Park on April 20, 2024.