Approximately 15-20% of the global population is neurodivergent. So, what does that mean for how we love and care for the children and youth entrusted to us in our ministry programs? What is their experience with neurodiversity—personally and in their friendship groups?

At PY Summer Camp 2025, we intentionally created space for a Q&A-style seminar where campers could hear from Ethan Mills and his lived experience, exploring the question: What does it look like to be a Christian who is neurodivergent?

Ethan, 32, is a trained motor mechanic, a self-described “complete car nut,” and a faithful member of St Marys Presbyterian Community Church in western Sydney. He is also on the autism spectrum.

But ask him what he looks forward to most each year and the answer comes quickly, “Going to PY Summer Camp.”

Now approaching nine years as a leader, Ethan has become a familiar and trusted presence at camp. In 2025, he stepped into something new—leading a seminar for the very first time.

“It’s not about what you do. It’s about what He’s done”

Ethan grew up in a Christian family and came to understand what it means to be a Christian in his late teens. Reflecting on the moment faith became personal, he said, “I realised it’s not about what you do, it’s about what He’s done. No matter how hard we try, it doesn’t work, but Jesus has already done it all.”

That gospel clarity shaped the way he approached the seminar. If our identity is grounded in Christ’s finished work, not our performance, strengths, or limitations, then neurodivergence must also sit under that same grace.

The seminar wasn’t planned months in advance. The opportunity “just landed right in my lap,” Ethan said. Senior leaders knew he was on the autism spectrum and invited him to speak alongside Grace Lau in a Q&A format.

He admitted, “I didn’t even know what the word neurodiverse even was until two years ago.” But he said yes.

Creating space for honest questions

The seminar was structured as an interview, followed by open questions from campers. Ethan encouraged anything, “crazier the better.”

The questions were real and heartfelt.

One young girl asked about her brother who is on the spectrum and reluctant to leave the house. Ethan answered, “The best thing to do for your brother is to encourage him kind of forcefully but very lovingly to go out to do things to meet people and to have fun.”

He pointed to his own childhood, how his parents helped him engage with the world by leaning into his interests.

Another young man asked about boundaries, vulnerability, and being taken advantage of. Ethan shared, “The unfortunate fact about neurodiverse people is they are quite often seen as weak, vulnerable and easy to take advantage of… But you need to set boundaries. You need to put lines in the sand and you need to stand up for yourself.”

And then the theological heart of it, “You are a child of God and you should be treated like one.”

A safe place to be known

For Ethan, sharing publicly about autism is relatively new.

“In the early years of my life, I would have said absolutely nothing about my diagnosis. I would have denied everything.”

So what changed?

“Getting more involved in the PYNSW community and feeling very supported, understood, and encouraged.”

When someone has lived with misunderstanding and defensiveness for years, a safe Christian community becomes life changing and freeing.

“Thankfully God’s given me a community that isn’t judgmental and actually openly encourages you to somewhat embrace it.”

Strengths, not just struggles

Ethan was also keen to highlight in the seminar that neurodiversity carries strengths.

“For example, there are positive aspects to being autistic. One of them is an incredible attention to detail… Being able to remember details, dates, events, faces.”

The seminar wasn’t about reducing neurodiversity to deficits. It was about seeing neurodivergent people as image-bearers, gifted and purposeful.

And that tied directly to the camp theme of Identity. As Ethan reminded campers, “God didn’t make a mistake when making them.”

A word to churches and leaders

Ethan’s hope in this space extends beyond camp.

“A lot more churches and youth groups are welcoming in and openly advertising to neurodiverse kids.”

He longs for church to be the place where neurodivergent young people know, “They won’t be judged, know they won’t be bullied, know they won’t face abuse and can actually express themselves without any fear.”

To young people navigating school, family, or workplace challenges, Ethan says, “You are not alone. Your identity is not defined by diagnosis, social anxiety, or difference.”

You are, in Ethan’s words, “A child of God… accepted into his kingdom as well as anybody else.”

And to ministry leaders, he says “Consider what kind of environment you are cultivating. Are you creating space for lived experience? Are you listening to the voices of those who have often been silenced?”

May our churches be the kind of communities where young people don’t have to hide parts of themselves to belong, but instead discover that in Christ they are fully known, fully loved, and fully welcome.