Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating True Belonging for People with Disabilities

What does it really mean to belong in a church?

That question sat at the heart of Dr. Erik Carter's recent January Series in July presentation, now available to watch online. A professor, researcher, and longtime advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Carter invites churches to think beyond checklists and programs, because belonging isn't something we create through better programming. It grows through relationships.

Many churches have made important strides toward becoming more accessible. We've added ramps, adapted classrooms, recruited new volunteers and trained them with new resources, and launched disability ministries. Those efforts matter, but Carter suggests that even inclusion isn't the finish line.

Instead of asking whether people with disabilities are included, perhaps we should ask whether they are truly among us.

More Than Sharing a Building

We often picture church belonging as everyone gathered together in the same sanctuary space on a Sunday morning. Carter, however, challenges us to rethink this picture. After all, we can all be in the same room but not actually be fully connected. Belonging must move beyond exclusion, segregation, inclusion, and even integration toward genuine community. It's the difference between occupying the same space and sharing life together. Or moving from being present to being a presence in one another's lives.

His research, conducted alongside more than 500 young people with intellectual disabilities, found that belonging ultimately comes from shared experiences. We want to be welcomed, known, accepted, supported, befriended, needed, and loved. Those aren't "special" needs; they're universal, human ones.

That raises an uncomfortable but important question for every congregation: Would someone with a disability experience those things in our church?

Looking Honestly at Our Churches

The statistics Carter shared suggest we still have work to do.

Fewer than one in five people with disabilities participate in a youth group or small group. More than half of adults with intellectual disabilities aren't connected to a faith community at all. Nearly one-third of families of children with a disability have left a church because their child wasn't welcomed or included.

Sometimes the barriers are obvious. Buildings may not be fully accessible, classrooms may lack trained volunteers, or worship services may exclude people with sensory or communication differences. Carter quoted disability advocate Ed Wood, who once observed, "If shut-ins can go to Walmart but not your church, they are shut out, not shut in."

Just as often, though, the barriers are relational. Churches may proclaim on their signs that "Everyone is welcome," but people rarely experience belonging because they saw a sign out front. More often, it begins when someone notices them, learns their name, invites them to lunch, introduces them to friends, or reaches out after they've been absent for a few weeks.

Programs can help to open the door but relationships are what make people want to stay.

Seeing Gifts Before Needs

One of the most refreshing parts of Carter's presentation was his insistence that churches must stop defining people by their diagnoses. What if, instead of first noticing limitations, we learned people's interests, passions, spiritual gifts, and hopes? What if conversations began with curiosity rather than assumptions?

This sort of shift changes can radically alter how we think about ministry. Rather than asking "How can we help?" we can start asking, "How has God gifted this person, and what would our church miss if those gifts weren't shared?" Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12 that every member of Christ's body is essential. People with disabilities are not simply recipients of ministry; they are ministers. The church isn't complete without them and their gifts.

Questions Worth Asking

Belonging isn't built overnight, and it doesn't require churches to have all the answers before they begin. Often it starts with paying closer attention.

Consider these questions with your congregation:

• Who in our community might be missing because they've never received a personal invitation?
• Are people with disabilities known by name, friendships, and gifts—not simply by the accommodations they need?
• What barriers, whether physical or relational, still make belonging difficult?
• How are we creating opportunities for people with disabilities to contribute their gifts alongside everyone else?
• What would it look like to build relationships that continue long after Sunday's benediction?

Thrive, the CRCNA's congregational support agency, offers practical resources, training, and consultation for churches seeking to become places of deeper belonging. Ultimately, though, we must recognize that everyone, especially those with disabilities, has the same universal needs: to be known, accepted, needed, and loved. When churches that these needs seriously, they can move beyond being inclusive and start to look a little bit more like the full body of Christ.