Everybody belongs. Everybody serves.
Disability
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Michele
Meet Phillip, a member of Chelwood CRC. He was recently ordained as a deacon in his church. He has shared his unique gifts that God has given him for many years at his church. What a blessing!
As we draw near to the end of 2020, it's important that we take time to both lament and reflect on the important lessons we have learned about community.
Looking for a book club to get you through the winter? Join us for John Swinton's new book Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges.
This article identifies several disempowering attitudes that create a lack of trust in the church of people who are blind or have low vision.
Even in the midst of wheelchairs and twisted ribbons and broken zippers, each friend shows such honesty and humour. They lift my spirits each week!
Disability Concerns shares resources to help your congregation mark Disability Awareness Sunday (October 20, 2019 or whenever works best for your church).
There is one article specific to the Canadian context, but the remainder of the pieces are must-reads all over North America.
Often we are changed in and by our relationships with people with disabilities and their families. Consider these videos a glimpse into their lives and an invitation to deepen relationships in your congregation and community.
Topics include children and youth with disabilities, mental health issues, ways of showing welcome that go beyond physical accessibility, and more. Here they are in one post for your convenience.
For Disability Week this year (October 13 through 20), we are highlighting the value and importance of disability advocates.
Be sure to order printed copies of this insert for Disability Awareness Sunday on October 20, 2019!
This video is a helpful tool for families, older adults (who may also feel marginalized by age and acquired disability), congregations, study groups and more! Give it a watch and have a conversation with others.
This past summer Klaaske deGroot-deKoning worked as a cook at Rehoboth camp at Gull Lake, Alberta. Rehoboth offers camps for people with disabilities, and she was inspired to write this poetry.
To include someone is to intentionally pursue ways to make them feel welcomed, heard, and valued. We show the love of Jesus most when we actively include those who are marginalized and different.
Receiving a gift is not easy for me; I’d much rather play the role of giver. Receiving is so vulnerable. And yet it’s in that place of vulnerability, of both receiving and giving, that we encounter God and discover one another in love.
This letter is for “the others”: for my two kids who are not special needs, who are considered typical, and for everyone who has a sibling with any special need(s).
An article I read about churches hiring people with disabilities contained helpful information but their approach emphasized that hiring anyone with a disability is fraught with "landmines." Ouch!
This prayer confesses our sin of selfishness and asks God to help us love other people, especially people whom we consider "different."
This message by Dan Vander Plaats, Director of Advancement at Elim Christian Services, winsomely challenges his audience to examine their own attitudes toward people who have disabilities.
Here is a prayer I will be using for Friendship Sunday. Please use and share if you'd like!
When you talk to me before you touch me or my wheelchair, I feel less scared. Sometimes I get shoved around without even knowing where I am being pushed. I like some surprises, but mostly on my birthday.
Like so many people who have disabilities, Melissa Blake writes that people often sell her short. She is concerned that this marginalization will grow worse under the new president’s leadership.
I think we should work harder at advocating a decent standard of living for people living with disabilities. Living in poverty places undue burdens on already vulnerable souls.
I looked across the noisy tent and boldly used the word “disability” in my mind. I tried “developmental difference” and while it felt less offending a term to describe my daughter, it still fell woefully short.
Chronic pain makes it difficult for her to sit, stand, and walk. It challenges her ability to concentrate and limits her ability to serve others. It has disrupted her marriage, social life, and work. So why is her life marked with joy?