Bethesda LC and church equipping: #BPDMchat and Ash Wednesday video
Bethesda offers a number of exciting resources and opportunities for churches. Check out a couple of examples here!
Sesame Street, Autism, and your Church! (video)
Thanks, Sesame Street for striving to "see amazing in all children," and helping to contextualize such an important biblical truth, that is, the value of embracing differences. As people of faith, may we be reminded that God sees amazing in all children as well as in all people. Further, may this be cause for the church to celebrate the different gifts of every person.
No Excuses – In Memory of Judith Snow
When I approached her, she asked me what my dream was; I said, "I want to be a motivational speaker!" She replied, "So why aren’t you?" I proceeded to list off various obstacles including, lack of credentials, lack of an accessible vehicle and lack of an agent. To my surprise she did not offer me solutions. She said, "Great, you know what the problems are; now all you have to do is get a group of people together and find a way to solve them."
What is Disability Ministry?
Does disability ministry require its own staff person or volunteers? Does it require its own room and time to meet? As a parent of two children with autism, I would just assume that any church that we attended would provide ministry even if there were no other children with special needs. It would never enter my mind that ministry would have to wait until “critical mass.” I am not criticizing churches that have organized disability ministries that have specific events for large groups of people with special needs. I am just saying that is not the only form of disability ministry.
Webinar Series on Supporting Spirituality and Inclusive Congregational Supports
In January, the National Collaborative on Faith and Disability will launch the new webinar series: Honoring Spiritual Needs and Gifts: From Inertia to Collaborative Action by Providers and Congregations. The series will run monthly, from January-June (excluding May), and will be free and available for viewing via Adobe Connect. The first webinar, “Including Spirituality in Assessment, Evaluation, and Person-Centered Planning Processes” takes place on Monday, January 26.
Creating a Culture of Inclusion for Churches (Video)
Creating a Culture of Inclusion for People with Disabilities is a series of 8 vignettes of real life situations in the First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, MI that is meant to be a study resource for faith communities.
Congregation Practice Guide – Including People with Disabilities
This year, seven years after the initial book release, a quick-reference guide for congregational use has been released for Erik Carter's best-selling book "Including People with Disabilities in Faith Communities."
Friendship Festival Oakville (November 1, 2014)
Friendship Festivals have been running for a number of years, as a great day of music, singing, laughter and games with people impacted by developmental disabilities and their families. The featured musician this [Read More]
Faith Inclusion Networks
While the majority of resources posted on this site are from a Christian faith-based perspective, we recognize that the challenges to full welcome and inclusion faced by churches are also shared [Read More]
2014 Summer Institute on Theology and Disability
The 2014 Summer Institute on Theology and Disability, sponsored by the Bethesda Institute, ran from June 16th-20th at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. The days were full, with [Read More]