“Our family felt tolerated, but not wanted… Until we found First Christian Church.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard those words from families who have started attending FCC because of our disability ministry. They tell me how they felt unwanted. Judged. Pitied. One father shared that he was told at a previous church that his autistic son was too loud and they should not bring him into the worship service. For families impacted by disability, church can feel too complicated, too intimidating, or just simply inaccessible.
But time after time, I talk to families who can hardly find the words to explain how grateful they are because at our church, they are welcomed. They tell me through tears how good it feels to be wanted and included. Many of them, for the first time, feel seen and heard.
Here’s my holy conviction: Too many churches are missing this big part of the Body.
A Truer Reflection of the Kingdom
If your church is pursuing a vision to truly and accurately reflect the Kingdom of God by being a place where all people can come to Jesus, belong, and grow, then let me urge you to understand this: Disability ministry isn’t optional. It’s essential.
The Apostle Paul wasn’t kidding when he said, “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Corinthians 12:22). And yet, for too long, churches have mostly unintentionally treated people with disabilities as optional extras, or worse: logistical problems to be managed.
But the undeniable truth is the Kingdom of God is not complete without people with disabilities. Jesus welcomed everyone, including those society marginalized, ignored, or outright rejected. If our churches aren’t doing the same, we aren’t following His lead.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s get practical for a minute. Because this isn’t just about compassion, it’s also about mission. What if I told you there’s a massive population of families in your city, looking for hope, purpose, and a place to belong, and the vast majority of churches haven’t even considered reaching them?
- 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. lives with a disability. That’s over 61 million people.
- Nearly 20% of American households have a child with a disability.
- And—brace yourself—less than 10% of churches in the U.S. have any kind of disability ministry.
That’s a huge gap. But it’s also an enormous opportunity for your church to grow by reaching people who are not only often unreached, but almost without exception searching and longing for community.
This isn’t just a ministry idea. It’s a missional field. And it’s wide open.
The Growth We Didn’t Expect
When I talk to church leaders about disability ministry, one of the common thoughts I hear is the misunderstanding that the disability community is a small segment of our population. But what most don’t expect is how it will change an entire church.
Families will show up who had written off church years ago. Volunteers will get fired up with a renewed sense of purpose. And perhaps most powerfully, the entire culture shifts.
I am 100% certain that our church is more kind, more welcoming, more caring, more patient, more creative, and just flat out more like Jesus because of our disability ministry.
And yes, we have grown (and keep growing) because of it. Because when you make room for people others have ignored, word spreads fast. Jesus welcomed the people others rejected, and when the church follows suit, people notice that kind of faithfulness. In our world, that’s the sort of thing that gets attention.
“But We Don’t Have the Resources…”
I can already hear the objections. “We don’t have the staff. The budget. The training. The space.”
I get it. A huge budget, a paid staff member (or a few), and intentionally-designed environments would be great. But here’s the thing: You don’t need much to start loving people well.
You can begin with:
- A volunteer buddy system for kids who need one-on-one support
- A calm, quiet room for sensory breaks
- Training your greeters and kids’ ministry to be aware and inclusive
- A parent support group
- A single family who says “yes” to being pioneers
Start small. But start. The only real barrier is choosing to do nothing.
A Kingdom Mandate and a Community Strategy
Too many church leaders are wringing their hands about declining attendance and how to reach more people. And while I’m not claiming disability ministry is a silver bullet, I am saying it’s a key many leave on the table.
If your church is praying for growth, maybe the answer isn’t “better production” or “cooler events.” Maybe the answer is reaching the families who’ve never been reached, simply because they’ve never felt welcomed.
Jesus stopped for the ones the crowds pushed aside. What if the Church was more intentional about doing the same?
Want to Know Where to Start?
If you’re ready to stop talking about inclusion and start living it, there’s a phenomenal organization that can help you take your first step.
Check out Ability Ministry, a non-profit organization led by my good friend Ryan Wolfe (who served as our Disability Ministry Pastor before leaving our team to lead Ability Ministry). They offer training, curriculum, resources, coaching – everything you need to launch and lead a disability ministry that reflects the heart of Jesus. I have referred lots of churches to them over the years, and there’s no one I can think of that would be a better resource for you if you’re considering or exploring the idea of launching a disability ministry at your church.
Or here’s another idea. If you’re not ready to reach out to Ability Ministry yet but you want to know more about how we do disability ministry, email me. I’ll connect you with people who lead it and serve in it, I’ll introduce you to families who are part of it… and they’ll not only tell you what we do, but how it has made all the difference for their families.
Just don’t sit back and wait for someone else to do it. Be the leader who says, “We’re not going to leave anyone out of the Body of Christ.”
One Last Really, Really Important Thing
There is a key to making disability ministry a successful and integral part of your church: it can’t just be another program. A thing you do. A class that happens in a room. If you want to see your church transform and thrive through disability ministry, it has to be a part of who you are.
What does that mean?
- As much as you can, integrate kids with disabilities into your regular kids’ ministry environments, integrate teens with disabilities into your student ministry environments, integrate adults with disabilities into your small groups and adult environments… don’t isolate them in their own spaces. Bring them into spaces they can share with any other person in your church. Will it be awkward for some people? Maybe for a while. Will it require some extra training or outside the box thinking? Absolutely. Will it be worth it? I promise it will.
- Make sure that families touched by disability know they are welcome in your church… and make sure everyone else knows it too. Sometimes it can get noisy during church. To be perfectly honest, sometimes when a person with a disability is overstimulated or excited, it can be distracting. Just roll with it. Before long, people will stop noticing, and the families of those individuals who felt ashamed or embarrassed before will feel right at home… exactly how it should be.
- Include people with disabilities on your volunteer teams right alongside your other volunteers. I actually think it’ll surprise you how much of a difference this will make in enriching your overall volunteer culture. Try it and see.
- Celebrate disability ministry. Make sure everyone knows it’s a ministry you’re proud of. We do this by dedicating an entire Sunday morning every year to highlighting this ministry. We make it fun, we thank God for our friends with disabilities, and there are always tears all over the room as we share stories and people get to see, hear, and experience the fullness of the Kingdom that disability ministry brings.
Disability ministry isn’t just for them. It’s for all of us. Because when the church includes every member of the Body, we get a better picture of Jesus. And isn’t that what we’re after?
Let’s be the kind of leaders who make room on purpose, with passion, and with faith that God will show up in the lives we’ve too often overlooked. Let’s make sure there’s a seat at the table for everyone, just like Jesus did.
The Kingdom is incomplete without people with disabilities. So let’s build churches that are too.
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