Disability ministry isn’t hard and it will look different in every church,” said Amy Kirby, special needs coordinator for Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Birmingham.
And she said she is excited to attend The Accessible Kingdom Disability Ministry Conference at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Nov. 7–8, to help her and her church learn more about how to reach out to those touched by disability.
Variety of topics
This is the first time the annual national conference will be held in Birmingham. It is cosponsored by Joni and Friends and MNA Special Needs Ministries and will include more than 40 workshops with topics like Autism and Your Church; Getting Started: First Steps to Establishing Disability Ministry in Your Local Congregation; Pastoral Care for Families Touched By Disabilities; Marriage and Disability and many others.
Keynote speakers will include Emily Colson, author of “Dancing with Max,” and Stephanie Hubach, MNA Special Needs Ministries director.
Church members, educators, pastors and families of those with disabilities are encouraged to attend.
Kirby said, “[Disability ministry] is a vital area for any size church to be involved in — whether you minister to one person or dozens — our doors should be wide open.”
Shades Mountain Baptist members plan to attend, as do members from The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, and Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham.
Joel Wallace, associate director for MNA Special Needs Ministries, said the heart of special needs ministries can be found in 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul addressed the body of Christ: “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensible. … But God has so composed the body … that there may be no division in the body but that the members have equal concern for one another.”
“I think it’s really clear that those who we may think are weaker (should be) indispensible by the Church and yet people with disabilities have typically, for different reasons, not been included in the Church,” Wallace said.
He said the conference is specifically designed to have “something for everyone” by covering “a lot of specific disabilities but then a lot of applicable topics.”
“Most churches would like to minister to those with disabilities but don’t know how,” Wallace said. “And that’s what The Accessible Kingdom is for.”
To register for the conference, visit www.accessiblekingdom.org.
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