I recently heard that Faith United Methodist Church in North Canton, OH was holding a “Messy Church” service. I was instantly drawn to it because of the name even though I didn’t know what all was involved. Messiness, or real life, seems to be intentionally programmed out of most church services. Churches want to remove […]
As a child of the 90s one of my favorite cartoons was G.I. Joe. Every episode ended with a short PSA teaching kids an important life lesson. After each PSA the kids would always respond enthusiastically, “Now we know!” And the G.I. Joe speaking to them would respond, “And knowing is half the battle!” That […]
On the front page of our website, on conference displays, and on the front of our business cards you will consistently find the following three words: Finding, Belonging, Together. If you are reading this page you are probably curious as to what these words are all about. These three words represent the Vision of Ability […]
Above: Jason wife, Gina, and their oldest daughter Lauren, going over their position at the volunteer packaging station. Just recently, our church announced a goal of packing 1,000,000 meals for refugees in Africa as a part of the Famine Relief Food Pack Event. Our family quickly jumped on this opportunity, signing up for one of […]
Ministry and reaching people has always felt as if it were something that were out of reach for me. What I mean is, you can’t truly witness and make a difference unless you travel several days to a third world country and spend 3 weeks there, right? Or I cannot impact the life of another […]
After reading the last four blogs in this series, you may be able to identify what approach your church or ministry currently embraces. You may even have a better idea of what some of your deficits are. But when you want to make a philosophical shift in your approach to disability ministry, the big question […]
When my son was three, I clearly remember how excited he was to leave his highchair and sit in an adult-sized chair at the dinner table. Sure, he had to use a booster seat, but he was proud to have graduated to a “big chair” like his parents. My daughter, Zoe, however, was not quite […]
Before my sixteenth birthday, I vividly remember sitting behind the wheel of my family’s Ford Taurus. We were in the McDonald’s parking lot just a few blocks from our home. At this point, I had received no formal instructions on how to drive, but my father wanted to give me a taste of what it […]
Growing up at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, there was a culture of competition fueled by our Bible Bowl program. This program was a Bible-based academic challenge, and it was a big part of my life through my teen years until I decided to leave the program to focus on high school sports. After […]
When my family moved into our home on Northfield Avenue, we loved our large backyard where deer routinely wandered by our windows. At the time, our children were young, and they marveled at the deer as they passed by. Our family was so fascinated by the deer that we put out salt-licks to coax them […]
Because Jesus' table is accessible for everyone...
We desire to see the Church make room for all people affected by disability. To fully participate. To fully partner. To fully lead.
We exist to equip and empower the 25% of the population with a disability, their families, and their churches to become who God has created them to be.
