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DisAbility Ministries Task Force

The Cal-Pac DisAbility Ministries Task Force’s mission is:

  • to invite, empower, encourage and support people with disabilities,

  • to advocate for and open the door for self-advocacy,

  • to increase awareness of the gifts for ministry of people with disabilities, including people with mental illnesses, and

  • to work for changes throughout the conference to allow for full participation of people with disabilities in the church.

THE LATEST

RESOURCES

For Local Churches:
Funding:
Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing:
For Teens and Adults with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities:
Mental Health:
Other Denominations:
on Ministry:
  • Special Needs Parenting: From Coping to Thriving (by the Rev. Lorna Bradley) – can be used for starting a support group
on Awareness:
  • Adam: God’s Beloved (by Henri J. M. Nouwen) – Living with a man with severe disabilities is a much more rewarding relationship than most people would expect.
  • Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith, Disability, and Inclusion (by Mark I. Pinsky) – First-hand accounts that inspire and empower work for inclusion. A rare treat! 
  • Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome (by Rudy Simone) – A first-hand, well-informed account of life as a woman with Asperger’s Syndrome. Includes tips for girls and young women and their parents as well.  
  • The Bible, Disability, and the Church: A New Vision of the People of God (by Amos Yong) – A readable work on disability theology that is meaningful for the work of the church today. 
  • The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability (by Nancy Eiesland) – The foundational work on disability theology. Shows that Christ saved us not from a position of power but from a position of weakness. Opens minds and hearts. 
  • A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability (by Kathy Black) – Helps preachers and laypeople understand another way of looking at the healing passages of the Gospels. Gives a more complete understanding. 
  • Riding the Bus with My Sister (by Rachel Simon) – An honest story of what a young woman learned about her sister’s gifts and compassionate heart. Profound and moving. 
  • Searching for Normalcy (by Steven G. Chance) – A young man with cerebral palsy tells his own story of trying to understand where God was on the day he was born.
  • Speaking Out: Gifts of Ministering Undeterred by Disabilities (Robert L. Walker, ed.) – A collection of true stories written by members of the United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities. 
  • Unexpected Guests at God’s Banquet: Welcoming People with Disabilities in the Church (by Brett Webb-Mitchell)  
on Advocacy:
  • Autism and Your Church: Nurturing the Spiritual Growth of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (by Barbara J. Newman) – For those who want to be more inclusive of people who are autistic. 
  • Disability Awareness—Do It Right! Your All-in-one How-to Guide (Mary Johnson, ed.) – Ways to help people without disabilities become more aware of the challenges and the strengths of people with disabilities. 
  • Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability (by Stephanie O. Hubach) – Insights into the ways that parenting a child with disabilities is the same as raising any child, and how it is different. A very honest and open book. 

Sharon McCart
Chair, DisAbility Ministries Task Force
949.233.7685 | disability@calpacumc.org

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