Why Inclusion Alone Falls Short And How The Church Can Truly Welcome People With Disabilities

We lay out a both-and model for disability ministry that rejects pity and shallow inclusion, builds spiritual and social access, and places every believer’s gifts at the center of church life. Practical steps include buddies, training, sensory-wise spaces, and leadership development grounded in Scripture.

• the scale of disability and church attendance gap
• why siloed ministries exist and where they fail
• moving beyond pity to purpose and gifts
• inclusion defined as access, belonging, and service
• practical tools: buddies, interpreters, large print, sensory spaces
• training volunteers and educating the whole church
• wise placement across ministries without segregation
• the biblical case for indispensable members
• the goal of an accessible gospel for all

If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People

Transcript

Siloed Ministries Explained

Pendulum Swings And Finding Balance

Inclusion, Mercy Models, And Theology

Both-And Ministry In Practice

Beyond Ramps: Spiritual And Social Access

From Pity To Purpose And Gifts

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey, hey, my name is Tracy Coral, and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a pastor, a teacher, a missionary, a mom, a wife, and I believe that every person should have access to the gospel so that they can know Christ, grow in him, and serve him with the gifts that he has given. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 15 to 20% of every community. And over 85% of those individuals do not attend church. 90% of pastors believe that they are a disability-friendly church, but only 20% of parents and families agree. Let's dive deep into hard topics, big questions, perceptions, stereotypes, and so much more. We're talking disability ministry, trends and changes, and what that means for how we serve today. And so the landscape of disability ministry in churches has really in recent years experienced a significant shift. We, if you are familiar with the term silo, which, if you have any farm experience whatsoever, silos are where feed and other things like that are held and separated for the animals on the farm. And it sounds kind of silly that that's the way we would refer to church, but basically, different ministries exist within a single church, and a lot of times they exist in a very segregated type of manner, and sometimes come together, but really not as often. So they're specialized or, like I said, segregated in the sense of they operate differently. So in the church that I operate within on a regular basis, there's youth ministry, women's ministry, men's ministry, there is ministry specific to those experiencing grief. There's ministry to single moms, there is disability ministry, and and really it's kind of it feels as though kids' ministry, you know, it just the list could go on and on and on. And so please understand that I am not here saying that all churches should all exist in the same way and then the same function, and siloed ministries are bad. No, siloed ministries really aim to meet people where they're at and serve them in the places that they're best needed. So it's really truly specialized ministry. Now, in the past, the way that people with disabilities are ministry ministered to has changed. And we've talked on this podcast about kind of the shifts and changes that have existed. But here's often what happens. And having been a teacher, this happens in the education world. It's just the giant pendulum shift where we go from one way of thinking all the way to almost the complete opposite way of thinking. And I truly think the best way to bring any of that thinking is with balance. And so, oh, what do I mean? How does that work? Here's the thing: inclusion is the hot ticket word, right? And we say the hot ticket word because for inclusion being that the aim has been finding ways to integrate and make sure that people with disabilities have a place in the church. And we went from kind of like the mercy ministry, pity ministry of people with disabilities where we're just kind of including them, or it's a side project, or it's just how can we help and and and just tell them that Jesus loves them kind of thing. And the the giant pendulum shift is people with disabilities just fit in the church and we don't need to have a separate ministry for them. Now, I don't agree with the pity ministry, I don't agree with the mercy ministry. That's not why we minister to people with disabilities. We minister to people with disabilities because scripture says that all have fallen short and need a savior. And so that is why we minister to people with disabilities, and that's why we minister to every single person. However, we do ministry together with the church because we are the body of Christ, right? And if you look in 1 Corinthians 12, you're gonna experience that explanation. And that explanation of the body of Christ is that everybody brings something different to the table, but that's what makes us the body. And this podcast is named after that particular scripture that says that those that seem the weakest are actually indispensable in the body of Christ. So there's a balance, right? We want to meet the that person's need. We want to minister to them in ways that they can understand and grow and be discipled. And at the same time, they're a part of the body of Christ. And if they have breath in their lungs, then God has purpose for them. And so it's a balance. It's not if or, it's not if we do ministry separate, because we should. People with disabilities need to be ministered in ways that other people may not. And that is simply because they live a different life than someone without a disability. And someone needs to be able to speak to that and validate that and also tell them how to deal and grapple with the struggles and experiences of life and the lack of value that the world puts on their life because of their disability. Often, many have been called a burden to society. So it's it's not an it's not an if-or, it's an and. And so what that looks like is it's a coming together of I can be ministered to specifically within a disability ministry, whether that is with respite nights or small groups or parent support groups or you know, special nights like Night to Shine or things like that. But also, you know what? If I'm a grown woman, I can also go to the women's ministry events. And if I'm a child, I can participate in children's ministries and the opportunities that exist there. It's understanding that if there are service projects within the church, then I could be used for my gifts and I can be a part of that. Having a disability ministry doesn't say we hide those with disabilities away, still tell them about Jesus, but don't include them in the church. That's wrong, right? We want to include them in the church. We want to make sure that they can have accessibility that is beyond the physical, that is spiritual, and that is social. And that means if you're gonna have spiritual growth, that means that maybe you have a buddy who is your navigator that helps you participate in certain ministry opportunities. Maybe that means that your provided accessibility or different, whether it's braille print or you know, a uh hearing system within the church, whatever an in an ASL interpreter, whatever that might look like, so that you can participate, but also you're being ministered to in a way that people understand. And the next step in that, when we talked earlier about the kind of you know, disability ministry originally being like the mercy ministry, the pity place, that means that if if God has you here and you have breath in your lungs, then you have a purpose and he has given you gifts and talents to use for him. And what that means when we serve in ministry, that means that that the leaders of those ministries are gonna help you develop those giftings and help you find them. We're not gonna pity assign you, we're not gonna put you a place because, well, you think that's cool, and so you just get to do it. That's not that's not that. And so I'm not here to say that we shouldn't have disability ministry because I don't agree with that, and I'm not here to say that we should only have disability ministry because I don't agree with that either. We need to provide safe environments for people with individuals who require support and do that within safe sensory spaces, and we can do that ministering specifically to the person with a disability or ministering to the church as a whole. We need to educate our churches and help them to understand the people that are inside them. That's across the board. That's people with disabilities, that's people with addiction issues, that's people who have walked and experienced different life experiences that others may not understand. And so as the as the church, we need to re need to provide ongoing training for volunteers and staff, educating our our congregations and helping them to understand the resources and the tools that are available, the strategies that can be employed to include all people, and understanding and being flexible where we're at. We can use things where we have a buddy system that exists inside and outside of the disability ministry. We can, it's and again, it's not a either or, it's an and, or or it's an and with the expectation that they can participate in the disability ministry and the total life of the church, and understanding that disabilities look different within the church, whether they are invisible or hidden disabilities where you can't see them outright. That comes with educating and developing those leaders in all those areas. And the focus really sits on not where does where should we put this person, right? It exists in how can we minister to them where they're at, and how can we include them in the total life of the church. And that's really the considerations that you have to make because inclusion doesn't mean you get to go wherever you want, right? If we have men's ministry, the women aren't gonna be in there. If you have women's ministry, you're not gonna have the men in there. If you have youth ministry, a five-year-old isn't going to attend youth ministry. If you have children's ministry, a 25-year-old isn't gonna come and sit to learn under the the the children's pastor. You don't just put people wherever they want to go, you help them find the places that will minister to them most effectively, and you provide opportunities for them to be ministered to specifically. And we can provide accommodations and accessibility to those things. And as I mentioned earlier, education is one of the top ways to do that, helping the other people in the church understand. Because the goal, right, the goal that we stated at the beginning is to have every person have access to a savior because that is why we do what we do, and providing a siloed ministry, a separate ministry, but also connection to the main church and all the other people in the body of Christ makes strong disciples, gives access to living out the purpose of what God has planted you here for, but also allows us to encourage and lift one another up in the Lord because we work together to make those things happen. It's not about inclusion, it's not about seclusion or segregation, it's about being the body of Christ and meeting everyone where they're at so that Jesus is accessible. I can't claim to have all the answers, I can't claim to know all the things, but here's what we are gonna do we're gonna keep this conversation going. We're gonna make the accessible gospel available to individuals with disabilities in our churches and in our communities so that every person has the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him, and to serve him with the gifts that he is given. If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the Indispensable People blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.