Disability Sunday: 5th July
Disability Sunday is coming up soon. A recent survey by SCOPE revealed that 67% of people admit to avoiding disabled people. Often, this stems from anxiety about unwittingly offending or encountering needs one cannot meet. When Through the Roof – one of the partners in the Churches For All network – surveyed disabled people about their experience of church, their greatest heart-cry was a longing for real, deep, reciprocal friendships between disabled Christians and their fellow church members. In response to these findings, the theme of Disability Sunday this year is friendship. We will be encouraging churches to explore what the Bible says about friendship, and demonstrate how building deep friendships with disabled people will transform not only their lives, but the whole church and ultimately the world. Churches for All is again providing a downloadable Disability Sunday pack for use in churches. New this year are the interactive sermon outline, a drama, resource booklet and materials for Sunday schools and youth groups. Churches for All partners and associate are working together to create a world where disabled people can participate fully in church life for the benefit of...
Read MoreEnabling Church Research Published
Following on from the Enabling Church conference in 2014 run by Churches for All with the support of Lichfield Diocese, the Diocese commissioned research to evaluate its impact – and that of the subsequent Enabling Church ministry training course. The research was conducted by Dr Heather Buckingham and funded by the Saltley Trust. The evaluation report includes findings relating to three key themes: ministry by, with and for disabled people; inclusivity, empowerment and discipleship in local churches; and maximising the impact of large conferences within local churches. The report identifies some of the key medium term impacts of the Enabling Church conference and course as: ‘increased legitimacy and focus given to the issue of disability and ‘enabling church’ within some local churches; increased confidence and awareness amongst those seeking to develop work in this area; the development of networks and relationships amongst those seeking to facilitate change; the provision of further training; small changes to practices within services and church activities; and in some cases the development of new ministries or activities involving disabled people.’ Use the links below to read the full report in your preferred format … Enabling Church Evaluation Report_April 2015 (DOC) Enabling Church Evaluation Report_April 2015 (PDF) Why not follow through at your church with an awareness raising Disability Sunday. This year it’s 5th July – but if that’s too soon simply choose another Sunday to fit in your church calendar. CfA Partner Through the Roof has prepared downloadable...
Read MoreWhere friendship matters
Disability Sunday is 5th July. Tim Wood* reports on why this is such an important event in the church calendar … A recent survey by SCOPE revealed that 67% of people admit to avoiding disabled people. Often, this stems from anxiety about unwittingly offending or encountering needs one cannot meet. When Through the Roof – one of the partners in the Churches For All network – surveyed disabled people about their experience of church, their greatest heart-cry was a longing for real, deep, reciprocal friendships between disabled Christians and their fellow church members. In response to these findings, the theme of Disability Sunday this year will be friendship. We will be encouraging churches to explore what the Bible says about friendship, and demonstrate how building deep friendships with disabled people will transform not only their lives, but the whole church and ultimately the world. Churches for All is again providing a downloadable Disability Sunday pack for use in churches. New this year are the interactive sermon outline, a drama, resource booklet and materials for Sunday schools and youth groups. *Tim Wood is CEO of Through the Roof and Vice-Chair of Churches for All. Churches for All partners and associate are working together to create a world where disabled people can participate fully in church life for the benefit of...
Read MoreEnabling Church Course
See the video. Following on from Enabling Church Conference last summer, Churches for All worked with the Diocese of Lichfield to offer a disability ministry training course – judged as excellent by those who went. Delivered over the months of October and November 2014, the course involved 4 days of study and training, led by a variety of contributers, many of them disabled people. Over 20 people from across the Diocese attended each session. A video was made of the course and can be found on YouTube. The course was run as a pilot and is being made available to other Diocese and other church networks. Contact:...
Read MoreInsight into Disability
Coming up, a new course: Insight into Disability: for carers of those experiencing the onset of disability Led by Gordon Temple (Executive Officer of CfA and CEO of Torch Trust) this CWR day course is on Saturday 7 March 2015 at Waverley Abbey House, near Farnham in Surrey. Each day hundreds of people across Britain learn that they are going to live with disability or limiting chronic illness. The challenges faced are practical, emotional and spiritual. How do we understand disability and how do we support those who experience its onset and those that care for them? What is our pastoral response and how can we help them rebuild their lives? How can we enable disabled people to express their God-given gifting? What does a distinctively Christian response looks like? What part does the Church have in their rehabilitation and re-enablement? To book call CWR on 01252 784719 (Mon–Fri 9am–4.30pm). For more information: visit this relevant page on the CWR...
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