Call for Speakers – Disability and the Church 2026

On behalf of our team at Key Ministry and the DATC Program Committee, we invite prospective speakers to apply to be a speaker at Disability and the Church, Key Ministry’s annual, worldwide disability ministry conference, to be hosted again by McLean Bible Church in McLean, VA on April 21-23, 2026, with our Title Sponsor, the Tim Tebow Foundation.

Disability and the Church represents the largest annual gathering of disability ministry leaders in North America. Conference attendance has grown by over 75% since 2023. Based on our year over year rates of growth, we’re aiming to host in excess of 800 pastors and ministry leaders in 2026.  In addition to training, Disability and the Church is designed to promote connection and networking, and to provide up and coming innovators in disability ministry opportunities to become better known and networked. Last year’s conference featured over 600 attendees and approximately ninety speakers reflecting the breadth and depth of the rapidly expanding disability ministry movement.

Our team continues to make changes in the structure and format of Disability and the Church in response to your feedback and our desire to offer content reflecting the breadth and depth of the disability and mental health ministry movement.

Here are some changes speakers and attendees will notice in 2026:

1. We’ve done away our pre-conference intensives to offer 2 ½ full days of content for all attendees. 

For those who have looked forward to the intensives we’ve traditionally offered on starting a disability or special needs ministry, developing a mental-health outreach and inclusion strategy, trauma-focused ministry or accessible worship, the content will be made available in back-to-back breakout slots that won’t require an additional registration charge. and attendees will be able to attend more than one of these topical, extended workshops. Traditional, half-day intensives will continue to be offered at each of our “Tour Stop” regional conferences in the Fall of 2026.

2. We’re going to offer a ROBUST mental health ministry track at DATC. 

We envision DATC as a gathering not just for disability ministry leaders, but an essential time for mental health ministry leaders to get networked, resourced and connected with one another. In addition to this broad Call for Speakers, our Program Committee is extending personal invitations to two dozen nationally recognized figures in mental health ministry to join us for DATC. While we look forward to the day when we’ll again be able to host a national conference with an exclusive focus on mental health ministry, we hope by offering a substantial range of offerings related to mental health or trauma at DATC that leaders in disability and mental health ministry will be able to network and learn from one another, mental health ministry content will be exposed to a much larger audience and churches engaged with disability ministry will be stimulated to expand the scope of their existing ministries to incorporate mental health outreach, inclusion and support. We anticipate 20% of conference sessions will be devoted to mental health or trauma-related trainings.

3. We’re simplifying session formats for prospective speakers and attendees. 

In 2026, we’ll have two formats for which prospective speakers can apply – sixty minute workshops and ten minute “Quick Take” sessions that are offered as part of the free conference livestream. By shifting to one workshop format, we’re able to create more opportunities for more speakers – we’ll have over 100 workshop slots and approximately thirty “Quick Take” slots available for speakers at #DATC2026. 

Our main stage sessions are focused on worship, encouragement, inspiration and a tool for spotlighting the work of leaders and organizations making significant contributions to disability and mental health ministry. Speakers in general sessions are selected by the Program Committee and Key Ministry leadership, and are not included in this Call for Speakers.

Workshops are intended to provide attendees with practical, actionable tools, resources and strategies they will be able to apply in the ministry settings they serve. We are asking each prospective speaker to specify the takeaways participants will receive through their sessions, along with a clear description of the purpose of the workshop and the ideas they plan to convey. 

“Quick Takes” are TED Talk – like solo presentations for speakers with a big idea, an inspiring vision or a valuable new resource or product to share with the disability ministry community. 

As with every national conference Key Ministry has hosted, the speaking opportunity is open to any and all mature Christians with important or innovative thoughts or ideas to help grow or advance the disability ministry movement. The application process is competitive. We received approximately 220 submissions for our 2024 Conference – between three and four times as many as we received as recently as 2022. We actively seek to include first time speakers and to ministry leaders with a personal experience of disability. Approximately 20% of last year’s speakers publicly identify as persons with disabilities. We encourage leaders doing important ministry work in relative obscurity to apply. We love meeting emerging leaders and seeing the connections and collaborations that result from spending time with more established leaders. 

Speakers receive complimentary Conference registration, along with an invitation for themselves and a guest to attend our Speaker Networking Dinner. Speakers also receive opportunities for their work to be featured across Key Ministry’s platforms, and will be considered for future Key Ministry regional events. We’re not able to offer honoraria to speakers or cover travel and lodging costs for Disability and the Church.

Here are some tips for prospective presenters:

• We encourage submissions from two or more presenters, especially when submissions represent collaborations of two or more ministry organizations. Sessions with multiple presenters were more likely to have higher attendance in 2025.
• We encourage submissions describing new areas of ministry or new or innovative approaches to established areas of ministry.
• We encourage submissions addressing evangelism and outreach with the disability community.
• We encourage submissions addressing opportunities for persons with disabilities to use their gifts and talents through ministry.
• We STRONGLY encourage prospective speakers who have never before attended one of our conferences to check out this list of last year’s speakers and topics.

Some tips specific for prospective Quick Take speakers:

• How will this presentation glorify God?
• How will this presentation advance the mission of the disability ministry community?
• Will our audience (church leaders and volunteers serving in disability ministry or families impacted by disability) experience this talk as inspiring, actionable and engaging? We repeat our admonition to prospective speakers from previous years to not send us submissions titled “Why Your Church Needs a Disability Ministry” because no one attending our conference in-person or online needs to be convinced of that.

If you wish to be considered as a speaker for Disability and the Church 2026, please complete the Speaker Proposal Form available here. The deadline for speaker applications is Monday, October 20th at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. Our Program Committee will meet in mid-November and all speakers will be notified of the status of their applications no later than the first week of December. The final speaker lineup will be publicly announced in mid-December. 

We look forward to a Spirit-filled time of worship, fellowship, learning and encouragement this coming April 21-23 at Disability and the Church. If you’re interested in speaking at a large gathering of disability ministry leaders, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re interested in exhibiting at the conference, reach out to Larah Roberts (our Director of Operations) at larah@keyministry.org. If you prefer to join us as an attendee as opposed to a speaker, consider this your “Save the Date” notice for the conference, and keep an eye on our social media and your e-mail for the opening of registration shortly after the beginning of the new year!