On behalf of our entire team, I’m honored and delighted to invite pastors, ministry leaders, persons with disabilities and their families to come together on April 24-25, 2020 at Bay Presbyterian Church in suburban Cleveland for Inclusion Fusion Live (#IFL2020), a national disability ministry conference hosted annually by Key Ministry..
#IFL2020 promises to be a time of worship, fellowship and teaching for all who seek to welcome individuals and families impacted by disability into the local church, introduce them to Jesus and cultivate a sense of belonging within their larger family in Christ. Allow me to share several reasons why you – or ministry leaders or families from your church need to be part of #IFL2020.
If your church is thinking of starting a disability or special needs ministry, implementing a mental health ministry strategy or launching a respite ministry, you can get all the training and resources you need to get started.
If you’ve come to IFL in the past or attended other disability ministry conferences, you will be exposed to people and ideas you’ve never heard before. The majority of our speakers have never presented at IFL before. For many, this will be their first opportunity to share their work outside of their immediate home region.
Serving in disability ministry, living with a disability or caring for someone with a disability is often a lonely experience. Sometimes it’s just good to reconnect with your “tribe” and spend a couple of days with a bunch of Christians who care about the same stuff you do.
The theme for this year’s conference is Illuminate. Our team was drawn to the idea of serving as a light to draw attention to the urgent need for more churches to become intentional in their ministry with children and adults with disabilities. We’ll also be spotlighting the needs of children and adults with experiences of trauma, abuse and neglect and how leaders serving in disability ministry might champion their needs within the churches they serve. We sought two of our featured speakers specifically for their ability to expand your sense of opportunity available to those serving in disability ministry.
I met Kelly Rosati when she was serving at Focus on the Family as Vice President of Advocacy for Children and Community Outreach. She co-founded Focus’ nationally recognized Wait No More program, which recruits adoptive families for children in foster care. She’s an attorney and nationally-recognized child advocate who serves on the board of directors off the national March for Life. She and her husband have four children, three of whom live with serious mental illness including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder & major depression. I saw Kelly speak at an event around the 2018 March for Live that was the most powerful and moving talk I’ve ever seen at a ministry conference. I’ve been determined to get her to come to IFL ever since. She’s incredibly passionate and articulate about the need for churches to better care for and support families involved in adoption or foster care ministry raising kids with complex disabilities.
Steve Biondo serves as President of the Tim Tebow Foundation. While most folks coming to a disability ministry conference are aware of Night to Shine, the foundation’s signature event, fewer are aware of their work on behalf of vulnerable children. They operate an orthopedic hospital in the Philippines that offers life-changing surgery for kids with serious physical disabilities. They also operate an orphan care ministry that partners with ministries on the ground in six countries to share the Gospel and provide food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education expenses. Steve came to the Tebow Foundation after serving as one of the founders of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) – he has observed significant parallels between the growth of the orphan care and disability ministry movements, and brings much insight and experience to the disability community.
In addition to Kelly and Steve, we’ll be featuring two pillars off the disability ministry movement – Barb Newman, known for her work with All Belong (formerly CLC Network) and the books she’s authored on inclusion at church, and Stephanie Hubach, long-time director of the PCA’s Mission to North America’s Special Needs Ministry and author of Same Lake, Different Boat. We’ll be offering intensives on Starting a Special Needs Ministry in Churches of Any Size (led by Doc Hunsley and Beth Golik), an intensive on trauma led by Jolene Philo, and an intensive on mental health inclusion ministry hosted by Catherine Boyle, myself and several special guests. We’ll also have separate workshop tracks for ministry leaders and family members, interviews and lots of “Quick Takes” Ted talk-like presentations focused on specific areas of interest within the field of disability ministry.
Don’t take my word for it…Check out Inclusion Fusion Live for yourself! Registration is open. We’ve priced the conference so that churches of any size and interested individuals and families can afford to come. We’re offering Early Bird pricing – ministry track tickets are available for $49 and family track tickets for $19.
We’d love to see you in April. Please feel free to share with any pastor, church staff member, volunteer or family member who would be blessed by being with us.
