On behalf of our entire Key Ministry team, it’s my privilege to welcome you to join us for Disability and the Church, the largest live in-person disability ministry conference in North America. This year’s conference is being hosted at Bay Presbyterian Church on April 28th and 29th, 2023, with pre-conference intensives offered on April 27th. Disability and the Church is presented by Key Ministry with the support of the Tim Tebow Foundation.
Our team has worked incredibly hard throughout the year to put together what we believe will be a truly special conference for our friends and coworkers in disability ministry, with additional content offered this year we believe will greatly interest senior leaders in the church as well as content of interest for leaders serving in children’s ministry, student ministry and mental health ministry.
Beyond that, there are other compelling reasons why you and others invested in disability ministry need to join us in person at the end of April in Cleveland.
Disability ministry is hard work. Over the last few years many have continued to serve faithfully in relative social isolation. God created us to be in community with one another. We need the encouragement that comes from spending time in the physical presence of other ministry leaders who share our passion and calling for a time of worship, fellowship, friendship and learning. So much of our work over the past few years has taken place online and opportunities to gather in-person for ministry trainings and events has diminished considerably. Online relationships are real relationships, but our team believes that for online relationships to flourish we need from time to time to be face-to-face. There is no substitute for spending time with one another. Our online relationships may be more impactful after we've spent time breaking bread and hanging out together.
Disability and the Church represents an incredible networking opportunity. Nearly every major disability ministry organization will be represented among our 80+ plus speaker team. If you're heading up a disability ministry within a church or serve in a parachurch disability ministry organization there's no better time to connect with your peers and brainstorm creative collaborations to help advance the disability ministry movement. Our team is designing lots of opportunities for networking into the conference schedule. Ministry is done best when done together. There will be no better place for you and others from your church to find folks with whom you can do ministry!
Our team also hopes you'll come because this year’s conference represents an unparalleled learning opportunity. The speaker team assembled for the conference will be training on nearly every imaginable aspect of disability ministry. We have presentations scheduled on disabilities associated with memory loss and aging, inclusion in Christian colleges, support group development, respite care, discipleship, sensory processing, marriage, gender identity, team building, caregiving, outreach and influencing senior church leadership. I can think of no better place for anyone starting any type of disability ministry or looking to grow their existing ministry than our upcoming conference.
I'd like to highlight additional content that will be of broad interest to the disability ministry community:
We will be hosting three pre-conference ministry intensives on Thursday, April 27th. These are half-day sessions designed for church leaders interested in starting or growing a disability ministry or seeking a “deep dive” into an important ministry topic. In addition to a Disability Ministry 101 intensive for leaders looking to start a ministry and an intensive for churches interested in doing more with mental health ministry, a major area of emphasis at this year's conference is trauma. Dr. Robert Crosby from California Baptist University and his wife Lori Crosby will be co-hosting an intensive on developing a trauma-informed children's or youth ministry. Dr. Crosby is the Executive Director of the Reach Hurting Kids Institute and a former youth pastor with over 25 years of experience in children's and youth ministry. He is one of the world's leading scholars in the field of children's ministry research. He and his wife recently co-authored Trauma-Informed Children's Ministry: A Practical Guide to Reaching Hurting Kids. The Crosbys are an incredible resource to both the disability ministry community and field of children's ministry.
Our first main stage session will feature Dr. Erik Carter, the Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities, and Executive Director of the Baylor University Center on Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Carter will be presenting his most recent research on disability and church inclusion. The centerpiece of Friday night’s main session is a panel discussion guided by Moody Radio personality Brian Dahlen composed of senior pastors on the topic of growing disability ministry in the church. Saturday morning’s session will feature Kim Botto, a prominent children's and student ministry leader, member of the Board of Directors for the International Network of Children’s Ministry (INCM) a recognized expert in adoption and foster care ministry, and renowned for training ministry leaders, parents, educators and others who work with kids on trauma-informed and resilience-focused practices.
This year's conference will feature over 40 workshop covering the breadth and depth of issues addressed by disability ministry today. We promise attendees fresh content. Over 30 of this year’s speakers are first-time presenters at our conference. Attendees will most definitely be exposed to new content and new ideas! A value that has shaped each national conference we’ve hosted has been our desire to provide a platform to highlight the work of disability ministry leaders with valuable ideas but serve in relative anonymity. Many of our speakers are persons with disabilities who share from firsthand experience.
Brandon Gaskin on the need to share the Gospel with the deaf community.
We're bringing back Family Day at Disability and the Church in 2023. Saturday’s sessions will feature workshops on family advocacy and support. Specially priced tickets available for Saturday only for parents, spouses, siblings and caregivers uninvolved with ministry who wish to be part of the conference.
We’re delighted Delnora Reed will be returning to lead our worship during the conference. Since performing at last year’s conference, Delnora became somewhat popular. She received the “New Artist of the Year Award” from the Inspirational Country Music Association and her single “Blank Page” won as Inspirational Song of the Year. Her most recent single, Man at the Well debuted at #1 at Christian Music Weekly. The video for the single was shot on the set of The Chosen with the show’s cast.
I encourage you to check out the conference website, biographies of our presenters and the schedule of workshops and “Quick Takes” – short, concise Ted Talk-like presentations offered on our main stage and featured in the conference livestream. After checking out the program, we have little doubt you’ll wish to register here for D&TC. Until the end of February early bird conference tickets are available for $99. Everyone purchasing a ticket for the conference is eligible to buy an add-on ticket for one of the ministry intensives on Thursday April 27th at a reduced price of $69. Intensive-only tickets are also available for church staff and volunteers unable to take part in the full conference.
As a small organization we’re unable to cover our speakers’ travel expenses while keeping the price of the conference as affordable as possible for everyone. Our speaking team does this as a labor of love in that they pay their own way to the conference and freely give of their time and expertise. We do have a limited number of scholarships available to cover the registration of staff and volunteers from churches unable to afford the cost of attending. If you’d like to attend, but need a scholarship to do so, please contact our team to let them know of your need.
Disability and the Church won’t be complete without you! On behalf of our team, I encourage you and any ministry colleagues or teammates to register today!
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With the support of our friends at Zondervan and ChurchSource.com, Key Ministry is now able to offer Mental Health and the Church: A Ministry Handbook for Including Children and Adults with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, and Other Common Mental Health Conditions for 50% off the list price of the softcover book. Enter the code KEY23 upon checkout at ChurchSource to receive your discount.
