If you’ve been in the world of disability ministry for any period of time, you’ve almost certainly received questions and encountered some of the confusion from those outside our sphere who don’t understand exactly what we do. In this week’s episode of Key Ministry: The Podcast, Garett will share ideas on how we can be better prepared to cast the vision and mission of disability ministry and the tangible ways we can do that in our churches.
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069: Five Truths of Disability Theology with Garett Wall
Hey everyone! This is your friend Garett Wall and I’m excited to be back with you this week as your host for Key Ministry: The Podcast. It’s January so I can still say happy new year, right? We’ll go with it and not overthink it so Happy New Year to all of you!
If you’ve been in the world of disability ministry for any period of time, you’ve almost certainly received questions and encountered some of the confusion from those outside our sphere who don’t understand exactly what we do. Perhaps they know about ministry, and they may or may not know a lot about our friends and families in the disability community but within the context of disability ministry, many people don’t have a frame of reference for what that means and what really happens in our ministry world. During today’s conversation, we’ll talk about how we can be better prepared to share the vision and mission of disability ministry and the tangible ways we can do that in our churches.
Disability ministry and the details on how to do it effectively can be a far more elusive subject than any of us would like for it to be. Because so few churches are actively ministering to the disability community, and because disability in the context of Scripture and pastoring and shepherding rarely gets a lot of focus in our Bible colleges and seminaries, there are far fewer resources about disability ministry compared to other types of ministries most commonly found in the local church. That’s why Key Ministry and organizations like it exist. And that’s why this podcast exists. So that we can have more conversations on the “why” and the “how” we could and should be intentionally ministering to the disability community through our churches.
I encounter a lot of pastors, ministry leaders, staff, and volunteers from within our church and from other churches who are very curious to learn more about what we do in our ministry. I meet a lot of people in the disability community with a wide range of church experiences who are also interested to hear more about what happens during worship services in our disability ministry spaces. I’ve also shared what I do with family and friends and many others and there is often intrigue and curiosity about disability ministry. And in every instance, whether it’s inside the church, inside the disability community or with friends and family, the interaction that follows reminds me of a scene from a movie.
The specific movie scene that comes to mind is from the late 90’s comedy film Office Space where a character named Tom is meeting with two consultants, both of which are named Bob, to more or less interview for his own job at the IT company where he works. These consultants have been brought in by the company to create more efficiency and the assumption from everyone in Tom’s office is that layoffs are imminent. As the Bobs ask questions about his role in the company, Tom struggles to articulate exactly what his responsibilities and jobs are each day. As he fumbles his words and as his anxiety grows, Tom is asked a simple question by the Bobs – “What would you say you do here?”
That scene has come to my mind numerous times over the last few years when I’ve interacted with people outside of our specific ministry world who are trying to understand what it really means to do disability ministry. And I’ve found that it’s been pivotal for me to not only know what we do in our ministry and why we do it, but to also be prepared to communicate that to anyone I encounter who is seeking to know more. Whether it’s another pastor, staff member, elder or deacon at our church or at another church or prospective volunteers who are trying to follow God as he leads them to take steps of faith towards serving others, or if it’s with our friends and families in the disability community who may have had some very bad church experiences in the past or may have zero church experience whatsoever, knowing the “why” and the “how” for our ministry is a must.
Whatever the circumstances that surround you and your church – whether you’ve been doing effective and impactful disability ministry for years or you’ve just started to dip your toe into the world of disability ministry and you have no idea how exactly to do any of this or if you’re somewhere in the middle trying to cast vision and advocate for more programming and more pathways into your church for our friends and families impacted by disability, being prepared to talk about the “why” and the “how” of disability ministry is imperative. That can sometimes feel daunting and overwhelming because we may get questions we don’t know how to answer so I have four suggestions that I believe can be helpful for you to not only be more prepared to cast vision and help others understand the impact of disability ministry but also to help you have more confidence and conviction as you advocate. So, let’s jump into these suggestions.
First off, how many of you out there have heard of an elevator speech? An elevator speech or elevator pitch is a brief way of introducing yourself, getting across a key point or two, and making a connection with someone. It’s called an elevator speech because it takes roughly the amount of time you’d spend riding an elevator with someone. For instance, if you bump into someone you’ve been wanting to meet in an elevator, how would you introduce yourself, get your point across, and ask to stay connected—all before that person gets off the elevator.
I would strongly encourage you to have one or two elevator speeches about disability ministry in your church that you’re ready to share with pastors, ministry staff, volunteers, families, and anyone else God may bring into your path as you seek to cast vision for whatever and wherever God is leading you in the context of disability ministry and the church. Prepare a message of 30 seconds or 60 seconds or 2 minutes to share. This isn’t a conversation where you necessarily get into the weeds of logistics and details of disabilities ministry but instead, it’s a talk centered on vision and impact for the kingdom. Whether the conversation happens in an elevator, a church lobby, a worship center, a parking lot, or the grocery store, the more prepared we can be to share the vision and the impact of disability ministry for the glory of God in our churches, the more likely we are to see fruit. An elevator speech on the topic of disability ministry is essentially an opportunity for you to plant seeds for future growth. It’s a small window of time but in the hands of the Holy Spirit, it can grow into something God will use to impact lives eternally.
The second suggestion is to follow the lead of Jesus and His ministry when you talk about how and why your church can do disability ministry. During his earthly ministry, Jesus trained his disciples and equipped them to do ministry in the same ways he did it and they took that with them as they launched the church. We have the message of Jesus and his ministry as a guide for us today so as you advocate and cast vision and get into the weeds of ministry, there is wisdom in mirroring the examples of Jesus in the ways he invited and included people with disabilities into his ministry. Rather than focus significant energy on our opinions and our preferences and even our individual passions for the disability community, we should always begin with Jesus and the ways he ministered to those on the fringes of society, including people with disabilities.
A practical way of doing this is gathering examples from Scripture where Jesus ministered to the disability community. For most of us, John 9 and the ways Jesus saw the blind man and healed him physically and healed him spiritually is an anchor text for disability theology. Another favorite of mine is the story of the paralyzed man, his four friends and the response of Jesus as they came through the roof to him. This story is found in Mark 2, Luke 5 and Matthew 9 and each one includes different details that are so helpful in understanding how Jesus viewed this man and his friends. It’s also a powerful example of the impact we can have on our friends in the disability community with the Gospel of Jesus. Other examples are Matthew 15 when Jesus heals large groups of people on the mountainside and another example is Luke 14 and the message from Jesus on who we should be inviting to our banquets. The key is to gather some of the examples we have in Scripture and lean on those to help others understand the heart and love Jesus has for all people, including our friends impacted by disability.
The third suggestion to help you help your church in this journey of disability ministry is to focus on the things you can do rather than the things you can’t do. This is a relatively simple idea on mindset and belief that is beneficial in any walk of life. Whether it’s business or medicine or sports or ministry, the more we focus on what is in our control and what we can accomplish rather than highlighting and obsessing over the roadblocks and barriers, the more success we will find. In disability ministry, this can present itself in a lot of ways, especially as you’re seeking to find support and buy in from pastors and leaders in your church. It can be easy to look at other churches where disability ministry may be thriving and see the rooms and spaces, the resources and investment and the number of volunteers and staff and immediately see all of the things that would prevent you and your church from doing it that way. And what could be intended to encourage and help others see what is possible, turns out to lead you down a path of why it can’t be done at your church.
The truth about disability ministry is there’s no single right way to do this. A megachurch that’s been doing disability ministry for all ages for many years will look and should look very different than a church of 100 people that’s just two weeks into providing one-on-one buddies for a couple of kiddos with special needs. Going back to following the examples of Jesus, we see from his ministry on earth that even he didn’t do things the same way with all people in every town and every village. Sometimes it was healing one or many and sometimes it was preaching and teaching to large crowds and sometimes it was one-on-one conversations and sometimes it was using parables in smaller group settings but in every situation, Jesus adapted to the person or the group or the challenge or the type of suffering and he ministered in the ways that were most effective for that moment. That’s part of the reality of disability ministry that can create hesitation and even fear for some pastors and church leaders because we don’t fit very well in a specific ministry lane or box. We must do ministry in the ways that are more like Jesus and to do that well, it’s most effective for us to see the things we can do as a church rather than focus on the things we think we can’t do.
The last suggestion is to consistently remind yourself of the importance of sharing grace and trusting God’s timing. No ministry and no church is built overnight and every successful and impactful ministry and church in this world was built by the power of the Holy Spirit through the hands and feet of imperfect people. We will all get it wrong sometimes and you will rarely encounter pastors and leaders at the top of the decision-making food chain of your churches with the same passion and hunger and urgency that you bring to the table in that moment. It will be a process and that is a reality that God wants to use in your own journey with Him to grow your faith and your trust and your knowledge of who He is. Stay in God’s Word and stay connected to the Vine so that you can maintain your passion and urgency with plenty of grace and patience.
Burnout and discouragement are very real things in all walks of life, but they can be especially powerful and deceitful in the hands of an Enemy who wants nothing more than to guide you and your church away from a path that will lead more people to Jesus and bring more glory to God. This is a marathon and not a sprint so make it a priority in your life to dig into Scripture, to meditate on what the Holy Spirit is teaching you through it and submit yourself to prayer in the presence of God because those are things that will fuel you on this journey to take the hope of Jesus to more of our friends and families in the disability community.
Have your elevator speech ready, follow the ministry examples of Jesus, focus on the things you can do and stay graceful and patient on this journey. I hope each of those can help you and your church as you seek to not only be more effective in the ways you minister to the disability community, but I pray that each of those will also help you be better prepared to answer the question “What would you say you do here?”
Thank you for joining me for today’s conversation and I hope it’s one that is encouraging to you and your church. Along with the podcast episodes I host each month, I also lean into some of these same topics and more through my personal blog called Faith Through the Roof. I’d love for you to check that out and you can find it online at FaithThroughTheRoof.substack.com. We should also have a link to it in our show notes at keyministry.org/podcast. As always, I’m thankful for the conversations we have with our listeners each week, and I’m blessed to share another voice and perspective as we journey together on mission to take the gospel of Jesus to all people. Have a blessed day and I look forward to talking with you again soon.
