Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
No Pity Placements: Finding True Purpose in Disability Ministry
We explore the influential model of disability ministry that places leadership in the hands of individuals with disabilities, recognizing their God-given gifts rather than creating token positions. This episode examines how true inclusion means empowering disabled individuals to serve according to their spiritual gifts and talents.
• The influential model values disabled individuals as equally gifted for leadership as any congregation member
• True inclusive ministry avoids "pity placements" and instead identifies and develops genuine spiritual gifts
• Biblical foundation found in Jesus's interaction with the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:18-26)
• Examples include a young woman with extraordinary singing talent and Wendy, who demonstrates powerful intercessory prayer
• Inclusive leadership communicates vulnerability and acceptance while confirming and challenging all community members
• Proper leadership placement requires discipleship and growth, not immediate independent leadership
• When church leadership includes disabled individuals, it transforms perceptions of both community and leadership
For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books The Indispensable Kid and Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People.
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas. Hey, hey, and welcome to this episode of Indispensable People. Today we're talking about promoting and multiplying. So I am looking into the book Jesus and Disability A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church, which is written by Chris H Hulshof. I might be saying that wrong I'm pretty sure I'm saying that wrong, but it's H-U-L-S-H-O-F and this is towards the end of the book and it's looking at different types of models of serving individuals with disabilities in the church and what that looks like. And, of course, this book is promoting inclusion and there are lots of different ways to do disability ministry. Um, I will tell you, the model that I follow is, um, very, uh, specific to serving individuals with disabilities, but also including them in the church. So, just like children have specific ministry that speaks to them and their needs at that age and stage of life. Youth does, men's ministry, women's ministry. I do believe that there is a place to specifically minister to people with disabilities, but I also believe that they belong in every other path and part of the church. The majority of the individuals with disabilities that attend my home church participate in either main service, children's services, youth services, all of those kinds of things, women's ministry, men's ministry, all of those pieces and parts. But they also live and experience life in a different way and I think that requires ministry specific to them. But this influential model that we're going to talk about today is I'm going to read a little piece that describes it to you it's ministry is being accomplished through the leadership and direction of a disabled individual. So this is being specific to an individual with disabilities being able to lead in the church. And it says at the heart of this influential model is the congregation's passion to be a biblically inclusive community where they are committed to more than serving alongside the disabled. This inclusive congregation welcomes and encourages leadership from an individual who is disabled. Thus they see those who are disabled as being equally gifted for leadership as any other member of the congregation actually goes into it and it speaks of it really, really well.
Speaker 1:This is not saying let's just go cherry pick somebody because they have a disability and put them in a place of leadership. I believe people have gifts and talents that God has given them. I believe that that means that they have a sweet spot somewhere in ministry, that God has intended them to live out their purpose and their calling, because all of us are called in some shape or form. And that doesn't mean that we give pity placements. I don't agree with that at all. I think that that actually looks down on someone with a disability, makes them less than and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be placed in a place of position because somebody felt bad for me, and I do believe that people with disabilities would appreciate and feel respected if they are much more suitably placed in whatever piece of leadership that looks like.
Speaker 1:I attended a summer getaway program for the ministry that I serve under in Kentucky and they do a talent show and there was a girl who stepped up to the mic who was going to sing and she started singing and I was like, oh my word, the Lord has blessed her with an incredible voice. She needs to be utilizing this for God. That is a gifting and a talent that God has given her that she could be using to share with others so that they could have an experience with God, and I truly believe that is the case across the board. I could also tell you and I think I've shared this story a long, long time ago about my friend, wendy, who has an intellectual disability. She participated in what was called Coffee and a Prayer and One of the other volunteers was going up to the vehicle with Wendy to pray, to support her, and when they heard her begin to pray, they were like she doesn't need me, god has gifted her as an intercessor. And that extra volunteer stepped back and let Wendy do what God has gifted her to do. These are not places of pity. These are places that God had intended, with their gifts and talents, to serve. So I want to share with you this that is in this book.
Speaker 1:Again, the book is called Jesus and Disability A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church, and it says the influential role can be identified with Jesus's healing of the woman, with the issue of blood, and that can be found in Matthew 9, 18-26 or Mark 5, 21-43. Also in Luke 8, 40-46. And it says in this encounter, jesus takes the faith of the woman and uses it as a means to influence the faith of Jairus. It is the life and testimony of this once disabled individual that Jesus taps into as means of growing, leading and moving Jairus further into faith. Through Jesus, this woman becomes a leader in the faith development of Jarius. She is his teacher, as Jarius, or as Jesus challenges him and says don't be afraid, only believe. So the book goes on to say the disability inclusive pastor who practices inclusive leadership will see this influential model as a culmination of of ECHO's five critical characteristics.
Speaker 1:Inclusive church leadership that is, disability inclusive will seek to involve the maximum number of people and empower individuals to reach their full potential. Thus, a pastor is not simply trying to fill a staff or leadership role with a disabled individual as a merely a token of inclusivity, and that is so very important, so so important. Rather, this pastor or leader seeks out and encourages church leadership to embrace those with disabilities wherever they are best suited to lead a congregation. So, so important. Again, we're looking for people's gifts and talents, we are placing them in proper leadership placement, placing them in proper leadership placement and we, just like any other person in the church, we are growing and discipling. We're not going to assume that they know everything, that they can do all things independently. We're going to come alongside them in that discipleship process and grow them into the leaders who can serve in the gifts and talents that God has given them.
Speaker 1:And this goes on to say a pastor is also the one paying attention to those in the equal model who have been gifted for leadership. His awareness of and familiarity with their service allows for him to empower these individuals to move forward from discipleship to leadership. This empowerment encourages their leadership of others as they move from being discipled to discipling others. And I think it is in the I know it's in Chi Alpha, if you're familiar with that group, which is college ministry, and their goal and their kind of tagline is what they say is that we're disciples who make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. It is a constant cycle of discipleship making and finding those places and positions of service and leadership and knowing that each and every person has a place in that cycle and that they can influence the next person and that they can feed into. And this is where we go from that. Are we a ministry considering disability ministry? Are we only a ministry who serves and does not have those individuals serve in return? Right? Do we only come alongside of them or do we equip and empower them to serve?
Speaker 1:Inclusive leadership this is what is said in this book. Inclusive leadership, as directed through a pastor, operates in such a way as to have leaders who model individual worth through their understanding of imago dei and identity. When church leadership is represented by individuals with disability, it influences the perception of both community and leadership. This type of inclusive leadership subtly communicates a community value of vulnerability and acceptance, and Jean Venier reveals this kind of community, what it looks like, by saying a community is not an abstract ideal. We're not striving for a perfect community. Community is not ideal. It is people. It is you and I. In community, we are called to love people just as they are, with their wounds and their gifts, not as we would want them to be. Community means giving them space, helping them to grow, and it means also receiving from them so that we too can grow. It is giving each other freedom. It is giving each other trust. It is confirming but also challenging each other.
Speaker 1:This type of community can only be achieved when the leadership, regardless of abilities, understands who they are as the image of God. Thus, church leadership shares a common value and worth of the individual, because we are made in the image of God. This shared understanding of value translates into a free and life-giving community. Both leaders and followers understand how God sees them and how God sees others in the community. Just as Jesus used faith of the woman to shape the faith of Jairus, so church leadership uses their understanding of individual worth to shape the identity and life-giving faith of the congregation. And that is how good God is, because that is how he sees community. That is how he sees his body of Christ functioning together, helping each other, lifting one another up, taking on one another's burdens and challenging each other to become better each and every day so that others can know God and can live in that same value and understanding of the image of Christ and the purpose and plan for our lives.
Speaker 1:Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them. Serve him with the gifts that he has given them. For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensablepeoplecom and visit Amazon to purchase the books the Indispensable Kid and Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People. You.
