Who We Are
The Commission on Ministry with the Disabled works to to increase the awareness of the special needs of the disabled. They offer resources to congregations for making their worship accessible and hopes to have the ability in future to give small grants to those churches in need for making their worship accessible.
Our goal is to make everyone in the diocese aware of the needs of people with every kind of disability: physical, mental, emotional, and developmental.
The Commission on Ministry with the Disabled uses this text as the guiding thought behind all we do:
Psalm 139:14a
For so many marvels I thank you
A wonder am I,
And all your works are wonders, NJB
Based on our Baptismal Covenant, we strive to provide and promote the means for persons of every kind and disability, physical, mental, emotional, and developmental to be participants in the household of God, confess the faith of Christ Crucified, proclaim his resurrection and share with us (the Church) in his eternal priesthood.
The Commission receives requests for grants for help in making buildings more accessible through the use of ramps, making vision and audio improvements in buildings, and other things. For instance, we recently gave a grant to help purchase a defibrillator. We are open to creative ways of helping congregations improve and support their ministries.
We offer an accessibility assessment for any church to help pinpoint areas of need in accessibility.
Come to The Table
Come to the Table is a service of recognition and support of those in our diocese parishes and congregations who deal with disabilities. It is a service of celebration and recognition during which time we pay tribute to all those in our various churches who give outstanding service to God, because of, or in spite of, all manner of differing abilities—autism, Down Syndrome, blindness, deafness, mobility issues, developmental disorders, mental, physical, and emotional conditions, CP, MS, those who “keep on truckin” in the face of serious pain, etc.
Come to the Table also witnesses to and celebrates the lives and influences of those in our ng midst who directly minister to differently abled people through support, transportation, enablement, and ennoblement.
At the Come to the Table service we honor those nominated as Blessings by their colleagues and congregations. To nominate someone as a Blessing, please utilize the attachment titled Blessings Nomination.
Our members are:
Donna Devlin
The Rev. Magdelena Aders, Dcn.
Judy Buncher
Debbie Loeb
The Rev. Rick Morley
Carla Navallo
The Rev. Karen Reeman, Dcn.
Mark Willis
