Presence to Participation: The Spirit is Not Disabled
Each webinar focuses on experts in the field of disability ministry, from both outside and internally to the Salvation Army, from around the world. We also hear from those who have personal lived experience with disability.
Major Shelley Kerr (Divisional Headquarters, Bermuda) and Major Christine Johnston (Broadview Village) have both been involved in ministry with people with disabilities for a few years. They have both come to recognize that people with disability, who are often seen as those with needs actually have much to offer our faith communities. Throughout the past few years Shelley and Christine both have developed a growing passion to see all people, regardless of their ability, fully engaged in our Corps and other ministry units. In Christine’s own life experience, she has discovered that her disabilities may cause some limitations and challenges but they are also a gift of God that allow her to minister effectively and often from a unique standpoint.
Click the links below to view the webinars.
Webinar Series 1
In this series:
A casual conversation with Mark Stephenson and Cara Milne on supporting faith communities who want to be welcoming communities to all people, with and without disabilities. The first webinar will also feature a lived experience discussion from Major Christine Johnston, Spiritual & Religious Care Director at The Salvation Army Broadview Village. She will share her own lived experience with neurodiversity, Attention Deficit and anxiety in a presentation entitled: “The Making of Me. How an evolving understanding of myself, others and God made me who I am.”
This webinar will feature a presentation from Dan Vander Plaats, Director of Advancement, Marketing and Communications, Elim Christian Services (Crestwood, Illinois, USA) entitled: How Inclusion Glorifies God. It will explore how in order for the church to be the church, people with disabilities must be included.
It will also feature a lived experience discussion from Karen Puddicombe, Pastor and CFS Director at the Salvation Army Burlington Community Church and Family Services in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
The Webinar will feature a presentation from Shellie Power, Executive Director, Hope Centre Ministries (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) and Interim Executive Director of Friendship Ministries Canada entitled: The Puzzling Art of Inclusion.
It will also feature a lived experience discussion from Sr. Soldier Shawn Perkin from Weetamah Corps in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In this short webinar, Mike Walker – a theologian and accessibility advocate who’s worked for North Park Theological Seminary, the Ontario College of Art and Design, and the Abilities Centre Durham, amongst others – will address the communal import of inclusive design for believers with disabilities. How can Christians with and without disabilities form healthy communities that really welcome everyone? How can we think critically about every aspect of communal life for Christians of varied capacities? Which aspects of church life need to be transformed, so that worshippers with disabilities can genuinely share their gifts with others?
Webinar 4: The Social and Spiritual Impact of Inclusive Design
This session will investigate how we might reframe our understanding of God’s invitation to follow him. The notion of invitation carries an expansiveness that is not always realized. For example, the invitation “to make a decision for Jesus,” while sincerely offered, can redefine the gospel as available only to those capable of making choices. In such a scenario, people living with a cognitive impairment, whose rational capacities may be compromised, are relegated to the margins. The power of choice remains outside of their frame of reference. In this sense, the call to decide can deny the rich complexity of salvation and effectively exclude a portion of the population for whom Jesus also promised abundant life (John 10:10b).
If the collective calling of The Salvation Army is to serve God and support others, then we need to provide frameworks and opportunities for people living with a disability to do likewise. Coralie will also share findings from her recent research that inform personal, pastoral, and training dimensions of Salvationist practice. These results demonstrate that witnessing the lived experience of people with disabilities is critical to addressing the marginalization that many currently experience within the church.
This webinar will also feature a lived experience discussion from Captain Andrew Hammond, Falmouth Temple Corps, The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom entitled Growing A Healthy Inclusive Church. Andrew will also be joined by David and Esme Willoughby and they will explore how they have focused on transitioning a dying corps into an inclusive growing, healthy church.
Webinar 5: What Must I Think to be Saved? Cognitive Disability & Citizenship in The Salvation Army
This Webinar will feature a presentation from Captain Barb Stanley Director of Pastoral Services for the Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda entitled “Peace and Quiet” which will look at how we were created for rhythms of work and rest. What happens to body, mind and spirit when we are in constant chaos, living day to day without peace, quiet and calm? What could be the place of meditation and mindfulness in our own experience as well as within our programmes and churches?
This webinar will also feature a lived experience discussion entitled: “How the Salvation Army as a ‘Place of Refuge’ and a ‘People of Refuge’ Changed My Life” from Lesley Squair
This webinar will feature a presentation from Keith Dow, Manager of Organizational and Spiritual Life with Christian Horizons entitled: “The Spirituality of Letting Go: Christian caregiving and the gift of limits.”
Drawing insights from contemporary disability theology and his book “Formed Together: Mystery, Narrative, and Virtue in Christian Caregiving,” Dr. Keith Dow presents a helpful framework for sustainable mental health and caregiving in stressful times. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, care providers (including pastoral and spiritual caregivers) have been confronted with grief, loss, and their inability to “do it all.” As much as a dedication to people supported, we need practices of letting go – appreciating our own human limits as we move through grief and beyond setbacks. Join us for a thoughtful introduction to disability theology and Christian care.
This webinar will also feature a lived experience discussion from Commissioner Tracey Tidd, Territorial President of Women’s Ministries for the Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda.
Webinar 7: The Spirituality of Letting Go: Christian caregiving and the gift of limits
Inclusion Handbook: Everybody Belongs, Everybody Serves, Inclusive Church Ministry with People with Disabilities.
As those who registered for one of the Presence to Participation webinars know, when registering you were automatically signed up to receive the book: Everybody Belongs, Everybody Serves, Inclusive Church Ministry with People with Disabilities.
A collaborative project of Disability Concerns (Christian Reformed Church and Reformed Church in America), Elim Christian Services, and Christian Horizons, the handbook is a resource that provides practical advice for developing relationships and advocating for greater engagement of people with disabilities in congregational life.
Following our first webinar series, we have a limited number of handbooks still available. If you are interested in acquiring a copy, please reach out to Major Christine Johnston at Christine.Johnston@salvationarmy.ca
We would like to say very a very special thank you to the following for making this webinar series possible:
The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters, Canada and Bermuda
for their financial support through the Innovation Grant.
Patrick Williams of Garner, North Carolina, USA
for his graphic design support and for designing our logo.
Andrew Haughton
all the staff of WEBCAST GURU for all their tech support.
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