January 27, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Join others from the Diocese as we discuss what it means to create Beloved Church Communities that value and include people with disabilities in our midst. We want this to be a place to gauge desires and needs, collaboratively building a pathway forward so churches can be equipped to welcome all people into their congregations and celebrate the gifts Disabled people can offer us. We suggest reading Anna Kenny’s book My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church. This will provide us common language and understanding as we move forward in this work. It is available from local and the diocesan libraries, Kindle, Audible, and accessible formats (BARD and Bookshare).
Facilitators:
Jessica Thompson became disabled as a young adult and has worked for accessibility and inclusion specifically in third places for over 20 years. Coming to the Episcopal Church after experiencing religious trauma from “faith healing,” she is blogger, speaker, and consultant for Bridge Disability Ministries.
Melissa DelRio is a spoken word artist, and advocate for disability and autism inclusion. She was diagnosed as autistic and ADHD in her 20s, and writes on her experiences as a late diagnosed AudHD woman of color. Melissa has performed advocacy spoken word during trainings, and workshops for disability advocacy, cultural events, and disability ministry events.
A collaboration between: Bridge Disability Ministries—Beacon Church Collaborative, Sacred Waters, and the Diocese of Olympia.
Register for the Zoom link here. Questions can be sent to Adrienne at aelliott@ecww.org.
