Disability Ministry Committee (DMC)
To equip the Church to reach out, include, and encourage full participation of people with disabilities and their families in the life of Christ’s Church.
Resources
INFORMATION
Disability Awareness Sunday - September 28, 2025
Resources - Sermons, Hymns, Bible Studies and More
Disability Ministry Committee Presentation (Mission Conference 2019)
Church Disability Ministry Contact Person Information
Church Disability Contact Person Cover Letter
Church Disability Contact Person Job Description
Disability Ministry Contact Person Program Brochure
Congregations can be served by the Disability Ministry Committee through
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Consultation
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Education
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Information and referral
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Speakers
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Workshops
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Seminars
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
The LCMS committee that addressed ministry to people with disabilities assembled a variety of resources that can be used to increase awareness in a congregational setting.
Church Facility Accessibility Checklist
Our Mission is to communicate the Gospel and equip Christ-honoring Churches worldwide to evangelize and disciple people affected by disabilities.
We've Got This: Providing Respite for Families Affected by Disability*
*Click the above link to join the Irresistible Church: Please join us for unlimited access to free books and other valuable resources. Membership is free and includes all privileges! We promise to never spam.
AbleLight (formerly Bethesda Lutheran Communities)
To enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through services that share the good news of Jesus Christ.
Disability Ministry Committee Board Members
Chair
Mrs. Dianne Flynn
(Northern Region)
Secretary/Treasurer
Mrs. Elaine Zimmerman (Pacific Region)
Consultant, Bay Area
Liz Schwartz
Lay Member
Ronnie Mitchell
(Northern Region)
Consultant, Central California
Mr. Fred Hammer
Lay Member
Miss Victoria Bodine (Southern Region)
Lay Member
Mr. David Alvis
(Northern Region)
Lay Member
Mr. Art Larson
(Pacific Region)
Lay Member
Mrs. Sheila Mitchell (Northern Region)
CHURCHES WITH DISABILITY MINISTRIES
Specific Ministries: Respite Events, accessible church facilities, enhanced sound system and spaces for wheelchair users in the sanctuary, disabled parking places, integration of children and adults with disabilities into age appropriate programs, partner church with Joni and Friends.
Specific Ministries: Outreach to residents at Bethesda Homes
Specific Ministries: Disabled parking spaces; accessible church facilities; transportation assistance; enhanced sound system in sanctuary; Sunday Bible class for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities; Individual Religious Plan (IRP) for people with disabilities which includes confirmation and communion; shut-in ministry; devotional materials printed, collated, and shipped to groups and individuals requesting them; mental health presentations; Disability Ministry Committee. revtzb@comcast.net
Specific Ministries: Parking spaces for people with disabilities; accessible church facilities with ramps leading to any raised doorways; and spaces in the sanctuary for people using wheelchairs, walkers, scooters or crutches. Large family restroom with grab-bars that is accessible for people using wheelchairs and walkers.
Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, San Francisco
Specific Ministries: Sunny Paths Special Needs Camp, an annual camp for children with special needs (third and fourth week in July), and quarterly respite events. Physical layout includes disabled parking, accessible restrooms, seating for wheelchair users, and level access to the altar.
https://www.facebook.com/sunnypathssnp
Specific Ministries: Good Shepherd Family, connecting adults with disabilities to Christ, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Saturdays for the month – 12 pm – 3 pm. Physical layout includes disabled parking, accessible restrooms, level access to the sanctuary, seating for wheelchair users, and level access to the altar for communion.
Accessible church facilities, spaces for wheelchair users in the sanctuary, disabled parking places.
Disability Ministry Table at the 2025 Convention
DMC Members with President Harrison
Outcome statements
To equip the Church to reach out, include, and encourage full participation of people with disabilities and their families in the life of Christ’s Church.
To achieve this mission, the DMC has adopted the following priorities and outcome statements:
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Research. The DMC will analyze data derived from its target audience, identifying needs and opportunities for Gospel-based ministry.
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Referral. The DMC will develop a resource database of speakers and media pertaining to disability ministry in order to connect congregations to appropriate resources.
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Advocate. The DMC will make presentations to groups in order to develop disability awareness.
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Network. The DMC will facilitate the sharing of disability ministry experiences, education and best practices among the churches through its website and blog.
Our Stories
MY CANE: A TOOL FOR INDEPENDENCE
By Alan Flynn
As the new millennium grew closer, I began to notice occasional pain in my left knee. My trusted doctor diagnosed arthritis and encouraged exercise to strengthen the muscles around the knee. Regular sessions on a stationary bike – as well as a sensible, self-imposed weight loss program – were helpful, but the knee began to complain more frequently. My balance, which was never excellent, became even more dicey as I flinched or moved awkwardly in response to pain. Stubbornly, I soldiered on without support. A few falls convinced me that further soldiering like this was foolishly risking serious injury. Reluctantly, I went shopping for a cane.
I remember that day as if it happened yesterday. The store offered a large selection, but all of the canes seemed so clumsy and institutional. Even now in midlife, I was struggling again to come to grips with a handicapping condition. It was no fun. Finally I found a cane that my pride would let me use – because it didn’t look like a cane. It had a ball on the top instead of a hooked handle, and it was black instead of silver or gray. I remarked to myself: It’s more like a gentleman’s walking stick. The best part was that the walking stick folded so that I could store it (okay, hide it) in my briefcase most of the time. I exited the store stick in hand, still extraordinarily ill at ease.
In spite of my painful self-consciousness, I had to admit that walking was no longer painful, nor was it as difficult. I began to relax. I no longer hide the cane in my briefcase. Today I use it all the time. I still use a ball on the top instead of a hook because it’s much handier, but I don’t think of it as a debonair walking stick. I see it simply as a helpful tool – like eyeglasses or a shoehorn. It allows me to move about without fear. My dreaded cane has become a blessing.
(Taken from a United Cerebral Palsy blog.)
ART LARSON’S STORY
While backpacking in the Sierra with a high school group in August 1976, I started feeling a pain in my back. We were eighteen miles in on day 4 of a 10-day trip. An hour later I was unable to walk. A forest service helicopter flew me to a hospital. The cause of my
paralysis was a benign tumor that destroyed my spinal cord, leaving me completely paralyzed from the chest down. I was only 18 years old.
After 10 weeks of rehabilitation learning how to care for myself as a paraplegic, I lived with my parents and started school at a local community college. Continuing at U C Davis, I began advocacy for myself and others with disabilities, and was one of the first who use wheelchairs to live in modified dorms on campus. Graduating with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, I began 28 years’ work for a defense contractor.
I met Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder of Joni and Friends, in 1996, and have been part of their Family Retreat leadership team since 2000. They distribute wheelchairs and the Gospel around the world, and I was privileged to join a Joni and Friends team distributing 200 wheelchairs to people with disabilities in Vietnam. Families there would never be able to afford a wheelchair, so people with disabilities are stuck in their homes. Having a wheelchair gives them independence.
I became a volunteer chaplain at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in 2005, visiting patients with recent spinal chord injuries, relating to their experiences, and sharing faith and encouragement from God’s Word. (Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and in
this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”) It has been exciting to see the Disability Ministry grow at my home congregation.
Beginning with presentations in church from folks involved with disability ministry, we have gradually been able to incorporate disability ministry across all committees in the church. Respite events were begun at our church in 2011, allowing parents a break from
caregiving responsibilities. Respite volunteers are paired one-on-one with children to give them full attention.
God allows troubles in our lives and uses them to help others. Looking back over the past 49 years, I can see how God has used me for His glory.
Art Larson has been a member of the CNH Disability Committee since its beginning in 2011. He is an active member of Holy Cross in Los Gatos where he plays flute in a church music group, assists with technology in worship, and helps make Holy Cross disability friendly. Contact disability-min@cnh-lcms.org for more information.
A GRANDMOTHER'S STORY
By: Dianne Flynn
My disability ministry journey began with an ultrasound. I waited with excited anticipation while my daughter, Joanne, was at an o.b. appointment. She came through my front door crying and holding the ultrasound photo in her hand. The baby she was carrying and loving would be born in six months with Down syndrome and would require open heart surgery shortly after his birth.
Immediately, I became sick to my stomach and filled with fear, sadness, and grief for our "perfect baby." I thought of all the physical problems he could have and the burdens that could go along with this disorder. The unknown future was very scary. I have to admit that I am very ashamed of my first thoughts. However, all I could remember about those with Down syndrome was that they were usually hidden away from society and raised in institutions with very few expectations for their futures.
When I encounter a new problem, I do like many do…turn to the internet for answers. I learned that Down syndrome knows no racial, age, or economic boundaries. Ninety per cent of women whose unborn babies are diagnosed with Down syndrome choose to have an abortion, which is so sad because early intervention can make all the difference in the world, and the prognosis for children with Down syndrome today is very good. They now receive special therapy in learning, behavior, and speech and can become successful and happy adults who are a great asset to our society. They attend higher education, hold jobs, have meaningful relationships and contribute to society in many wonderful ways.
At every appointment, Joanne and Rich were warned of all the problems the baby could have and asked if they would like to abort their baby. Each time Joanne and Rich assured the nurse that they wished to have their baby no matter what and they would not change their minds, so she didn’t need to ask again. The nurse would say that she was required to ask at each appointment. Unfortunately, when mothers learn from these tests that their child has Down syndrome, 9 out of 10 choose abortion. They have no idea what the life of a child with Down syndrome is like…they only hear what they perceive to be a terrible, frightening diagnosis. Sometimes the doctor encourages the parents to abort the “defective” child and try again.
Read more about Cody's story and the impact he has had on his family and greater community.
Dianne Flynn is a member of the CNH Disability Ministry Committee
KAYLA'S STORY
By David Alvis
For over 30 years, I worked as a nurse, mostly in pediatrics. After 15-plus years at UC Davis
Medical Center, which included working in ICU, I was presented an opportunity to work with a 6-
month-old infant severely affected with Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy. Kayla was not expected
to survive early infancy and was being sent home on a ventilator for what was to be a short-lived
period of time before she would succumb to her disease.
Fast forward many years down the road to the remarkable accomplishments of this amazing,
brave soul, who lived to be 13 before this terrible disease finally claimed her life in 2017. During
the brief time Kayla had on this earth, she accomplished more than any of her physicians would
have ever imagined. She was on the MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon with her parents. She also
testified and is on the Congressional Record advocating for funding and support for research to
find a cure for a disease that so profoundly impacts and cuts life short for so many children.
Her journey inspired her mother to create the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation, which is instrumental
in helping parents of affected children navigate their way through life. It continues to serve
families in the DM Community to this day. For more insight into a life well-lived by a severely
disabled-- yet remarkably determined young lady--go to cureforkayla.com.
We all need to embrace the wonderful contributions people with special needs can make to our
society,and welcome them with open arms.
JOURNEY OF A CHAIR
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 80 million people worldwide need a wheelchair. However, only 5-35% have access to one. Through the Joni and Friends Wheels for the World Program, we are changing that reality—one chair, one life, and one soul at a time.
Here in Central California, our office is honored to sponsor and support partners in the Middle East and Mozambique, Africa, while our Bay Area office leads teams to Mexico and Tanzania—four of more than 30 Wheels for the World outreaches taking place across the globe.
This past September, I had the privilege of returning to the Middle East. Together, our U.S. team joined believers from South Africa, Armenia, and several Middle Eastern nations to personally fit and customize 120 wheelchairs for children, adults, and refugees—many living in camps across the region. Each person we serve receives a wheelchair, a Bible in their language, and the personal care, prayer, and dignity they deserve. Our mission is simple yet profound: To glorify God by communicating the Gospel and mobilizing the global church to evangelize, disciple, and serve people living with disability.
During our recent outreach, I met several individuals whose lives were forever changed. Jowad, age 6, a bright boy on the autism spectrum, had rarely left his home. With his new properly-sized chair and supportive harness, his family can now bring him into their community with confidence. After 19 years of being carried by her family, Nagham’s first wheelchair brought dignity, relief, and newfound independence.
Our Joni and Friends Central California and Bay area offices host wheelchair collection events—collecting and restoring nearly 1,000 chairs annually. Every donated chair is refurbished to like-new condition by inmates in prison-based restoration centers across the U.S. This redemptive process transforms not only the lives of those receiving the chairs, but also those restoring them—bringing hope, purpose, and dignity on both sides of the story.
If your church or community has a manual wheelchair, crutches, canes, or walkers that are no longer in use, please consider donating them to Joni and Friends. Your gift can literally change a life. Contact the following to schedule a wheelchair drop-off or pickup or learn more about how we can help provide free training for congregations or schools:
Central California (Sacramento-Fresno)
(916) 953-7434
centralcalifornia@joniandfriends.org
Bay Area
(925) 452-8772
(Fred Hammer is a consultant on the CNH Disability Committee.)