Welcoming and including people with disabilities


Welcoming and including people with disabilities

Vanessa Layfield is the Engagement and Inclusion Adviser for the diocese and has expertise in helping churches meet the needs fo those with disabilities.  She will visit churches to undertake disability audits.  Regular webinars help churches to include particular groups – those with dementia, or with autism, for example. 

We recommended the book ‘Widening the Eye of the Needle: Access to Church Buildings for People with Disabilities by John Penton (Church House Publishing)

  • The Additional Needs Alliance helps churches to include, support, create places of be-longing for, and spiritually grow children, young people and young adults with additional needs or disabilities.
  • Churches for all this umbrella organisation brought together many organisations with the aim of creating a more inclusive church through resources and education.
  • Disability and Jesus - A website set up by three Anglicans with disabilities to encourage others with disabilities to share their experience of church and explore the theology of disability, working towards a more inclusive church as a result
  • Go Sign - Formally Christian Deaf Link UK “Go! Sign” was inspired as a working name with a desire to obey Jesus’ commission to make disciples of deaf and hearing signers. At the same time, they seek to find ways to improve local churches for a better accessible, discipleship growth, information and resources.
  • Livability is a disability charity that connects people with their communities. They run disability care services and community projects for all ages.
  • (Causeway) Prospects merged with Livability in 2016. They provide accessible approaches to congregational worship and teaching as well as fellowship groups for people with learning disabilities  
  • Open Ears- A non-denominational Christian charity (Registered Charity 284487) for people who have various degrees of impaired hearing, mainly (but not exclusively) those who communicate orally, assisted by hearing aids and lip-reading.
  • Through the Roof - A Christian Disability charity working to transform lives in the UK and overseas, with resources to help all
  • Torch Trust's aims can be summarised as enabling people with sight loss to discover Christian faith and lead fulfilling Christian lives.
  • The Kairos Forum – According to the list in the back of the enabling churches handbook this organisation is a Churches for All Partner Organisation. On its website, it describes itself as “for cognitively and Intellectually Disabled People: Crafting communities of belonging through attention to the spiritual.” However, it also states that “The Kairos Forum, is an independent consultancy which serves to enable the lives of people who have disabilities and who have been Intellectually Disabled (KFCID).
  • The Mind and Soul Foundation - exploring Christianity and mental health. Our website provides high-quality resources to encourage, educate and equip the church and faith communities about mental health, combining good theology, good psychology and good medicine.
Page last updated: Monday 30th May 2022 8:13 AM
Privacy Notice | Powered by Church Edit