'Lives will be changed': New SBC disability framework seeks to create 'culture of belonging'
The Southern Baptist Convention is rolling out a new framework for disability ministry after messengers approved a slate of provisions that leaders hope will generate more resources and partnerships to help churches serve people and families affected by disabilities.
At the SBC Annual Meeting last month in Orlando, Florida, messengers adopted recommendations by the Disability Ministry Task Force to improve their disability outreach.
The diverse measures are being enacted throughout SBC entities and include hiring disability ministry specialists, state conventions offering grants to help congregations start special-needs ministries, seminaries offering disability ministry classes, and mission boards creating evangelism tools to reach people with developmental disabilities.
Tom Stolle, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware and chair of the task force, told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the measures are in the process of being implemented.
“In Southern Baptist life, churches are autonomous, but they join within state conventions to partner in local, national, and international missions through cooperative giving,” said Stolle.
“As state conventions serve local churches by aiding with training, resources and networking partnerships, churches will be helped to develop plans of inclusion of individuals affected by disabilities.”
Stolle, who has a son with autism and other intellectual challenges, believes that the “momentum will increase” on these endeavors once “national entities” like the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, as well as “state conventions develop materials and move forward.”
“Lives will be changed as churches adopt,” he continued. “More will follow the earlier adopters. We move forward step by step in the name of Jesus.”
The newly approved disability ministry framework for the SBC “represents a massive improvement,” Stolle said. Before the recommendations were approved, he said “there was no uniform set of recommendations for all areas of the SBC.”
“Individuals with hearts to serve did the best they could but often struggled to locate resources or others to help,” Stolle added. “As national entities and state conventions develop resources, I believe this will change. The desire to help will be met with the tools and resources to accomplish the task.”
Stolle stated that “the Gospel accounts clearly show that individuals affected by disability were important to Jesus,” and so “if it matters to Jesus, it must matter to His Church.”
“I hope the new framework results in many coming to saving faith in Jesus. I believe the new framework will allow the Church to do what Jesus did,” he continued. “Jesus saw individuals affected by disabilities, Jesus heard them, Jesus healed them, and Jesus included them. Jesus treated them not as ministry opportunities, but as priceless human beings.”
An important partner in these efforts has been the California-based disability outreach group Joni and Friends, which was founded and led by author and disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada.
“Advancing the Gospel requires commitment and bold determination,” Stolle said. “Joni and Friends, lovingly and tenaciously, shares the hope of Jesus with those that are lost and hurting.”
“I’ve experienced their commitment and passion. Many within Baptist life will experience the same in the days, months, and years ahead as we boldly advance, assisting churches to include individuals affected by disabilities.”
Christa Smith, who serves as the Joni and Friends ministry operations manager in Florida, was also a member of the disability task force who helped connect the body to important resources.
Smith told CP on Wednesday that the “important step by the SBC is deeply personal to me” as she is “a mom who has longed to see my son with disabilities fully welcomed in the church.”
“I know the joy of someone making room for him and the heartbreak when they do not. The SBC’s adoption of this recommendation tells families like mine, ‘you belong here,’” Smith wrote in an emailed statement.
“My prayer is that churches will not just pass resolutions but take the necessary steps to intentionally create a culture of belonging so people with disabilities are embraced as essential members of the body of Christ.”
