In this episode, Sara Pot and Tom Reynolds share their experiences with religious education in universities and the Christian school system. In this conversation about spiritual formation, disability, and art, Tom and Sara talk about how they’ve seen churches do well in the area of religious education and what might be done differently.  

You can read Sara’s column in The Christian Courier at christiancourier.ca/author/sara-pot-columnist. To learn more about her work visit canchild.ca, and to follow her on Twitter search for @SaraPot3.

Tom’ s book A Vulnerable Communion can be found at  bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/vulnerable-communion/269870 and his article Care in the Messy Middle  in the Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health, and Disability jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/article/view/40813/31194. You can email him at [email protected]

View episode transcript: https://www.newleafnetwork.ca/disabilityandthecanadianchurch/ep5

What is ableism? How else can we talk about this concept? Learn from Dan Vander Plaats and Meagan Gillmore as hey wrestle through these questions, share stories of their experiences, and offer insight on how the Church might advocate for change.

Listen to Meagan’s podcast, Connecting Disability, wherever you get your podcasts or at  ami.ca/Connecting-Meagan

The 5 Stages of Changing Attitudes by Dan Vanderplaats can be found at wheaton.edu/wheaton-center-for-faith-and-disability/disability-foundations/the-5-stages/ or by searching Dan’s name on the internet.

Meagan Gillmore is a freelance journalist currently based in Ottawa. She has worked for news organizations in the Yukon and New Brunswick and covered labour issues for rabble.ca. As a freelancer, her work has appeared in publications including: Broadview,CBC, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Faith Today and Christianity Today. She’s reported on disability news and policy for Accessible Media Inc.’s programs since 2016 and currently hosts the podcast Connecting Disability on the Accessible Media Inc. podcast network. Meagan was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2022 and a Digital Publishing Award in 2021 for writing and reporting related to disability. She won the David S. Barr Award in the college division from The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America in 2011. Religious Education and Disability

Dan Vander Plaats is the Vice President of Advancement, Marketing, and Communications at Elim Christian Services, a Christian disability ministry based in Crestwood, Illinois. Dan serves on the advisory committee for a bi-denominational Disability Concerns committee. In 2009, he developed “The 5 Stages: Changing Attitudes” to help churches and individuals assess and change their attitudes toward people with disabilities, and he’s the author of Changing Attitudes about Disability and a co-editor of Everybody Belongs, Serving Together: Inclusive Church Ministry with People with Disabilities. He is married to Denise (Hiemstra) and is father to Ben and Emma.

View episode transcript: https://www.newleafnetwork.ca/disabilityandthecanadianchurch/ep4

Join us for a lively conversation with Chantal Huinink and Ray Ellis about accessibility, self-advocacy, advocating for others, and the importance of relationships.  

 Both Ray & Chantal have written for the Disability and Faith Forum at www.disabilityandfaith.org You can learn more about Our Voices Matter at christianhorizons.org/ourvoicesmatter. If you’d like to get in touch with Chantal, Ray, Jasmine, or Keith please email [email protected]

Chantal Huinink is a motivational speaker, author and social justice advocate. She is Coordinator of Organizational and Spiritual Life for Christian Horizons and has founded Faith and Wheelpower Ministries. Chantal is a Christian Reformed chaplain and a Waterloo Regional Councillor.

Ray Ellis is a member and leader of the of Ottawa/Kingston chapter of Our Voices Matter, a self-advocacy group. He represents his local chapter at the Our Voices Matter Council, which is made up of self-advocacy leaders from across Ontario. Ray has a long history of self-advocacy and leadership. He loves politics, being involved in his community, and wants people to know that his disability means he can’t speak or walk but he does enjoy having fun! 

View episode transcript: https://www.newleafnetwork.ca/disabilityandthecanadianchurch/ep3

This week we speak with Cynthia Tam and Stephen Bedard about autism and the church. Cynthia and Stephen help us to learn from multiple perspectives: parent, pastor, professional, self-advocate, ministry leader, and author. We talk about friendship and family, kinship and community, the language we use and the beauty of communication beyond words.

You can find Stephen’s writing on the Disability and Faith Forum at disabilityandfath.org and at his website  stephenjbedard.com. You can order Cynthia’s book Kinship in the Household of God through her website cynthiatam.ca or on Amazon.

Cynthia Tam is an ordained minister and the National Coordinator for Disability Ministries with the Alliance Canada. Having Completed her Ph.D in Theology she is involved in teaching in the Alliance Stream at Tyndale University.  With a professional background in occupational therapy, Cynthia co-founded Village Eulogia for Families with Special Needs and continued to serve families with children with disabilities through this organization.

Stephen Bedard is an author, pastor, autistic advocate, and parent. He has a DMin in the area of disability ministry from Acadia Divinity College. He lives with his wife Amanda in Brookfield NS and is co-pastor at Brookfield Baptist Church. Stephen’s oldest two children have autism and live in a group home setting. Stephen is the author of How to make Your Church Autism Friendly.

View episode transcript: https://www.newleafnetwork.ca/disabilityandthecanadianchurch/ep2

Tune in for our first episode - an honest and vulnerable conversation about healing vs. curing, barriers to accessibility, finding belonging in church communities, and resisting normalcy.

Your hosts Jasmine and Keith are joined by Bethany McKinney Fox, a public speaker, contemplative, and the author of “Disability and the Way of Jesus,” and Matt Arguin - a Community Member with Wish to Be Home and an Associate Anglican Priest in London.

You can find Matt’s Prayer in Time of Pandemic at  https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/article/view/35010 and Bethany’s book Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic healing in the Gospels and in Church here: https://www.ivpress.com/disability-and-the-way-of-jesus

Matthew Arguin is Assistant Curate-Coordinator of Outreach and Evangelism at Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church, Diocese of Huron, Anglican Church of Canada.

Bethany McKinney Fox is founder of Beloved Everybody, an ability-inclusive faith community in Los Angeles where people with and without intellectual, developmental and other disabilities, as well as neurodivergent folks, lead and participate together. She is the author of “Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church.” She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

View episode transcript: https://www.newleafnetwork.ca/disabilityandthecanadianchurch/ep1