The Vision
The Vision of the Disability Ministry Network is that all people with disabilities, their families, friends, and caregivers who wish to participate in Christian faith communities will be welcomed, included, supported, and involved in the life of a congregation of their chosen tradition.
The Mission
The Mission of the Disability Ministry Network is to build the capacity and enhance the impact of denominational and para-church organizations that promote inclusive congregational ministries for and with people with disabilities, their families, friends, and caregivers. The scope and focus of the Network is primarily within the United States, but connections are welcomed with those who share this mission in other countries.
Our Core Values
People are image-bearers of God.
All people are created in the image of God, each one with a variety of abilities and gifts.
Persons with disabilities are experts.
Decisions, initiatives, and other efforts on behalf of persons with disabilities must involve input from those persons, often said as “nothing about us without us.” Furthermore, persons with disabilities may have experience and skills in advocacy, articulating what it means to belong, and other areas pertinent to the work of DMN.
Accessibility is for everyone.
Projects, initiatives, conversations, and other opportunities utilize and promote universal design and accessibility for all.
Honor and grace permeate our interactions.
Participating members learn and pursue collaboration with mutual honor and grace, exercising hospitality toward one another above individual or organizational differences, to fulfill the vision, mission, and objectives of DMN.
Our History
The Disability Ministry Network (DMN) was founded in 2022 by Christian denominational agencies, regional and national non-profit organizations as well as consultants and educational institutions. These organizations provide resources and support for congregations and Christian communities to more fully include people with disabilities. DMN was built on the organizational structure and vision of Congregational Accessibility Network (CAN), holding to its roots in the tradition of the National Council of Churches former denominational disability ministry networking groups. With a revision of CAN’s bylaws, the first organizational meeting was held and the Disability Ministry Network was formed.
In 2023, DMN elected its first Board of Directors. There was significant enthusiasm with more than 40 organizations signed on as charter members, committing to participate in the organizational and financial support of DMN. In October of that year, With Ministries, with support from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), invited all DMN member organizations to a gathering in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Participants engaged in conversation about vision, dreams, and goals, and began planning for the future.
This led to the CICW awarding a grant to the Disability Ministry Network to study inclusive worship practices through conversation with constituents from each member organization participating in the study. Membership in DMN now includes nearly 50 denominational agencies, para-church organizations, independent consultants, and university and seminary centers focusing on disabilities, church, and faith.
Our Goals
Provide a network hub through which people with disabilities, their families, and friends, along with congregations and faith communities, can discover and build connections with faith-based organizations that provide assistance to enhance the full participation of persons with disabilities in the faith communities of their choice.
Increase knowledge of available resources and foster the skills for using those resources.
Increase the capacity of member organizations to develop strategies for working with faith structures, congregations and other organizations toward the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities.
Facilitate connections for professional and organizational development through mutual counsel with peers who do similar work.
Foster conversation, training, and projects around common issues through collaboration.
Provide a common forum for connecting with similar networks in other religious traditions and in other parts of the world.
Our Board of Directors
Jason Le Shana
President
Baylor Collaborative on Faith & Disability
About Jason
Reverend Jason Le Shana, Ph.D. is Program Director of the Baylor Collaborative on Faith & Disability, an initiative launched in 2024 to advance new scholarship, leadership training, and church impact at the intersection of faith and disability. Jason and his colleagues are passionate about connecting scholarly insights to congregational life through convening and training church leaders to better foster the belonging of disabled people and their families in church and community life.
Prior to his time at Baylor, Jason was a campus pastor for 13 years at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California where he led chapel programming and pastoral counseling efforts. As an ordained pastor, he has served in churches both large and small in pastoral staff and volunteer roles. In addition to his years serving college students and congregants with intellectual and physical disabilities, his calling to faith and disability work stems from his personal life experiences, including living with a physical disability and as the parent of a child with autism. Jason holds an M.Div. from Azusa Pacific Seminary and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Victoria (Tory) White
Vice President
King’s Table
About Victoria
Informed by her personal and professional experiences in ministry, education, disability, leadership, curriculum development, and Scripture study, Victoria (Tory) White is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and advocate for ministry with people of all abilities. Tory delights in spreading hope, sharing helpful strategies, and collaborating. As God calls, she encourages the church to exercise vulnerable leadership and acknowledge our need for people with disabilities. As the THRIVE program director for King’s Table, she facilitates local churches building community with nearby AFC group homes. As the Ministry Partnerships & Development Specialist for The Banquet Network, she coaches, develops resources, and promotes disability in ministry among churches everywhere.
Tom Jones
Treasurer
Faith Inclusion Network
About Tom
The Rev. Tom Jones is the executive director of the Faith Inclusion Network. He is the chair of the steering committee for the Texas Faith and Disability Network. Tom Jones has taught children with special needs for 25 years in Midland, Texas. He and First Christian Church started SHARE, a respite care ministry for children with special needs in 2005. In 2006, Tom initiated a collaboration to provide Sibshops, a support program for siblings of children with special needs. In 2009, SHARE became a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit which focuses on the unique needs of family members. As a person who had epilepsy for 40 years, Tom saw first hand how his disability impacted his family and the relationships within the family. SHARE became his way of providing supports to families of children with special needs that his family did not have. SHARE’s mission is to partner with families to support and strengthen their efforts to become strong and successful families. Tom guided SHARE as it developed a variety of respite care, parent support, and sibling support programs to support each family member and strengthen the family unit. In 2011, Tom led SHARE’s expansion to Odessa, Texas. In 2015, Tom became an ordained minister by the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) which recognized SHARE as the ministry Tom was called to serve. Tom served SHARE as the executive director until 2020.
Padraic Collins-Bohrer
Secretary
Heritage Christian Services
About Padraic
The Rev. Padraic “Paddy” Collins-Bohrer is a Priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester and a Faith Community Inclusion Specialist / Chaplain with Heritage Christian Services, an agency that supports people living with developmental disabilities in Rochester NY. He helps to connect people served by the agency with faith communities of their choice, offers prayer, builds relationships, and provides support during times of grief, illness, and at the end-of-life. His interests in ministry include exploring the portrayal of disability in the Bible and sharing his voice as an advocate for more clergy and seminarians who live with disabilities. Rev. Paddy lives with Cerebral Palsy and is highly-sought-after to preach on his journey to Ordination and about Disability Theology. He assists regularly as a Supply Priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester preaching and presiding at the Eucharist. Rev. Paddy earned his Master of Divinity Degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, Diploma in Anglican Studies from Bexley-Seabury Episcopal Seminary in Chicago, and Bachelor of Science degree in Media /Communications from Medaille College in Buffalo NY.
Cynthia Bauer
Board Member
Kupenda for the Children
About Cynthia
Cynthia Bauer’s mission is to create a world where children with disabilities are valued and included in their families, faith communities, and societies. She is the founder and executive director of Kupenda for the Children, an international Christian nonprofit that equips faith and community leaders to transform harmful beliefs about disability into inclusion and belonging, particularly in East Africa. Born without her right hand, Cynthia draws on her personal experience of disability alongside her professional background in public health and nonprofit leadership to advocate for disability inclusion globally.
Cynthia serves as a speaker, trainer, and consultant to churches, nonprofits, and global development organizations seeking to build more inclusive communities. Her story and Kupenda’s work are featured in the book An Unlikely Gift by Lauren Boswell Blair, which shares the organization’s founding and impact. She is also featured in the Kupenda documentary, which highlights faith-based approaches to disability inclusion.
Keli Boyer
Board Member
Anabaptist Disabilities Network
About Keli
Keli Boyer serves as the Project Director for All In: Immersive Worship for Everybody with the Anabaptist Disabilities Network. In this role, she partners with selected congregations over a five‑year journey as they reimagine worship, accessibility, and belonging within their communities.
Keli is passionate about nurturing congregations where people with disabilities are welcomed, valued, and fully included in the life and ministry of the church. She holds a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School.
Lindsay Wieland Capel
Board Member
Every Body Therapy and Consulting
About Lindsay
Lindsay Wieland Capel, LMSW is a disability consultant with organizations, and the churches they serve, through her business Every Body Therapy and Consulting. Lindsay’s work consulting, writing and speaking helps organizations intentionally create belonging and accessibility. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lindsay is also a mental health therapist, with a particular focus on people with disabilities and pregnant and postpartum women. Previously, Lindsay worked as the director of Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church in North America and has held a wide variety of roles in nonprofit leadership and working with people with disabilities.
Milton Keys
Board Member
Advocate’s Embassy
About Milton
Three words adequately describe the Reverend Doctor Milton Keys: Preacher, Teacher and Producer. Keys uses these three gifts to change the world. Although he was born with cerebral palsy, and a bleak diagnosis, Milton has let nothing stop him from achieving his goals. Despite being given a two-year life expectancy and being supposed to have severe cognitive disabilities, Milton has earned 3 degrees. He has produced and released 13 musical albums, 4 plays, 1 ballet, held 8 youth summits, and completed numerous small projects in the last two and a half decades. As a disability theologian, Dr. Keys has been working to promote the rights of people with disabilities and to create a more inclusive society. His writings and speeches are aimed at inspiring and empowering people to overcome their challenges and to achieve their goals. Keys is the founder and executive director of Advocates Embassy, an organization that helps churches create environments where people with disabilities feel safe, are welcomed, and have access to abundant life. In 2025, AE released Dr. Key’s first book, Finding My Place: A Devotional About Disability and the Human Experience. Dr. Keys is an ambassador from a world without boundaries.
Sarah Lund
Board Member
United Church of Christ
About Sarah
The Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund’s mission is to partner with others to share hope and healing. She is an ordained minister in both the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. Sarah currently serves as Minister for Disabilities and Mental Health Justice on the national staff of the UCC and as senior pastor of First Congregational UCC of Indianapolis, IN. She volunteers on the national boards of Pathways to Promise, Mental Health America, Bethany Fellows, and Piedmont University. In January of 2022, Sarah joined two US Department of Health and Human Services national Think Tanks, the first about faith communities and suicide, and the second Think Tank about faith communities and youth mental health. Sarah is the author of several books about mental health: Blessed are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family, and Church (2014), Blessed Union: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness and Marriage (2021), and Blessed Youth: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness with Children and Teens (2022), and a pocket-sized mental health resource book for youth: Blessed Youth Survival Guide (2022). Sarah blogs at www.sarahgriffithlund.com.
Barb Stanley
Board Member
Wonderful Works Ministry
About Barb
Barb Stanley is the Founder and President of Wonderful Works Ministry, an online disability ministry resource center that specializes in creating tools that churches need to support families impacted by disability through free training videos, classroom tools, and adapted kids’ Bible stories. She has a background in graphic design, church leadership, and ministry mobilization, and started her church’s disability ministry. Barb grew up with a brother who has autism and an intellectual disability, and she is a passionate advocate for disability ministry. She lives in Ohio with her husband, Brandon, and they have two grown sons. She also hosts the Wonderful Works Talks podcast.