Connect
DMC financial secretary, Yvonne Caughman, preaching at a local church on Disability Awareness Sunday in The Baltimore Washington Annual Conference
Making connections is a good place to start! From this page you will find how to contact the Disability Ministries Committee of the United Methodist Church (DMC), sign up to receive our newsletter and other mailings, and learn how you can volunteer to help with our work. You can also locate your annual conference Committee on Disability Concerns or the entity responsible for this area of work. The UMC Find-a-Church and supporting documents will help you locate a congregation that can meet your accessibility needs. We have included links to UMC-related organizations that address additional aspects of disability.
Get Involved - Volunteer with DMC
Wanted: Volunteer Resource Persons
We welcome those who are willing to share their talent, skill, and passion for inclusion and accessibility through ministry with people with disabilities.
Come be a part of something bigger than yourself! There is much to do. You could…
Write an article about a success story from your church or district *If you are interested in writing for The Voice, our blog, or other publications, see our Author’s Guide.
Share a passion about a specific disability and its challenges that would relate to United Methodist church families.
Share your ideas
Use your technical skills or gifts of the Spirit to help United Methodists with disabilities or the committee itself
Consider working on fundraising for DMC
Become the Disability Advocate for your local church
Apply organizing skills to DMC projects
Provide visioning and big picture thinking to DMC projects and your local church or UMC conference
You can find more possibilities by reading our Resource Person Roles information sheet. We’d like to hear from you today!
To volunteer, please complete our Resource Person Application. If you have questions, please contact information@umcdmc.org.
If you are a hands-on person, please consider opportunities in your local church or conference. Offer to be in ministry with people who have disabilities, serving side-by-side. Options may include:
Participate in service projects alongside youth or adults with intellectual disabilities, e.g.,
Feed My Starving Children
Food Banks
Assembling UMCOR cleaning buckets for distribution to people who have faced natural disasters (i.e., flooding)
Serve in a team as greeter or usher alongside someone with a disability
Assist in classrooms to ensure full participation of children needing a little extra support
Ask to join your conference Disability Ministries Committee
Work with your local church trustees committee to address items needing improvement as noted in your Annual Accessibility Audit
Conference Disability Committees
UMC Disability Committees are located in the United States and globally.
UMC Find A Church
For Families and Individuals:
Use the online Find-A-Church directory to locate a nearby church that best meets your accessibility needs.
Scroll down until you see, "Search by location or church name" box and enter a location (zip code) to find churches with features such as: Accessible Restrooms; Accessible Entrances; Accessible Parking; Large Print Bulletins/ Hymnals; Hearing Devices; American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation (listed under languages).
To filter by need, under Filter Results (left side of screen), click on the + sign next to Accessibility and put a checkmark for the features you are looking for.
For Congregations:
Promote your congregation’s disability-friendly and accessible features on your Find-A-Church page.
United Methodist Communications has video tutorials to guide you through each step of updating your Find-A-Church (FAC) site. Sample of a church sharing their accessibility features.
FILTER RESULTS:
Users can check specific boxes to help find churches that are a good fit. Make it easy for them by promoting your accessibility and inclusion features. Your responses will be summarized in the upper right side of your FAC home page.
Ministries – If the eight general categories don’t work, be more specific in the Description section under Upcoming Events on your FAC home page.
Languages – Check “American Sign Language” if your services are ASL interpreted.
Online Worship – Check the box if your services are available virtually. Specific accessibility information needs to be in your Welcome* video.
Accessibility Services - check all the boxes that apply:
- Accessible Restroom
- Accessible Entrance
- Elevator
- Hearing Device
- Captioning
- Parking
Driving Directions - Describe where to find accessible parking and entrances and provide a Google Maps link.