Annual Conference Packet

Disability Ministries Committee 2024 Annual Conference Disability Display Materials

Greetings in Christ!  The Disability Ministries Committee (DMC) has been busy this year, trying hard to equip you with relevant materials to help congregations welcome persons with disabilities for full participation in their ministries.  We launched a new, reorganized website, retaining the umcdmc.org address so you can easily find us.  However, you may need to use the following URL for your conference disability ministries webpage: https://sites.google.com/umcdmc.org/disabilityministriescommittee/.  Please check to ensure that the current link is not broken!

We updated every document we moved to the new site.  We identified gaps and wrote new materials to fill them.  The following are documents you can share at your Annual Conference Disability Ministries display table, or in whatever format you choose to communicate.

Accessibility: (Found in the “Resources – Accessibility & Accommodations” section):

• UMC Annual Accessibility Audit for Churches – the 2024 form retains the same questions but is reformatted to make it easier to score and understand, and the web addresses are updated.

• The Disability-friendly and Accessible Church Badge program flyer is updated for 2024.

• Accessibility Tip – Accessible Parking Guidelines – part of a new series of tips.

• UMC Find-A-Church Guidance – How to promote your accessibility on your F-A-C site.

Anti-ableism: (Found in the “Resources – Attitudes and Interactions” and "Worship Planning" sections):

• Able Privilege Scorecard – this tool is now scorable for a more reflective experience.

• Anti-ableist Liturgies – Adapting and proofing your order of worship - ways to eliminate ableist language in worship 

• Overcoming Ableism and Audism – this Resolution was adopted at the recent General Conference and outlines steps for agencies, conferences, and churches to take.

Engagement and Communication Tips:  (Found in the “Resources – Specific Disabilities” section) These offer a more empowering approach than the previous “Disability Etiquette” handout. The following are new:

• Engagement & Communication with Neurodivergent Persons

• Engagement & Communication for Environmental Sensitivities

• Engagement & Communication for Invisible Disabilities

• Engagement & Communication for Persons with Mental Health Conditions

• Dementia-friendly Worship Tools

Mailing list:

• Mailing Lists Sign-up Sheet - this is a form for you to collect names of individuals who want to subscribe to the DMC and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Committee newsletters.  Be sure to return it to us when completed!  Alternatively, you might show visitors how they can easily use the "Join our newsletter!" link below to sign up on their phone or tablet.

Brochures and Stickers available:

• Here is a pdf of the DMC brochure.

Please let us know if you would like DMC brochures and stickers (up to 50 for smaller conferences, up to 100 for larger conferences) to distribute at your display, the number needed, the date needed, and a mailing address.  Supplies are limited and requests will be filled in the order in which they are received. 

For more information: please contact us at Information@umcdmc.org.