One in the Spirit—People with Disabilities Belong Involving Persons with Disabilities in Worship

This article was written by Dr. Thomas B. Hoeksema in 1990. So many of the thoughts and ideas contained in the original article were still helpful for us to hear today but needed to reflect current language around disabilities and point to newer resources. Lindsay Wieland Capel, a colleague of Dr. Hoeksema’s, agreed to provide that update. 

Harold Wylie was an elderly member of Grace Church with an intellectual disability. Though ambulatory, he walked with difficulty; his language skills were limited. Conversation with Harold consisted mainly of a few stock phrases, the most frequent being "How ya doin' buddy," accompanied by a pat on the back. Harold spoke this line many times each Sunday, occasionally with a twist. Once I heard him greet our pastor with the words, "Hello, you devil you!" Only Harold could get away with that, though others of us were tempted to try!

One communion Sunday I came to understand the importance of Harold's presence in our congregation in new ways. The liturgy that day included "come forward" communion. Small groups were ushered to the front of the sanctuary where they assembled in a semicircle to receive the bread and the wine as the rest of the congregation sang softly. Harold was part of a group seated near the back, and the other members of his group had all moved to the front before Harold had made it even halfway down the aisle. His greeting, "How ya doin' buddy," could be heard easily as Harold stopped to pat the shoulders of friends he passed. An elder, noticing that Harold's group was nearly through being served, walked fifteen feet down the aisle and put his arm around Harold. Harold did the same, and together they walked to the front. At that very moment the congregation was singing a verse from "We Are One in the Spirit:" "We will work with each other, we will work side by side, and we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride." It was as if the moment had been scripted ...

Worshiping with Harold and others like him taught members of our church much about faith and about the nature of Christian fellowship. Yet many people with disabilities like Harold's remain on the fringes, never a true part of the worshiping family of God.

It's time for change.

Persons with Disabilities Make the Church More Complete

By neglecting to include persons with disabilities, the church impoverishes itself. Rev. Harold Wilke, a United Church of Christ pastor who, incidentally, happened to have no arms, said it this way: "A church is [disabled] unless it has persons with [disabilities] within it. Only when all of God's children are present are we truly the body of Christ" (Wilke, "Keynote address to Presbyterians for Disabilities Concerns Conference," 1989). Did you catch that remarkable idea? Without disabled people, the church itself is disabled!

The Christian church often has responded with compassion to the needs of those with disabilities; however, it is time to move beyond that. Christians today must learn that weak and strong together are needed in the church—that those who are imprisoned or hungry or disabled possess precious gifts for us.

Churches who wait to make changes until someone with disabilities joins their congregation will likely never attract such a person.

What are these gifts? People with disabilities have many of the same gifts that people without labeled disabilities possess. Just because a person is unable to see print does not mean she cannot read from the Bible. The need to use a wheelchair does not silence a solo-quality voice. Intellectual disability does not diminish the genuineness of one's public profession of faith. People with disabilities can and do use their gifts in worship in the same ways as others do.

Dr. Lamar Harwick, who went by The Autism Pastor wrote, 

In Acts chapter 2, the apostle Peter reminds the community on the opening day of the church that “… God says I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.” This means that making the shift from ministry for to ministry with persons with disabilities is not only an opportunity it is an obligation. God’s spirit rests on all people without distinction.

When members of the disability community are left without opportunities to serve their local churches in meaningful and fulfilling ways, the church is at best only at half strength because God has poured his spirit into them so that they may also pour out their lives in service to him and his church. 
—Our Churches Are Incomplete If People with Disabilities Don’t Have Opportunities to Serve, Key Ministry, 2018

Jesus is revealed in persons with disabilities. In contrast to Western culture, which glorifies health and athleticism and which canonizes achievement and productivity, the gospels depict life—Christ's and ours—as a mixture of strength and weakness.

Christ invites us to lives of discipleship in community. In a culture where independence and self-sufficiency are valued, the presence of people with disabilities reminds us that we all have needs and we all have gifts. As members of the body of Christ we are not independent, we are interdependent. As author and disability advocate, Amy Julia Becker writes,”You are needed. You are needy. We need each other.”  (“You Are Needed: Disability, Interdependence, and the Body of Christ,” Feb. 2026). 

People With Disabilities Help Us to Understand Worship as Dialogue

 In worship we meet God. But it is not a meeting and a conversation between equals. We do not earn the right to enter into dialogue because of our excellence in singing, our eloquence in prayer, or our expressiveness in reading Scripture. When persons with disabilities participate in visible roles in worship, we are reminded that we can come to God just as we are. 

Worship with Persons Who Have Disabilities Calls Us to New Understandings of Communion

The celebration of the Lord's Supper is an act of remembrance; we remember who Christ is and who we are—the community of believers. In his speech to the "Merging Two Worlds Conference" in 1987, Parker Palmer taught that the opposite of "to remember" is not "to forget," but "to dismember"—to cut off from humanity. We live in a dismembering world that separates people and puts them into categories. When we focus on people as having intellectual disabilities, mental health disorders, substance use disorders, or as being queer, it can create distance between people. How sad it is that often we know better how to divide than to unite.

Part of what happens at communion is that we re-member who we are—one body made up of many parts. Harold Wylie taught me and other members of my church a great deal about re-membering that we are one in the Spirit—all of us, whatever our strengths and weaknesses are. He also taught us some important things about the Lord's Supper.

A deep truth about communion is that in it we experience oneness with Christ and oneness with each other. It is communion for the saints as well as communion of the saints. The sacramental ritual unites us to Jesus Christ and unites people with and without disabilities to each other.

Persons with Disabilities Are Called to Ministry

Just as God called Moses to lead in spite of his speech problems and the apostle Paul to witness in spite of his "thorn," persons with disabilities are today being called to minister to those who are TABs (Temporarily Able Bodied). No doubt some of you can think of ordained pastors who are blind, who have cerebral palsy, or who use wheelchairs.

The fact that God calls all kinds of people to ordained ministry has implications for seminaries and for the architectural design of churches, particularly the pulpit area, but that goes beyond the scope of this article. The point is that God does not call perfect people to ministry. Each person called to ministry has strengths that equip them for the work and challenges that they face.

God calls laypersons with disabilities to minister to and with us as well. 

Some Good Policies and Practices for Involving Persons with Disabilities 

Today as never before the doors of churches are opening to persons who have a variety of disabilities. Some of the following changes and decisions often come along with the open doors, making it possible for persons with disabilities to become full and active members of the worshiping community.

Inclusive churches make their sanctuary accessible. 

People must first of all be able to get into the sanctuary. Churches who wait to make changes until someone with disabilities joins their congregation will likely never attract such a person. Modifications to parking spaces, curb cuts, ramps, and elevators may all be necessary.

Inside the church still other changes may be needed—changes that remove barriers to sight, sound, and understanding. Interior modifications may include making available such resources as braille and large-print bulletins, sign language interpreters, and removing pews or chairs in multiple places so that people who use wheelchairs or walkers can choose where to sit.

A congregation that believes involving persons who have disabilities is important will do an assessment of barriers and seek to eliminate them. Many helpful resources exist such as the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America’s church accessibility audit or the United Methodists Church’s annual accessibility audit.

Inclusive churches are careful about language. 

Editor’s Note: Language around disabilities continues to change and evolve. The following section has been updated to reflect the thinking of 2026 while still honoring the intent of the original author. 

With our words we distance or bridge distances; we include or we exclude.

Many people prefer person-first language where the focus is on the person, not the disability. Examples of this are, “people with disabilities,” “Juan has schizophrenia,” or “Betsy uses a wheelchair,” as opposed to “schizophrenic” or “wheelchair user” or worse, “wheelchair bound.” However, some people prefer identity-first language because their disability is a primary part of their identity. Examples of this are, “Henry is autistic,” or “DeShawn is disabled.” A good rule of thumb is to use the language the person uses about themselves. In addition, diminutive forms of first names such as "Tommy" or "Kenny" should be avoided when addressing adults; and, on formal occasions at least, Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms. should be used.

Ableist language and imagery appears in some of our church music, as well. When we sing, “We stand and lift up our hands?” in “Holy is the Lord” by Chris Tomlin, are we excluding those who aren’t able to stand and people who don’t have hands? Might we just choose not to sing the verse in “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” which uses words like “dumb” and “lame” and implies erasure of disability through worship?

We must be sensitive to language. It is not only a matter of balance in perspective but a matter of justice. With our words we distance or bridge distances; we include or we exclude.

The way we talk about people reflects how we view them and shapes our interaction with them.

Inclusive churches use special environments only as a last resort. 

Most people with disabilities can participate in regular worship activities in the same environment as everyone else. When people with disabilities are grouped together in a separate environment for worship, everyone loses. If a person who is disabled cannot do all parts of a worship activity, it is better to provide an accommodation or assistant than to provide a different setting.

WE NEED EACH OTHER: A Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 for Seven Voices

While this is set for seven voices it could easily be rearranged for fewer voices with individuals reading more than one part, or even read by a single voice.