Walking Together: How Disability Ministry Buddies Make Church More Accessible
Taught by: Ashley Belknap, Executive Director of Engaging Disability With The Gospel
Description:
This training will equip us to see buddies for those with disabilities not just as helpers in a classroom, but as a vital piece of lifelong discipleship and enfolding for individuals with disabilities. Participants will gain a gospel-centered framework for what a buddy is and isn’t, while exploring how buddies can serve across every area of church life.
In this training, we will learn:
- The Role of a Buddy: how buddies support children, teens, and adults with disabilities by fostering friendship, pointing to Christ, and encouraging spiritual and relational growth.
- Big-Picture Disability Ministry: why buddies are one type of support within a broader ministry of discipling and enfolding, and how to keep the goal of loving God and loving others at the center.
- Practical Skills: supporting individuals with or without a diagnosis, building relationships with families, and adapting supports as students grow and change.
- Lifespan Application: how buddy roles look different in children’s ministry, youth group, and adulthood, and how to encourage independence while providing consistent, dependable support.
Participants will leave with both vision and practical tools to help buddies flourish in their role—not as therapists or disability ministry experts, but as friends who walk alongside, love well, and help individuals impacted by disability grow in Christ and find their place in the body of believers. Our church already has a need for buddies and we would love for anyone who has an interest to attend this training!
