Naturally Inclusive
Naturally Inclusive by Ruth Wilson is an excellent resource for parents and educators looking for practical advice on helping young people with disabilities to connect with the natural world.
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All In Kickoff Retreat at Laurelville
Last week 41 participants from 19 congregations in 9 states gathered for a retreat to kick off the All In Project at Laurelville Retreat Center in Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
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ADN Honors Disabilities Pioneer
Dean Preheim-Bartel, a forerunner in disability ministry, died on February 5, 2026, in Goshen, Indiana at the age of 78. Dean was a leader of disability and mental health ministry for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA).
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Book Review: Blessed is the Body
This year’s Lenten devotional from Herald Press, Blessed Is the Body: Disability Justice and the Community of Christ by Tatum Tricarico, is a thoughtful and accessible reflection on biblical texts centering disability and how they can inform the life of the church.
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We Are Able Camp at Amigo Centre
We Are Able, a service-learning camp for adults with intellectual disabilities, will be held this summer at Amigo Centre in Sturgis, Michigan.
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ADN Welcomes New Board President
Jonathan Shively began his role as board president of Anabaptist Disabilities Network on February 1, 2026.
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Built for Everybody
Camp Friedenswald, a Mennonite camp in southern Michigan, has worked hard to make their camp a place that is accessible and welcoming for people of all abilities.
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All In Congregations
Nineteen congregations have been chosen to participate in the All In collaborative project, exploring ways to worship that are multisensory and accessible for people of all ages and abilities, especially children with disabilities.
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Blessed is the Body
Anabaptist Disabilities Network and Herald Press invite you to a webinar with Tatum Tricarico, author of Blessed is the Body, a Lenten devotional centered around disability justice.
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Worship for Everybody
What if our Church gatherings were designed with everybody in mind – from toddlers to elders, from disabled folks to neurodivergent thinkers?
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All In Info Session
All In Project Director Keli Boyer led a conversation about the All In Project: the application process, our resource partners, and the five-year plan for pilot congregations.
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Sensory Rooms
Sensory rooms are needed places of quiet in the midst of celebration. Here Sarah Werner shares about the sensory room at Mennonite Church USA’s biennial convention.
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An Anxious Presence
Board member and field associate JE Misz shares advice for how churches can welcome people with anxiety.
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ADN Conversations: All In Project Info Session
Are you curious about the All In project and wondering if it might be a good fit for your church? Join us for a live All In Info Session on September 30th at 6 PM Central/7 PM Eastern. We’ll share what participating congregations can expect and leave time for Q&A at the end.
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ADN Conversations: Creating a Sensory Space in Worship
A sensory space is a designated space that has fidgets, weighted blankets/lap pads, rocking chairs, wobble cushions, noise-reducing headphones, coloring, and other aids that help increase calm and focus for people who have sensory processing disorders, ADHD, anxiety or are autistic.
Do you have a sensory space in your worship space (or do you want to have one)? Where is it located in the worship space? How did you create it? What did you put in it? Who uses it? What has been helpful? What has been challenging? What benefits have you seen?
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All In: Immersive Worship for Everybody
ADN and the CoB’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department renewed their partnership to provide training, education, and resources that support congregations in becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities and mental illness.
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ADN Welcomes All In Project Director
ADN and the CoB’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department renewed their partnership to provide training, education, and resources that support congregations in becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities and mental illness.
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Schowalter Foundation Grant Supports Camp KIND
ADN and the CoB’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department renewed their partnership to provide training, education, and resources that support congregations in becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities and mental illness.
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ADN Welcomes New Communications Director
ADN and the CoB’s Discipleship and Leadership Formation department renewed their partnership to provide training, education, and resources that support congregations in becoming more inclusive of people with disabilities and mental illness.
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Resource Review: Believing and Belonging
Field Associate Sarah Werner reviews the anabaptist baptism & membership curriculum for adults with intellectual disabilities.
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Different is Beautiful
In this collaboration with Mennonite Women USA for Disability Pride Month, Sarah Werner redefines her disability as something to be proud of, not something to be ashamed of.
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Connecting with God in the Natural World
Sarah Werner shares about how she connects to God in the natural world.
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The Kin-dom of Heaven
In this poem, Sarah Werner provides an eloquent imagining of what it feels like to be wholly welcomed into God’s Community.
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Embodiment in Worship
Sarah Werner reflects on the church’s changing beliefs about physical disabilities and calls us to a more embodied approach to worship.
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Disability Across Cultures
Deborah-Ruth Ferber shares about her experience visiting a L’Arche community in Warsaw, Poland and the warm welcome she received.
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The Hope of Waiting
The season of Advent is about the hope of waiting. When you’re the caregiver to a child with a disability, your life is all about waiting.
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A Roadmap for When Life Gets Rerouted
Cam Taylor’s story is a personal journey with the health struggles, emotional impact, and sense of loss that he and his wife, Vicky, faced after they were involved in a traumatic motorcycle accident.
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Stories of Inclusivity
Many thanks to the many participants and volunteers who made ADN’s annual Circles of Love Banquet a success!
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Welcome Rachel!
Rachel Joy, supported by Portland Mennonite Church, provides a few hours of editing services to ADN monthly. ADN is thrilled by this partnership!
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Becoming more Accessible Fall 2017
At MC USA Convention in Orlando this summer, I led a workshop on autism in the church youth group.
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Teen Suicide: Four Ways Youth Pastors can be a Lifeline
Too often mental illness, self-harm, and suicidality goes unrecognized in youth. How can adults in the church intervene to be a lifeline?
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Designing Communications
In 2014, Columbus Mennonite Church implemented the Icon Bulletin. As one of our church’s accessibility advocates and the mom of two boys with Down syndrome, I wanted our church to have a bulletin that could be meaningful to non-readers.
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Madness
Madness: American Protestant Responses to Mental Illness, by Heather Vacek (Baylor University Press, 2015), examines the history of American attitudes and responses toward mental illness over three centuries.
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Introducing Mark Pickens
Mark Pickens volunteers with Anabaptist Disabilities Network as a Field Associate. Field Associates partner with ADN from their home location to offer their services in program areas that contribute to ADN’s mission.
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Walking by Faith
Pastor Dan Longmore shares a few suggestions about how you can be helpful to someone who is visually impaired.
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Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship
Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship, by Barbara Newman offers a plan, or process, for including people with disabilities in the church setting.
