Connections Newsletter Archive
Conversations on Baptism and Belonging
Emily Krabill talks about baptism, church, God, and what it means to belong.
This is the Way God Made Me
Katie Smith reflects on being fearfully and wonderfully made as a disabled person.
Made in God’s Image
Tony Miller wrestles with the ideas of healing, wholeness, and love.
Creating Spaces of Welcome
ADN’s free tool to assess a church’s accessibility to people with disabilities and mental illness.
Church of the Brethren Annual Conference
Accessibility Services, Equipping Session, Giveaways, and more!
Come as You Are? Thoughts on Healing
Jasmine Duckworth grapples with the idea of prayer and healing in the context of her chronic illness.
Little Deaths: Surrendering to the Life I Have
Reflecting on a chronic illness diagnosis, Laura Stone explores how she learned to surrender to a life she did not expect.
Book Review: Dancing with Elephants
Mindfulness Training for Those Living with Dementia, Chronic Illness, or an Aging Brain.
Service Opportunities for Young Adults
Register for We Are Able 2024
MennoCon Sensory Room
Anabaptist Disabilities Network hosted a sensory room at the national Mennonite Convention in July 2023.
MennoCon with ADHD & Autism
Landon Kauffman reflects on his experience at MennoCon.
Amplifying Our Witness
Cindy Warner Baker reviews the book, Amplifying Our Witness: Giving Voice to Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities by Ben Connor
Helping Brings Us Together
Emily Krabill reflects on the 2023 We Are Able work trip.
Building Community at Camp
At Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp, we provide a welcoming, peaceful gathering place where diverse groups of people experience life-giving connections with God, one another, and nature.
Accessible Summer Camps
A list of accessible summer camps in the North American midwest and eastern seabord
Accessible Gardening
Field associate Kathy Dickson talks about accessible gardening at Methodist Theological School of Ohio.
Connecting with God in the Natural World
Sarah Werner shares about how she connects to God in the natural world.
Blessed Youth
Sarah Griffith Lund discusses the importance of talking to young people about mental health.
Neurodivergence and Personal Growth
Sam Stoltzfus reflects on her struggles with neurodivergence in navigating college.
Telling the Whole Story
JE Misz shares about the importance of building resiliency for mental health in youth and young adults.
Fully Embracing Differences in God’s Garden
Tom Szambecki shares about his experience working with neurodivergent youth and the wisdom all youth can offer on inclusion and belonging.
The Comparison Game
An excerpt from Life on the Spectrum: Faith. Hope. Love. Autism. by Deborah Abbs.
Talking to God When You’re Nonverbal
Ann Hamlin explains what it’s like to pray as a person who is nonverbal.
Welcoming People with Memory Loss
Heddie Sumner offers ideas for congregations wishing to accommodate people with dementia.
God Never Forgets
John Swinton writes on the intricate relationship between God and a person with dementia.
The Gifts of Spiritual Community and Prayer in Navigating Dementia
Susan and Don Jeffers draw on the strength of spiritual practices and a community of support during Don’s dementia journey.
Putting Faith to Work
Erik Carter and Bill Gaventa discuss how churches can support employment for peopke with disabilities.
Competitive Employment Works
Douglas Gehr discusses strategies for employment for people with developmental disabilities.
Supporting From Within
Julie Foster offers advice for churches working to create employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.
Responsiveness and Relationship
Karen Pfahler talks about the importance of meeting the needs of children with disabilities in church and the special relationships that can form.
Helping to Lessen the Load
Alison Flory Reploge shares about the need for churches to help ease the load of families with children with disabilities.
A Place for Everybody to Play
Erica Landram talks about the building of the Lititz Tree house playground, an accessible playground for people of all abilities.
Seeing is Believing
How Frederick’s deaf community finds faith and fellowship through the use of American Sign Language.
Brothers and Sisters, Listen
Tyler Hartford reflects on the use of hearing in the Bible and offers ways congregations can be accessible to people with hearing loss.
An Introduction to Hearing Loss and Deafness
an introduction to the biology of hearing and how hearing can be damaged, as well as the options for someone experiencing hearing loss or deafness.
Resources for the Transition to Adulthood
Here are a few resources for navigating the transition to adulthood for people who have disabilities.
Growing Pains
Katie Smith shares her firsthand experience of moving from adolescence into adulthood with a disability and how she now helps students navigate this change.
Stepping Stones
Julie Foster discusses the importance of meaningful work for adults with disabilities and how the church can help.
Authentic Connections
Hannah Thompson talks about how she came to the Christian faith in college.
Weathering the Storm
Jonathan Shively shares about his experience working to provide a meaningful life for his adult son with an intellectual disability.
Book Review: White Picket Fences
In White Picket Fences, Amy Julia Becker examines how able-bodied privilege and white privilege have affected her life.
Practices for Resilience
Jeanne Davies shares practices that build resilience in the midst of the pandemic.
My Daughter with Down Syndrome Helped Me Understand Racism
Amy Julia Becker recounts how her experiences of exclusion with her daughter, who has Down syndrome, helped her understand racism in the US.
My Privilege and Disadvantages
Chou Hallegra Gabikiny reflects on the privileges and disadvantages that have shaped her life and her career.
Connecting with Older Adults during COVID
Paula Ziegler Ulrich shares ideas for connecting with older adults who are sheltering in place during the pandemic.
Cultivating Resilience
There are those who seem to defy the limitations of aging as they grow into the last decades of life. But the reality is that aging brings inevitable disabilities for everyone.
Life is Good
I am 82 years old. In spite of my age-related challenges, I believe that most of the time I can honestly say life is good.
For Someone of Your Age
Peter Graber reflects on the realities of aging and how these relate to our use of the term ‘disability.’
ADN Names New Executive Director
The ADN board is pleased to announce that Jeanne Davies has accepted the board’s appointment as the new ADN Executive Director, effective June 1, 2020.
Disability Across Cultures
Deborah-Ruth Ferber shares about her experience visiting a L’Arche community in Warsaw, Poland and the warm welcome she received.
New Dawn Educare Center
The New Dawn Educare Center is a day care, residential center and sheltered workshop in Taiwan.
Disability: a gift from God?
Alexandra Meneses Andrade reflects on the changing attitudes towards people with disabilities as an Ecuadorian Mennonite.
Considering the Intersections of Trauma and Disability
Dr. Sarah Jean Barton provides resources and education for congregations seeking to provide trauma-informed care.
Book Review: Does My Child Have PTSD?
What to do When Your Child is Hurting from the Inside Out
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Darial Sterling introduces how adverse childhood experiences affect a person’s physical and emotional well-being.
Trauma-Informed Care for the Congregation
Pastor Staci Williams provides an introduction to trauma and encourages grace and compassion when interacting with people with trauma.
We Are Able Workcampers Inspire
Karen Norton Biddle shares about being part of the We Are Able work camp over the summer.
Praying for Healing?
Rachel Joy recounts a discussion with a Colombian woman about the balance between seeking healing and valuing people with disabilities for who they are.
Slow Your Roll
One of the many blessings my youngest son, Luke, who has autism and is nonverbal, has brought me is this: He helps me slow down and live in the present.
Welcome, Emily!
We welcome Emily Hunsberger to Anabaptist Disabilities Network as a part-time Office Administrator.
Living with Auto-Immune Disease
No one knows why auto-immune disease comes, but it does. And when it comes we have to determine how we will deal with one disease, or perhaps several, and maybe a disability or two.
Can the Church Be Good News to People Who Use Drugs?
Chris Schaffner offers some practical suggestions for how the church can support those who suffer from drug dependency.
ADN Names New Executive Director
Anabaptist Disabilities Network welcomes Eldon Stoltzfus of Goshen, Indiana, as its new Executive Director beginning May 1, 2019.
The Oasis
Jeanne Davies talks about “The Oasis” a sensory space created for the recent National Youth Conference of the Church of the Brethren.
Discerning Baptism Together
Peter and Mary Graber share about their daughter Emily’s membership ceremony at Sunnyside Mennonite Church in 2008.