In January 2016, Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADNet) and Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries extended an agreement to work together to advocate for persons with disabilities in the church. Since 2014, the Church of the Brethren has had a representative serving on the ADNet board of directors and has worked in cooperation with ADNet’s mission to “support Anabaptist congregations, families, and persons touched by disabilities to nurture inclusive communities.”

This renewed agreement provides for increased cooperation in disabilities ministry over the next three years. Debbie Eisenbise, Director of Intergenerational Ministries for the Church of the Brethren with primary staff responsibility for disability ministries in the denomination, serves on the board of Anabaptist Disabilities Network. She will work with ADNet staff, Kathy Nofziger Yeakey, executive director, and Christine Guth, program director, on developing resources and providing communication to support families, individuals, and congregations ministering to and with persons with disabilities of all kinds, including mental illnesses.

Church of the Brethren congregations with such a ministry emphasis are invited to join the Open Roof Fellowship for mutual support and encouragement. The Church of the Brethren commitment to this ministry is rooted in the 2006 Annual Conference resolution: “Commitment of Accessibility and Inclusion (ADA)” by which the denomination pledges “to work to ensure that all may worship, serve, be served, learn and grow,” and to examine and rectify barriers to persons with disabilities with the goal of making all denominational sites accessible.

Rebekah Flores, a member of the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, Illinois, serves as an ADNet Field Associate on behalf of the Church of the Brethren.  She is a resource person for the districts, congregations and denomination of the Church of the Brethren.  In 2016, she will serve as an ombudsman for persons with disabilities at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in South Carolina.

Anabaptist Disabilities Network currently has three volunteer Field Associates serving in Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. A fourth, who writes for the ADNet blog, currently lives in the United Kingdom.  ADNet staff and field associates are available for consultation, workshops, and presentations on issues related to disabilities.

Organized in 2003, Anabaptist Disabilities Network is a national inter-Mennonite advocacy ministry committed to nurturing inclusive communities. Contact Anabaptist Disabilities Network at 877-214-9838, ADNet@ADNetOnline.org or visit www.ADNetOnline.org.