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By Christine Kumar
UMConnection Correspondent

During worship service, he paced back and forth down the aisle and when he tried to leave the sanctuary the ushers would hug him at the door and send him back to his seat. Ten-year-old Michael had autism. 

Deaconess Shelly Owen, a member of Bethesda UMC, works with people with disabilities and trusts that all people including those with disabilities need God in their lives. Owen recalls that Sunday when Michael was pacing back and forth and once the congregation sang “Jesus Loves Me,” he stopped pacing and sat next to a church member, put his head on his shoulder and listened to the song quietly. “We need to create a space for people with disabilities in our churches,” Owen said.

According to the 2010 census data, 56.7 million people (18.7 percent of the population) in the United States have disabilities, ranging from mild to severe form. This data excludes those who are institutionalized. 

Terri Cooney agrees with Owen and has dedicated her life to help those with disabilities. She leads a vital disabilities ministry at Mt. Zion UMC in Bel Air, her home church, for the past 36 years. Tuesday and Thursday mornings, more than 50 people with disabilities travel in buses from the ARC (organization that helps people with disabilities) and Pennsylvania to Mt. Zion where they can exercise, dance, play bingo and do service projects together. The church also has four other programs a week where more than 100 people with disabilities participate in activities and service projects. 

In addition to helping others in her church, Cooney and her husband, Jim, have raised children with special needs. She never thought she had the patience and faith to raise children who required special care and attention. She said that God led her and Jim to love and care for them. The Cooneys have eight adopted children, several with special needs. They also have one biological son, the Rev. Andrew Cooney, pastor of First UMC in Berkeley Springs, W. Va.

“The body of Christ needs all parts of the body,” said the Rev. Nancy Webb, chair of the Committee on Disability Concerns of the Baltimore Washington Conference. Webb is retired and works part-time at Grace UMC in Baltimore. 

As United Methodists recognize Disabilities Awareness Sunday the first week of February, Webb suggests that people who are challenged with hearing, walking, not being able to see or hear, Alzheimer’s and other disabilities, participate in the worship service. “We need to embrace the gifts of all people,” she said. 

Webb is blind and said that her mother and church encouraged her to follow her goals and dreams from a young age. Her white cane guides her as she uses public transportation to make hospital visits and do other pastoral duties. She said that she has been blessed to have many volunteers who have walked with her and helped her get around throughout the years. 

“Life expectancy for adults with disabilities is longer now than it used to be,” said Owen. “Everyone needs a church family.”