July 11, 2025 • 14 mins
Disability ministry has dramatically evolved over decades, shifting from institutionalization and separation to comprehensive inclusion recognizing every person's value as part of the body of Christ.
• Statistics show the US population with disabilities has increased from 10-12% in the 1960s-80s to 26% today
• Historical treatment often included institutionalization, hiding people with disabilities, and devaluing their lives
• True inclusion requires addressing physical, social, and spiritual needs—not just installing ramps
• Biblical perspective teaches that those who seem weakest are actually "indispensable" to the body of Christ
• Modern approaches include sensory accommodations, education, advocacy, and community engagement
• Our value comes from our Creator, not from our abilities or limitations
• Despite progress, over 80% of Americans with disabilities remain outside church walls
For deeper dives into these topics and more, check out indispensable-people.com and visit Amazon to purchase the books "The Indispensable Kid" and "Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in Him and serveHim with the gifts that he has
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans havea disability.
That's 25% of the population.
(00:26):
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics biblical foundations,
perceptions, and welcome to thisepisode of Indispensable People
(00:55):
.
I have been thinking about justhow much the world of disability
has changed.
How much the world ofdisability has changed even from
the time that I started inministry, which has been about
10 years now, and the consistentthought in my mind has been oh
(01:18):
my word, so much has changed andI worry that I'll get behind,
I'll worry that I won't keep upwith what?
The new thoughts, the newverbiage, all of that kind of
stuff which really made meconsider.
Let's look back even further,like where, where?
(01:39):
Oh my goodness, I have justscary thoughts of what life was
like for people withdisabilities years and years ago
, and so I was looking up somestatistics, and the CDC in 1960
(02:00):
said that it was about 10% ofthe world's population had a
disability, which was about 18million people.
And then fast forward to the80s, which I was born in 1982.
And at that point they said 12%of the US population had a
(02:21):
disability.
And I would say from the 60s tothe 80s there probably was some
growth, but nowhere near theexponential growth that we have
had in the 90s and the 2000s.
And you know, you go back tothe 60s and you think of people
(02:44):
being institutionalized.
I believe that I've shared on aprevious podcast about one of
the episodes and it is a showfrom the BBC and it is, oh
(03:07):
goodness, call the Midwife.
Yes, and on that show at onepoint in time they were giving
medicine to moms I believe itwas for nausea and the babies
were being born with deformities.
(03:28):
And one baby was born and thenurse took the baby, who was
still viable, still living, andplaced it next to a cold window
because they just assumed thatit would be better off dead than
to live with the deformitiesthat it was born with.
(03:51):
To you know again, theinstitutionals, institutions and
onto those types of things, thehidden places.
I mean I, so I'm in in schoolthe majority of the 90s, right,
actually the whole decade.
I was in school at that pointand there was still a complete
(04:15):
separation of those who werebeing educated in the building
and those with IEPs or, you know, in the special ed program or
the behavior concerns, all ofthose kinds of things like those
were completely separated.
And we fast forward and I haveseen, you know where we have
(04:39):
gone to.
You know you have students inthe classroom with IEPs, you
have students that have moresignificant needs, that are in
(05:00):
separated classrooms.
Now we have really moved to,you know, total inclusion and
all of that kind of stuff, andwe go from the 60s and the 60s
and the 80s with 10 to 12% isthe statistics.
(05:23):
Oh goodness, my words arereally getting chopped up.
Today I can't sayinstitutionalized and now I
can't say statistics, but we'llget there.
So I guess what I'm thinking iswell, actually even what.
I looked up the statistics forthe CDC to see the numbers.
(05:45):
What was very distinct, thatsaid, under the numbers of 1960s
it said to remember that atthis point that was based on
what the definition andcollection procedures were at
that point in time.
So taking into consideration,you know, disabilities that
(06:07):
weren't even considered at thatpoint, named at that point you
know, understood, you know allof that kind of stuff.
And then you know we go to now.
So you look at the 10 to 12percent that was 1960s to 1980s.
And then we go now and it's 26percent of the world's
(06:32):
population has a disability.
That's a humongous jump and I'mso sorry I keep saying world's
population.
It is not the world'spopulation, it is the US
population.
It is the US population thatwent from 10 to 12 to now 26%
(06:53):
and it's been such a big jump.
And so let's look at some commonpractices that really, let's be
honest, if they existed commonpractices in serving people with
disabilities, especially in aministry context, if they even
(07:14):
existed, they were reallyrevolving around physical
accommodations, accommodations,maybe installing a ramp,
accessible seating, but oftenthose efforts really fell short
and they didn't foster genuineinclusion because they didn't
(07:35):
address the broader spiritualand social needs of people with
disabilities.
Again, it was just, you know,okay, well, we can say that you
can get in the building, we cansay that you can sit here and
you take today, where you havethe shift of, it's not just
we're looking at the physical.
(07:57):
What I say and what I teachwhen I train churches is that
it's not just physical, it issocial and it is spiritual.
And when we have full inclusionof all of those things, then we
really feel like we'reoperating as the body of Christ,
because we're not discountingone another for one piece or
(08:20):
part.
And that's why this podcast iscalled the Indispensable People,
because scripture says thatthose that seem the weakest are
actually indispensable.
That means we cannot be without, and that's really how our
ministry look, has to really bedone.
(08:41):
And again we look to the pastand first of all, we're hiding
people, we're allowing reallythe belief that their life
didn't or doesn't didn't havethe value to it.
Enough that, you know, I tellyou that story about call the
(09:02):
Midwife.
But I've heard stories fromactual parents tell me that when
there was, you know, suspicionthat their child had a
disability to abort or to, youknow, not engage, not to grow,
not to attempt to do things,because they would never amount
(09:24):
to anything.
But that's not where we aretoday.
We see the value and theincredible peace and part of the
body of Christ that each personis, and so we go the extra mile
in making the accommodations,not because of the disability,
(09:46):
but because every person has apurpose and every person should
be afforded the choice and theoption to hear the gospel and to
make a choice to change theireternity.
And we do that within includingthe inclusive worship services,
(10:07):
considering those sensory needs,making sign language available,
having hearing loops or largeprint materials all of those
sensory bags available at yourwelcome desks creating education
and advocacy within the church,not just taking on what the
(10:29):
world is saying about peoplewith disabilities because that's
its own understanding and notrooted in biblical pieces but
what we as the church and whatscripture says about them.
We're taking that into and notonly that.
We're going to educate andwe're going to train those
(10:52):
within the church to understandthose parts and those pieces so
that they can then be disciplesto those who are entering the
church.
We're going to engage thecommunity because we want the
(11:22):
community to understand where,within our communities, so that
we can promote the theology ofinclusion that is represented by
the Bible, not the theology ofthe world that says well, you're
21, so you can go to a bar.
It doesn't matter if youunderstand that or not.
You can go to this, you can dothis, you can be a participant
of that, because you know whatOther people are your age,
(11:44):
you're afforded those things.
It is saying you get your valueand your worth not from what
you can do and not who you are,but in who created you.
It says that you are a part ofthis body of Christ.
It says that, no matter yourability, god has a plan and a
purpose for your life and it isin his strength that we are
(12:07):
strong, not in our own strength.
So all of those messages areincredibly important.
The evolution of disabilityministry from the 60s and on
that we've been talking abouttoday have gone from minimal to
none to hidden, to theimportance of being inclusive
(12:33):
and being a part of the body ofChrist, from basic accessibility
to comprehensive engagementthrough social, spiritual and
physical inclusion, because weeach should be able to be
included in the body of Christ.
And as we continue to moveforward, we want to champion
(12:56):
inclusion and celebrate diversegifts, but we never want to do
it outside of the realm ofscripture.
We don't celebrate disabilityfor disability's sake, but we
never want to do it outside ofthe realm of scripture.
We don't celebrate disabilityfor disability's sake.
We celebrate Jesus and the onewho created each and every
person, because that is whereour value and worth comes from.
(13:18):
Thank you for joining me todayon Indispensable People, knowing
that this is a continuingevolving space where we will
continue not to evolve with whatthe world says, but diving
deeper into scripture and seeinghow that impacts the lives of
the people that we serve,especially those with
(13:40):
disabilities, in our churches.
Do I know everything aboutdisability ministry?
Do I have all the answers?
Have I done everythingperfectly?
I've absolutely not, but we aregoing to continue this
conversation so that people ofall abilities can have the
opportunity to know Christ, growin Him and serve Him with the
(14:02):
gifts that he has given them.
Know Christ, grow in Him andserve Him with the gifts that he
has given them.
For deeper dives into thesetopics and more, check out
indispensablepeoplecom and visitAmazon to purchase the books
the Indispensable Kid and GospelAccessibility and the
Indispensable People you.
Hi, my name is Tracy Correll and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a wife, mom, teacher,pastor and missionary, and I
believe that every person shouldhave the opportunity to know
Christ, grow in Him and serveHim with the gifts that he has
given, no matter their ability.
Over 65 million Americans havea disability.
That's 25% of the population.
(00:26):
However, over 80% of them arenot inside the walls of our
church.
Let's dive into those hardtopics biblical foundations,
perceptions, and welcome to thisepisode of Indispensable People
(00:55):
.
I have been thinking about justhow much the world of disability
has changed.
How much the world ofdisability has changed even from
the time that I started inministry, which has been about
10 years now, and the consistentthought in my mind has been oh
(01:18):
my word, so much has changed andI worry that I'll get behind,
I'll worry that I won't keep upwith what?
The new thoughts, the newverbiage, all of that kind of
stuff which really made meconsider.
Let's look back even further,like where, where?
(01:39):
Oh my goodness, I have justscary thoughts of what life was
like for people withdisabilities years and years ago
, and so I was looking up somestatistics, and the CDC in 1960
(02:00):
said that it was about 10% ofthe world's population had a
disability, which was about 18million people.
And then fast forward to the80s, which I was born in 1982.
And at that point they said 12%of the US population had a
(02:21):
disability.
And I would say from the 60s tothe 80s there probably was some
growth, but nowhere near theexponential growth that we have
had in the 90s and the 2000s.
And you know, you go back tothe 60s and you think of people
(02:44):
being institutionalized.
I believe that I've shared on aprevious podcast about one of
the episodes and it is a showfrom the BBC and it is, oh
(03:07):
goodness, call the Midwife.
Yes, and on that show at onepoint in time they were giving
medicine to moms I believe itwas for nausea and the babies
were being born with deformities.
(03:28):
And one baby was born and thenurse took the baby, who was
still viable, still living, andplaced it next to a cold window
because they just assumed thatit would be better off dead than
to live with the deformitiesthat it was born with.
(03:51):
To you know again, theinstitutionals, institutions and
onto those types of things, thehidden places.
I mean I, so I'm in in schoolthe majority of the 90s, right,
actually the whole decade.
I was in school at that pointand there was still a complete
(04:15):
separation of those who werebeing educated in the building
and those with IEPs or, you know, in the special ed program or
the behavior concerns, all ofthose kinds of things like those
were completely separated.
And we fast forward and I haveseen, you know where we have
(04:39):
gone to.
You know you have students inthe classroom with IEPs, you
have students that have moresignificant needs, that are in
(05:00):
separated classrooms.
Now we have really moved to,you know, total inclusion and
all of that kind of stuff, andwe go from the 60s and the 60s
and the 80s with 10 to 12% isthe statistics.
(05:23):
Oh goodness, my words arereally getting chopped up.
Today I can't sayinstitutionalized and now I
can't say statistics, but we'llget there.
So I guess what I'm thinking iswell, actually even what.
I looked up the statistics forthe CDC to see the numbers.
(05:45):
What was very distinct, thatsaid, under the numbers of 1960s
it said to remember that atthis point that was based on
what the definition andcollection procedures were at
that point in time.
So taking into consideration,you know, disabilities that
(06:07):
weren't even considered at thatpoint, named at that point you
know, understood, you know allof that kind of stuff.
And then you know we go to now.
So you look at the 10 to 12percent that was 1960s to 1980s.
And then we go now and it's 26percent of the world's
(06:32):
population has a disability.
That's a humongous jump and I'mso sorry I keep saying world's
population.
It is not the world'spopulation, it is the US
population.
It is the US population thatwent from 10 to 12 to now 26%
(06:53):
and it's been such a big jump.
And so let's look at some commonpractices that really, let's be
honest, if they existed commonpractices in serving people with
disabilities, especially in aministry context, if they even
(07:14):
existed, they were reallyrevolving around physical
accommodations, accommodations,maybe installing a ramp,
accessible seating, but oftenthose efforts really fell short
and they didn't foster genuineinclusion because they didn't
(07:35):
address the broader spiritualand social needs of people with
disabilities.
Again, it was just, you know,okay, well, we can say that you
can get in the building, we cansay that you can sit here and
you take today, where you havethe shift of, it's not just
we're looking at the physical.
(07:57):
What I say and what I teachwhen I train churches is that
it's not just physical, it issocial and it is spiritual.
And when we have full inclusionof all of those things, then we
really feel like we'reoperating as the body of Christ,
because we're not discountingone another for one piece or
(08:20):
part.
And that's why this podcast iscalled the Indispensable People,
because scripture says thatthose that seem the weakest are
actually indispensable.
That means we cannot be without, and that's really how our
ministry look, has to really bedone.
(08:41):
And again we look to the pastand first of all, we're hiding
people, we're allowing reallythe belief that their life
didn't or doesn't didn't havethe value to it.
Enough that, you know, I tellyou that story about call the
(09:02):
Midwife.
But I've heard stories fromactual parents tell me that when
there was, you know, suspicionthat their child had a
disability to abort or to, youknow, not engage, not to grow,
not to attempt to do things,because they would never amount
(09:24):
to anything.
But that's not where we aretoday.
We see the value and theincredible peace and part of the
body of Christ that each personis, and so we go the extra mile
in making the accommodations,not because of the disability,
(09:46):
but because every person has apurpose and every person should
be afforded the choice and theoption to hear the gospel and to
make a choice to change theireternity.
And we do that within includingthe inclusive worship services,
(10:07):
considering those sensory needs,making sign language available,
having hearing loops or largeprint materials all of those
sensory bags available at yourwelcome desks creating education
and advocacy within the church,not just taking on what the
(10:29):
world is saying about peoplewith disabilities because that's
its own understanding and notrooted in biblical pieces but
what we as the church and whatscripture says about them.
We're taking that into and notonly that.
We're going to educate andwe're going to train those
(10:52):
within the church to understandthose parts and those pieces so
that they can then be disciplesto those who are entering the
church.
We're going to engage thecommunity because we want the
(11:22):
community to understand where,within our communities, so that
we can promote the theology ofinclusion that is represented by
the Bible, not the theology ofthe world that says well, you're
21, so you can go to a bar.
It doesn't matter if youunderstand that or not.
You can go to this, you can dothis, you can be a participant
of that, because you know whatOther people are your age,
(11:44):
you're afforded those things.
It is saying you get your valueand your worth not from what
you can do and not who you are,but in who created you.
It says that you are a part ofthis body of Christ.
It says that, no matter yourability, god has a plan and a
purpose for your life and it isin his strength that we are
(12:07):
strong, not in our own strength.
So all of those messages areincredibly important.
The evolution of disabilityministry from the 60s and on
that we've been talking abouttoday have gone from minimal to
none to hidden, to theimportance of being inclusive
(12:33):
and being a part of the body ofChrist, from basic accessibility
to comprehensive engagementthrough social, spiritual and
physical inclusion, because weeach should be able to be
included in the body of Christ.
And as we continue to moveforward, we want to champion
(12:56):
inclusion and celebrate diversegifts, but we never want to do
it outside of the realm ofscripture.
We don't celebrate disabilityfor disability's sake, but we
never want to do it outside ofthe realm of scripture.
We don't celebrate disabilityfor disability's sake.
We celebrate Jesus and the onewho created each and every
person, because that is whereour value and worth comes from.
(13:18):
Thank you for joining me todayon Indispensable People, knowing
that this is a continuingevolving space where we will
continue not to evolve with whatthe world says, but diving
deeper into scripture and seeinghow that impacts the lives of
the people that we serve,especially those with
(13:40):
disabilities, in our churches.
Do I know everything aboutdisability ministry?
Do I have all the answers?
Have I done everythingperfectly?
I've absolutely not, but we aregoing to continue this
conversation so that people ofall abilities can have the
opportunity to know Christ, growin Him and serve Him with the
(14:02):
gifts that he has given them.
Know Christ, grow in Him andserve Him with the gifts that he
has given them.
For deeper dives into thesetopics and more, check out
indispensablepeoplecom and visitAmazon to purchase the books
the Indispensable Kid and GospelAccessibility and the
Indispensable People you.
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