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October 2025
Dear Friends and Beloved of God,
There are many issues to contest and debate these days, so many anxieties that threaten to steal human joy, both outside and within the Church. Sometimes I can barely recover from the turmoil stirred up from one debate, before yet another social media frenzy rears its head to threaten my peace of soul.
As St Paisios said, and I try to embrace, “If I did not believe God would have the final say, I would have lost my mind.”
As we speak about issues related to accessibility and the full incorporation of members of Christ’s Body who have disabilities, even those of us in the throes of disability ministry at times struggle to find common ground. I pray for guidance, dig deeply into Jesus’ words in Holy Scripture, and seek to glean wisdom from the Saints to serve as a rudder in my efforts. Still, I fall short.
We are all works in progress, perfectly imperfect creations of a perfect Creator. I suppose it should not surprise me — as one struggling to serve Christ’s children and yet making mistakes —when fellow Christians:
- seem insensitive to the obstacles that persons and families with disabilities face
- are indifferent to requests for accommodations
- discount the talents willing to be offered to the Church
- lump our ministry efforts for those with disabilities into convenient political categories, perhaps to more easily dismiss real human needs calling for attention.
In the US, October is set aside as Disability Employment Awareness Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, Deaf Awareness Month, Invisible Disability Awareness Month, and awareness month for many other disabilities, syndromes, and conditions. We at GOARCH choose to recognize October more simply as Disability Awareness Month.
The more I speak to faithful Christians, the more convinced I am of the need for greater awareness and education regarding the lived experience of Orthodox Christians who have disabilities and their loved ones. We are not riding the wave of a political special interest group when we seek awareness of our experiences, as some might suppose. We are trying to live out our call as Christians to love one another — every other.
We seek awareness so that we and/or the children we love:
- will not be discounted in the life of our communities
- will not be feared or demeaned
- are seen as co-strugglers in Christ with all others seeking to grow in Him
- along with the entire Body, all grow together in the one mind of Christ, Who loves and cherishes us all.
In this newsletter, you will find a recap of the resources we have shared on GOARCH social media channels this past month to create awareness of the common human need for belonging to God and each other. I hope you will take the time to read, watch, or listen to at least one of the articles, videos, or
podcasts in this newsletter. I pray that in so doing, you learn more about a fellow human being and their unique life insights. Then, I hope you take one step further and act on what you learn to make your own community more welcoming, understanding, and incorporating of everyone's gifts by:
- Spreading the word by sharing these resources
- Talking to your church leadership about making a start toward improved accessibility
- Having an open mind about challenges you may encounter as you seek to make accommodations. There are tools, resources, and professional clinicians who can help. You just might learn a new thing or two about how to lovingly incorporate every member of your community into parish life.
- Being intentional about connecting with people who aren’t in your comfort zone socially, during Coffee Hour, or at Church events.
I promise you, we and/or the children we love will enrich your life and the life of your communities.
With faith, hope, and love,
Pres Melanie
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