Every Body Sacred: Welcoming Disability Pride Month

As June comes to a close, many Episcopal churches have spent the past month celebrating and honoring our LGBTQIA+ siblings. We have flown rainbow flags, prayed for justice, remembered those who have fought for equality, and recommitted ourselves to creating churches where every person knows they are loved by God.

Now, as we welcome July, we are invited to recognize another important observance that often receives far less attention:

Disability Pride Month

For many people, Disability Pride Month is still unfamiliar. Yet one in four adults in the United States lives with a disability. Disabled people are not a small or separate group. We are already sitting in your pews, serving on vestries, singing in choirs, teaching Sunday School, preaching from pulpits, welcoming newcomers, and receiving Holy Communion alongside you.

We have always been here.

At The Disabled Episcopalian, we believe disability is not a limitation on God’s love or a barrier to belonging in the Church. Every person is created in the image of God, every person has gifts to share, and every person deserves to know they are welcomed, valued, and loved. Disability Pride Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate those truths while reflecting on how our churches can become places where disabled people are not simply accommodated, but fully included in the life and leadership of the Body of Christ.

What Is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month is observed every July to commemorate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. The ADA was landmark civil rights legislation that prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities and opened doors that had long been closed. It expanded access to education, employment, transportation, housing, and public spaces, affirming that disabled people deserve the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

But Disability Pride Month is about much more than celebrating legislation. It is about celebrating people. It reminds us that disability is not something to hide or apologize for, but one part of the beautiful diversity of God’s creation. Like every aspect of our identity, disability shapes our experiences, our relationships, and the unique gifts we bring to the world.

What Does Disability Pride Mean?

The word pride can sometimes make people pause. Some ask, “Why would anyone be proud to have a disability?”

The answer is that Disability Pride is not about celebrating pain, illness, or the challenges that disability can bring. Rather, it is about rejecting the shame and stigma that society has too often attached to disability. It is the quiet but powerful affirmation that our worth is not determined by our mobility, our vision, our hearing, our intellect, our mental health, or our productivity.

For generations, disabled people were hidden away, institutionalized, denied educational opportunities, excluded from employment, or viewed primarily as objects of charity rather than as full participants in community life. Disability Pride challenges that history. It proclaims that disabled people are not problems to solve or burdens to carry. We are neighbors, parents, friends, teachers, artists, clergy, musicians, advocates, and faithful members of the Body of Christ. Our disabilities are part of our stories, but they are not the measure of our worth.

Disability Pride and the Gospel

As Christians, Disability Pride Month invites us to see disability through the lens of the Gospel rather than through the assumptions of our culture.

Scripture reminds us that every human being is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). That truth does not depend on our abilities, our independence, or our productivity. Every person reflects God’s image and possesses God-given dignity.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus consistently sought out people whom society had pushed to the margins. He welcomed those who had been excluded, touched those others refused to touch, and restored dignity to people who had too often been defined by their circumstances. While many Gospel stories include physical healing, Christ’s ministry was always about more than curing disease. Again and again, He restored people to community, challenged the barriers that separated them from others, and revealed that every person is worthy of love and belonging.

A Church Called to Belonging

Disability Pride Month also invites us to ask an important question: Are our churches truly places where disabled people belong?

Accessibility certainly includes practical considerations. Can someone using a wheelchair enter the sanctuary? Is the bulletin available in large print or an accessible digital format? Can a Deaf worshipper fully participate in the liturgy? Is there space for someone with autism or sensory sensitivities to worship without unnecessary barriers?

Yet accessibility extends far beyond ramps, elevators, and accessible parking spaces. Some of the greatest barriers are attitudinal rather than architectural. Do we assume disabled people are present only to receive ministry, or do we recognize that they are also called to lead, teach, preach, sing, serve on vestries, and share their gifts? Do we unintentionally speak to caregivers instead of speaking directly to the disabled person? True inclusion begins when we move beyond accommodation and embrace genuine belonging.

My Story

As many of our readers know, I am legally blind and use a guide dog. My blindness shapes how I experience the world, including how I experience church. Some congregations have thoughtfully provided accessible bulletins, described visual elements of worship, or quietly offered an elbow when guidance was needed. Those seemingly small acts communicate something profound: You belong here.

Other experiences have been more challenging. Furniture is moved without anyone realizing it changes the routes I have memorized. Printed materials are distributed in formats I cannot read. Sometimes people simply are not sure how to interact with a guide dog or how to offer assistance respectfully. Most of these moments are not rooted in exclusion but in unfamiliarity.

That is why accessibility begins with listening. It begins by asking, “What would help you participate fully?” Then it requires the humility to hear the answer and the willingness to act on it.

Every Body Welcome. Every Body Sacred.

At The Disabled Episcopalian, our tagline is simple: Every Body Welcome. Every Body Sacred.

Those words are more than a slogan. They are a theological conviction.

We do not become sacred once we are healed. We do not become beloved once we are independent. We do not become worthy because we can do everything ourselves.

We are sacred because we are God’s beloved children.

The Church is strongest when disabled people are not simply accommodated but welcomed as leaders, teachers, preachers, musicians, acolytes, Eucharistic ministers, vestry members, and friends. The Body of Christ is richer when every member is invited to share the gifts God has entrusted to them.

As we observe Disability Pride Month, I invite every congregation to do more than acknowledge the month on a calendar. Listen to the stories of disabled people in your parish. Look honestly at the barriers—both visible and invisible—that may prevent full participation. Ask what changes could transform hospitality into belonging.

Most importantly, remember that accessibility is not simply about meeting legal requirements. It is about living the Gospel.

May this July be an opportunity to celebrate the image of God reflected in disabled people, to recognize the gifts we bring to the Church, and to recommit ourselves to building communities where every person knows they belong.

Because every body is welcome.

And every body is sacred.