Scripture says to ‘make a joyful noise,’ not a perfect noise
People of faith with disabilities should be given an opportunity to share their gifts in worship says Disability Concerns Consultant at APCE workshop
MEMPHIS — When Hunter Steinitz, M.Div., co-moderator of Presbyterians for Disability Concerns (PDC), once said that if the dedicated team of PDC volunteers had a motto, it might be, “We are small but mighty,” she could just as well have been describing the workshop she co-led last week.
Titled “Inclusion is Worship,” the Jan. 30 workshop at the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE) 2025 Annual Event attracted a “small” group from across the PC(USA), all “mightily” advocating for disability inclusion in church and society.
And calling for action now.
“The problem isn’t with the disability,” Steinitz said, “but with the barriers that get in the way.”
And yet despite the many barriers to full inclusion, attendees offered signs of hope.
“Our church is pretty much all accessible except for one upstairs room,” one participant shared with the group, “so that a girl with disabilities couldn’t go to the youth group room. Then, because they made a policy that no church activities can happen in a non-accessible space, the youth group room moved. I thought that was so amazing because often their reaction is to not do the right thing. I was thrilled with how that worked out.”
At the workshop, Steinitz — a ruling elder at Riverview United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh and the oldest woman in the U.S. with a rare genetic skin condition called Harlequin ichthyosis — was joined on Zoom by PDC clerk, Marijo Hockley, M.Div., and in Memphis by the Rev. Dr. Deborah Huggins, PDC co-moderator, who shared in facilitating the conversation.
Huggins, associate pastor of youth and children at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey, is also president of the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA). Hockley serves as the community life coordinator for New Life Presbyterian Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
As participants considered together — and in small groups — how and whether people with disabilities are embraced and included in their respective worship spaces, Huggins appealed to Steinitz and Hockley as disability liberation theologians for their guidance on interpreting relevant passages from Scripture.
“It can be very difficult for people with disabilities to lean back and find the hope that we have [in Jesus],” Hockley began. “Jesus heals them not because there is something wrong with them, but because there’s something wrong with society. … Because society is ill, Jesus heals the person with disabilities.”
In the broader context of biblical exegesis, Steinitz further explained the workshop’s title, “Inclusion is Worship.”
“Inclusion is worship because the body of Christ is made up of all these diverse members, all of them with a role to play,” said Steinitz, referencing 1 Corinthians 12:12. “That is very much true of people of faith with disabilities. Because they have gifts that they want to share, it’s all about giving them the opportunity.”
Both Steinitz and Hockley emphasized that while churchgoers have the expectation that everything be perfect, that’s not what scripture teaches.
“As many of you know, it’s hard for people to sit still and be perfect all the time,” said Steinitz. “But what does scripture say? ‘Make a joyful noise’ — not a perfect noise, not a well-rehearsed noise, but a joyful noise.”
Added Hockley, “Worship is not a Broadway show. We should be a faith family when we’re sitting in church. Things are not going to be perfect, but they are perfect in the eyes of God.”
Using a handout designed by PDC, participants began to build customized action plans for their own worship settings. They received — and were able to suggest additions to — a “Worship is Inclusion” resource list.
Attendees also received a copy of “Speaking Words that Welcome,” a QuickSheet produced by the PC(USA) Interim Unified Agency’s Office of Christian Formation.
Among the questions that were lifted up as the session came to a close was a heartfelt inquiry addressed to an educator in the room who had earlier self-identified as the mother of a child with autism.
Responding to the question, “How do you know it will be a safe space for your kid,” the parent, Annie Combs, replied.
“Having different tools, whether sensory, paper, coloring; and helping them choose where they want to sit, would help,” said Combs, Christian Education assistant at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina. “Showing and offering them different resources in the church.”
If the workshop had a single takeaway, it was perhaps the charge to be creative.
“You don’t just have to preach from the pulpit or be liturgist from the chancel,” Huggins said. “Church isn’t perfect. Church will always be messy.”
For more information about Presbyterians for Disability Concerns or to contact a Disability Consultant, click here.
APCE is an association made up of those who are serving or have served in educational ministries, as ministers, professional or volunteer educators, or students, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, The Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Moravian Church in America. The 2025 Annual Event was held at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
