News release: Disability Awareness Sunday 2025
[News bulletin also available in Welsh]
“My hearing had gone… God’s image was still in me…”
Emily Owen, an award-winning Christian author, lost her hearing overnight at age 21 and now lives with multiple disabilities. Ahead of Deaf Awareness Week: 5-11 May 2025, Emily shares that: “My hearing had gone… my legs wouldn’t move: God’s image was still in me.” Her inspiring story is shared in a new free resource for Disability Awareness Sunday 2025 (suggested date 28 September) from charity Through the Roof. It brings a simple but profound reminder: God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16).
No matter what we face in life one truth remains: we are all ‘wonderfully made’ in the image of God. That’s the heart of the powerful new video in which Emily shows that God has used her experiences and brought her ‘beyond silence’ (the Deaf Awareness Week 2025 theme).
Emily’s video is available now as part of a new church service resource by Emily, prepared for Disability Awareness Sunday 2025 on 28 September. But it can be used at any time, including for Deaf Awareness Week. Disability charity Through the Roof encourages all churches to use the resource, saying that ‘any Sunday can be Disability Awareness Sunday!’
A free resource for churches
All churches are invited to download the free ‘Made in God’s Image’ resource, including:
- Emily’s video testimony
- Suggested prayers and songs
- Sermon ideas on exploring God’s image in every person, linked to 1 Samuel 16
- Free handouts about being ‘Made in God’s image’ to encourage disability inclusion.
The resources are designed to help churches reflect, celebrate, and welcome all – because everyone belongs in the Body of Christ.
Why it matters
Too often, our culture – and sadly sometimes our churches – measure people against worldly ideas of “perfection”. This can lead to unspoken barriers, from physical access to attitudes of discomfort or exclusion. The statistics speak for themselves:
- 72% of disabled people report negative attitudes in daily life
- 67% of people feel awkward speaking to a disabled person. (Scope)
These barriers matter. They prevent people from using their God-given gifts and leave parts of the Body unrecognised and unreleased.
Jesus called us to welcome everyone. When churches fully embrace disabled people, we don’t just include them – we are transformed by their presence, perspective, and ministry.
What is Disability Awareness Sunday?
Disability Awareness Sunday 2025 is a chance for churches across the UK to begin or deepen conversations about inclusion of deaf and disabled people. It’s not about fixing things – it’s about opening hearts, listening, and taking the next step together.
Through the Roof encourages every church to appoint a Roofbreaker – a local disability champion who helps guide the church on a journey of Access, Belonging, and Commission.
What others are saying
Revd Helen Cameron, President of the Methodist Conference 2024–25, says in her videos for Disability Awareness Sunday:
“If joining in worship becomes hard because disciples are deaf or blind and no-one makes it accessible, then the story of love and grace is diminished – not by God, but by us.”
Emily Owen, writer of the new resource, says in the latest Methodist Connexion magazine:
“Disability Awareness Sunday is for you… A chance to come together, celebrating each other. Let’s not focus on complicated obstacles, but on simple essentials.”
Join the movement!
Let’s make Disability Awareness Sunday 2025 a turning point for our churches. Celebrate it 28 September or on a Sunday of your choice.
Download the free resources, show Emily’s video, involve disabled people, and take a step toward a church where everyone feels they truly belong.
📥 Get a copy the free resources (in English or Welsh) at:
throughtheroof.org/forchurches/disability-awareness-sunday
🙏 Share your heart for inclusion. Let’s transform lives together.
Grace Bloxham – Roofbreaker Co-ordinator for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England
Grace Bloxham is our Roofbreaker Co-ordinator for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England. In her spare time I love watching films, going on scenic countryside walks, reading, drinking good coffee, and listening to Taylor Swift.
She lived in the North of England her whole life until she moved to study at London School of Theology, where she met her husband Peter, and learned so much about God, the Bible and the Church. Grace grew up with a disabled parent, and was diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2021, so providing equal opportunities for disabled people has always been close to her heart.
If you would you like to know more about our Roofbreaker project and how you and your church can be involved then please get in contact with Grace Bloxham grace@throughtheroof.org