Created to Belong event in Kilmarnock
A fantastic in-person event in Scotland!
Created to Belong: Celebrating Disability in the Image of God
Saturday 23rd May, 9.30am-4.30pm
The Howard Centre, Kilmarnock
With a range of fantastic speakers and workshops: including worship, craft, drama, storytelling, music, quiet space and resources.
Tickets: £5 available at Eventbrite link below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/created-to-belong-celebrating-disability-in-the-image-of-god-tickets-1980704338997
The Created to Belong event is for all. We will be making this event as accessible and inclusive as possible for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, those of us who are neurodivergent as well as those people who are interested in inclusion. Let's celebrate together!
Guide dogs welcome! We will have BSL interpreters signing for us throughout the day. Please let us know if you have any specific access needs:
gill.lyth@prospectsacrossscotland.org.uk or KTempleton@churchofscotland.org.uk
Celebrating disability and being made in God's image
A day of celebrating God's image in all people, as we worship God together, reflect on His Word and practically look at ways in which we can embrace disability inclusion in our own lives and places of worship.
The day will be practical as well as time to engage with each other and worship God. There are workshops in working with wool, creating visual timetables for people with additional needs, and many more! Get the latest updates on our Created to Belong Facebook page.
Main speakers and Workshop Leaders:
- Jeremy Balfour - One of our Keynote speakers
- Janneke Klos from Count Everyone In, will be leading two Makaton workshops during the day as well as leading us in Makaton during our sung worship
- Suzanne Lofthus of Cutting Edge Theatre
- Centre for Autism and Theology
- Godly Play Scotland
- Scripture Union Scotland
Please join us for Created to Belong! As it says in Psalm 100 verse 3:
"Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him. We are his people. We are the sheep belonging to his flock."
This event is organised by Prospects Across Scotland, Reachout Together, SPRED Galloway and Through the Roof
News release: celebrate Disability Awareness Sunday 2026
Churches across the UK are being invited to take part in Disability Awareness Sunday 2026, with the release of a free, creative new resource available to download from Christian charity Through the Roof (www.throughtheroof.org).
The official date is 27 September 2026, though churches are encouraged to take part on any Sunday that works for them. The 2026 theme, ‘One Body, Many Parts’, draws on 1 Corinthians 12 and celebrates the truth that the Church is not complete without disabled people.
Seeing things differently
At the heart of the new resource is the vision of Triona Brading, a young autistic Christian, Roofbreaker disability champion with Through the Roof, and ministry trainee. She brings insight, joy and imagination to the biblical image of the Body of Christ.
Triona, who is a co-author of the new book Belonging Without Barriers, shares her perspective as an autistic Christian in the main video she made for churches to show for Disability Awareness Sunday 2026:
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’” Can you imagine it?
Body parts going rogue and breaking free of the body, hopping away and trying to live independently of one another!”
Her gentle humour opens up a powerful challenge: what does it really mean for the Church to live as one body, where every person — disabled or not — is welcomed, needed and able to play their part?
FREE resource for churches!
The free Disability Awareness Sunday 2026 Resource includes:
- Two short videos to show in a service/event (plus a youth video)
- A ready‑to‑use service outline
- Practical ideas for all-age worship and youth activities.
The resources are designed to help churches move beyond awareness towards Access, Belonging and Commission: the ABC of Disability Inclusion, and to spark conversations that can lead to lasting change.
Churches can access free resources now at:
throughtheroof.org/forchurches/disability-awareness-sunday
Show the video. Pray together. Celebrate every member of Christ’s Body.
As churches across the UK – and beyond – join in, Through the Roof hopes Disability Awareness Sunday 2026 will inspire many to say with confidence: we are one body, with many parts – and everyone matters.
Through the Roof’s mission is to transform lives through Jesus with disabled people. For more information, see our home page at www.throughtheroof.org .