Values and benefits of joining the map
The statement of values for Roofbreakers (disability champions) at churches/ministries on the map:
- We believe that we are all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and are equally valuable.
- We are working towards our church/ministry being committed to disability inclusion – including hidden disabilities. We all have unique gifts and talents to bring and this includes disabled people.
- 1 in 5 people in the UK are disabled. We believe that our church/ministry should reflect this. Without the involvement of disabled people, our church/ministry is incomplete.
- As Roofbreakers / disability contacts, we are available to speak with about concerns relating to disability. We will listen and work with disabled people to find ways around any barriers to church or Christian life.
- We realise we won’t always get everything right. We are continually learning and genuinely want to hear from people about what would help for full inclusion.
The aims of the map:
- To show a map of the churches/ministries across the UK that have a Roofbreaker / disability contact who is positive about disability inclusion.
- For churches/ministries to be able to give a positive message to disabled people in their local community: that they are working to improve disability inclusion and want to fully welcome disabled people.
- To celebrate working together as part of a bigger picture to reach and include disabled people, and to encourage other churches/ministries to join us in the journey of disability inclusion.
We want to support you by…
- Providing a FREE 2 hour Disability Awareness workshop (delivered on zoom at present) for churches/ministries who have a Roofbreaker who is ‘Positive About Disability Inclusion’.
- Offering access to our free downloadable ‘Church Toolkit’ covering the various areas of church life and providing unique guidance to equip your church/ministry to welcome and include disabled people.
- Allowing free download of our ‘Removing Barriers’ church access audit - enabling you to think through your whole church/ministry’s approach to disability inclusion.
- Helping everyone to discover the benefits of having a ‘Roofbreaker’ in their church/ministry. The Roofbreaker (or Roofbreaker team) will receive ongoing support from Through the Roof through monthly emails, events, area Roofbreaker Networks and a Roofbreakers’ Facebook group.
- Giving ongoing support to answer any questions regarding disabled access and to discuss any concerns, as well as sharing encouragement and prayer points.
Register at this link for your church or ministry to be included on the map.
What is a Roofbreaker?
Roofbreakers enable:
- Access
- Belonging
- Commission
for disabled people in churches and Christian activities.
Roofbreakers are individuals (or teams) in churches or ministries who listen to disabled people and work together with them to respond to the issues that arise, to enable full inclusion. Some Roofbreakers prefer to be known as a ‘disability champion’ or similar - that’s fine. 😊
The term ‘Roofbreaker’ comes from this account in Luke 5 about the paralysed man coming to Jesus:
“They went up on the roof and lowered the paralysed man on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus”
(Luke 5)
"Only 5% – 10% of the world’s disabled people are effectively reached with the Gospel" according to the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. So it is vitally important that our churches and ministries include everyone.
Roofbreakers and their churches are on a journey from Access to Belonging to Commission (Matthew 28:19) to equip disabled people so they can fully participate in the kingdom of God and use their gifts for God's glory.
To find out more, follow this link to our FAQs.
We now have over 1000 Roofbreakers across the UK and are praying for more people to join us.
Through the Roof will support Roofbreakers, as well as their churches and Christian ministries, with free disability awareness training and resources.
To join us as a Roofbreaker follow this link
Positive About Disability Inclusion
True disability inclusion is life changing. It is life changing for the individual who is now able to fully take part in Christian life. It is also life changing for the church as it receives the blessing of the ministry of disabled people and their individual gifts and talents.
Let's be Positive About Disability Inclusion
We want to encourage churches, ministries and individuals to see this as a true outworking of the gospel in your local communities. Through the Roof can assist by providing awareness, training and resources and by helping you to spread the message to your community that your church or ministry is positive about disability inclusion.
Our Roofbreaker Project is at the heart of Through the roof’s aim to encourage disability inclusion in churches and ministries. Follow this link to find out more about Roofbreakers.
Our Online map will show people where churches/ministries are with a Roofbreaker disability champion who is positive about disability inclusion. Follow this link to the online map.
Our Church Toolkit will give guidance for the different roles within the church and how they all have a part to play in making church life accessible and inclusive for disabled people. Follow this link to find out more about the toolkit.
Our Training and Resources will assist you to become more aware of what is possible. Follow this link to find out more about our training and resources.
Our Luke 5 Award gives disabled people the opportunity to recognise the positive impact of disability inclusion in their lives. Follow this link to find out more about the Luke 5 award.
Our Video stories show testimonies of disabled people sharing their own personal stories. Follow this link for our video stories.
Please do get in touch with us if you would like to find out more.
Together at Home: our online home group
Together at Home
Together at Home is a small online group that usually meets every Thursday on Zoom, 2-3pm. It offers the opportunity of meeting and making new friends, and encouraging and supporting existing ones, with a particular emphasis on praying for, caring for and sharing with one another all from the comfort of your own home.
Please come and join us for ‘Together at Home’ for a time of fellowship and prayer.
Date: Weekly, Thursdays, 2-3 pm
Time: 2:00-3:00 pm Thursdays
Where: ‘Together at Home’ (via Zoom link)
Cost: Free
How to join: Email together@throughtheroof.org in advance to register and get the link.
Your Hosts: Lis and Ian
Our two wonderful volunteers, Lis and Ian Johnstone, who have their own experience of living with disability, would be delighted to have you join them. This online community gives an opportunity for you to come together with others to share a time of fellowship and prayer.
If you are interested in joining this group, please email together@throughtheroof.org or call 01372 749955 and we will connect you with Lis and Ian.
Please spread the news and invite anyone you think would benefit.
Congratulations Myles! Our first Luke 5 Award
Congratulations to Myles Pilling – the first recipient of our new ‘Luke 5 Award’.
The new award is for churches, ministries, or individuals, who are nominated by a disabled person to recognise the difference they have made in enabling true inclusion in Christian life.
Luke 5 is the chapter in the Bible where the four men lower their paralysed friend through the roof to meet Jesus. This passage gives our charity its name, and also our ‘Roofbreaker’ Project. It is a fitting name for an award to celebrate Christian disability inclusion.
Myles was nominated for the award by ‘Frenchie’ who is Deaf and uses British Sign Language and is also partially sighted. Frenchie wanted to take part in the recent series of online events held on Zoom, but was unable to see well enough to select the correct screen to see the sign language interpreters. Myles stepped in to help.
After a lot of thought, Myles set up a separate video link with Frenchie so that he could display the sign language interpreter’s screen large on his own laptop, and send the images directly to Frenchie, who then had both a connection to the Zoom event and also a separate screen highlighting just the sign language interpreter. When the interpreters changed over, Myles ensured the right screen was displayed for Frenchie.
Myles literally made the difference between Frenchie feeling completely excluded and being able to fully take part – able to follow the whole content of the events and to contribute herself to discussions as well.
Here is what Frenchie said in her nomination about the difference this experience made for her:
“I never looked at myself as an anybody, I looked at myself as a nobody in the past, I didn’t think much of myself because people didn’t have much patience with me. But now all this has happened I’ve started to look in the mirror and not feel like punching myself for being useless, I’ve started finding identity which I never had before… it’s helped me totally accept myself for the first time. You have given me a voice that a lot of people can understand.”
We look forward to more disabled people nominating churches, ministries or individuals for this award. We are hoping that the stories the award highlights will encourage others to see the life-changing impact of true disability inclusion. We want to celebrate this and pray that it causes others to be inspired.
If you are a disabled person and would like to nominate a church or ministry, please see the Luke 5 Award page, call us on 01372 74995, or email Janet.
Luke 5 Award
Let’s Celebrate Disability Inclusion in Christian Life…
Our Luke 5 Award for Christian Disability Inclusion celebrates the difference made when barriers are broken down and disabled people are welcomed and fully included in Christian life.
“I never looked at myself as an anybody, I looked at myself as a nobody in the past, I didn’t think much of myself because people didn’t have much patience with me. But now all this has happened I’ve started to look in the mirror and not feel like punching myself for being useless, I’ve started finding identity which I never had before… it’s helped me totally accept myself for the first time. You have given me a voice that a lot of people can understand.”
From a nomination for the Luke 5 Award by ‘Frenchie’ – a deafblind lady.
Follow this link to the Luke 5 Award nomination form
Luke 5 is the account of the four men who brought their paralysed friend to Jesus and because he could not access Jesus because of the crowd, they found another way to bring him to Jesus and lowered him through the roof. This passage gives our charity its name, and also the name of our ‘Roofbreaker Project’.
There is much to be learned from the attitude of these four friends – yes, barriers do exist for disabled people, but yes – there are ways around these barriers! This is so often the case in many aspects of church life.
We would like to invite disabled people to nominate their church or ministry, or particular individuals, to recognise the difference they have made when steps have been taken to bring about full inclusion. We want to celebrate the difference this makes, and by doing so encourage other churches and ministries to see the great positives brought about through true disability inclusion.
- Follow this link to find out more about Myles, the first recipient of the Luke 5 award, and Frenchie, who nominated him.
- Follow this link to find out about Guildford Baptist Church's award
- Read all about Ingatestone Elim and the Journey Community's awards
- Follow this link to find out about award recipients Julie and Steve, and Elana, who nominated them
- Read all about recipients Angela and Carolyn, and Sarah, the Chief candle snuffer, who nominated them
- Follow this link to find out about recipients The Choir of Angels, and Minna, who nominated them
- Read about Parish Nurse Madeleine Watts, and the Stockport community she serves
- Read about recipients Cate Allen and the Rich Tea Community, and Margaret who nominated them
Follow this link to the nomination form
Luke 5 Award Nomination
Nomination form:
If you are a disabled person and would like to celebrate how you have been included in Christian life, fill in the details below. The recipient will receive a framed ‘Luke 5 Award’ certificate and if you are happy, we will share the story of what has been done so that it encourages everyone to think positively about disability inclusion.
Luke 5 Award nomination
As Roofbreakers, how can we equip our churches to develop their awareness of disability?
One of our Roofbreakers has kindly shared a few useful documents she has created, motivated by TTR's series of online 'Church Disability Inclusion' events. The purpose of these documents is for them to be shared with churches, to guide them towards disability inclusion as a new normal.
These documents are all in Word Docx format -- please email info@throughtheroof.org if that causes any problems, and we'll provide them in a different format.
Video Stories
It’s always a pleasure to chat to disabled Christians and hear their personal stories of belonging to a church or Christian ministry.
Watch these inspiring stories of Roofbreakers, including many disabled Christians, sharing their lived experience of disability in the church on YouTube.
"I reached a turning point in life. I needed to take ownership of my disability and trust God" – Katie, wheelchair user
"It's important that we don't just help disabled people, but involve disabled people in the church ministry' – Karen, an active disabled member of her local church
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to not miss these encouraging stories. You will also meet Roofbreakers as they share some practical steps to make their churches more inclusive.
If you want to share a story or your key message for churches, please follow this link to email Janet.
Other Resources
A range of publications, articles, resources and other content to inspire, encourage and challenge you and your church to explore disability issues from a Christian perspective…
- What are some of the top tips in becoming an inclusive church?
- How can I make my church Dyslexia-friendly?
- What does church look like from the perspective of disabled Christians?
- How can I encourage my congregation to be more aware of the needs of disabled people?
- How can I engage our young people more fully with God’s Word in inclusive ways?
- What simple adaptations can I make to welcome people of various disabilities?
- How does the Bible portray disabled people?
- One of our team wrote a great article for bethinking.org all about the Bible view of disability -- follow this link to read it, and find out more.