Disability Awareness Sunday

All people are 'Made in God's image'

In 2025, the theme for Disability Awareness Sunday is 'Made in God's image'. Join hundreds of churches across the UK - and the world! – to explore and celebrate disability inclusion. 

This year, Disability Awareness Sunday is 28th September 2025. But any Sunday can be Disability Awareness Sunday! Disability Awareness Week from 21st-28th Sept leads up to it. We are planning exciting new resources... coming soon!

Free church service resources

You can register to receive the new 2025 Disability Awareness Sunday (DAS) service resource free of charge, to be available in April 2025. Meanwhile, the 2024 resources and more are still available. Just complete the form below to access past resources right now, and new resources to follow.

Emily Owen: author of the DAS 2025 resource

We're thrilled that Christian author Emily Owen shares in this year's DAS church resource on the theme ‘Made in God’s Image’ (Genesis 1).  Emily will also feature in the 2025 resource video, sharing insights from her own lived experience of disability and hearing loss. Emily lost her hearing overnight aged 21 and has had numerous surgeries. Emily knows what it is to be broken, and she knows what it is to meet God there. But in our brokenness, we remain 'in God's image', as the imprint of God's nature in us all – including disabled and non-disabled people alike.

What happens in Disability Awareness Week?

Through the Roof encourages all churches to reach out and meet with disabled people in their community in Disability Awareness Week, and whenever you can. This could be through organised church events or through individuals inviting a disabled person they know to meet for a coffee to get to know them.

For Disability Awareness Week 2024, UCB radio also helped get disabled Christians voices heard by sharing five ‘disability diaries’ from people with lived experience of disability. There was a special launch service where Revd Helen Cameron preached (President of the Methodist Conference, Moderator of the Free Churches Group, and President of Churches together in England). The 2024 DAS launch service is still available to watch at: https://valeofstour.org.uk/daw2024 Through the Roof also shared video clips from Helen in Sept 2024. Follow this link to watch Helen's Disability Awareness Week videos on YouTube. 

The most important thing about Disability Awareness Week is that Christians in churches reach out and include disabled people fully in the life of their community. Join the journey today! 

Why is disability inclusion important?

Churches are often not aware of the many barriers disabled people can face on their journey to join, or be fully included, in church communities. Accessibility of church buildings isn’t the only barrier – there are lots of social and attitude barriers too, which are easy to overlook.

In a UK survey, 2 out of every 3 people said they felt ‘uncomfortable’ speaking with disabled people, and 3 out of every 4 disabled people reported experiencing negative attitudes or behaviour from others (Scope). Together, we can change this!

What is the ABC Journey of Disability Inclusion?

Through the Roof is working through Roofbreaker disability champions in local churches to break down barriers and ensure disabled people can fully belong and participate in church life. Roofbreakers and their churches are on the ABC Journey of Disability Inclusion from Access to Belonging to Commission (Matthew 28:19) to equip disabled people to use their gifts for God's glory.

Revd Andrew Miles (pictured) is a Roofbreaker who journeyed with Jesus through a life-changing accident and is serving in new ways through his disability. We are all on a journey of life and, as Andrew says, "Sometimes things aren't easy, but God is always with us." You can also follow this link to watch short clips of Andrew's lived experience. 

Andrew's disability journey is shared in the Disability Awareness Sunday 2024 video below. There's a whole church service resource built around the video for use how or when you choose – register to get this past resource, and be sent the new 2025 resource, at the end of this page:

What can we do?

Your church can raise awareness of how important disability inclusion is in church – it’s a Gospel issue!

God values each human life equally. Jesus did not make assumptions about 'fixing' the disabled people he met.  He asked Bartimaeus 'What do you want me to do for you?' (Mark 10:51). Jesus did not assume Bartimaeus wanted or needed physical healing. Even if our physical or mental make-up is not the same as others', we are all 'made in God's image'. It is what is inside us that matters most: ‘God looks on the heart’ (1 Samuel 16). 

Join UK churches to hold a Disability Awareness Sunday service or event, celebrating disabled people in our communities as 'made in God's image'. Include a prayer, or play a video story of someone's lived experience of disability, by accessing the free resources. Just register below. 

Register to access resources

FREE resource materials are provided to help you plan and celebrate Disability Awareness Sunday at your church – order them on the form below.

• A new resource pack for 2025 will be available from April on the theme 'Made in God's image', which includes a short video with Emily Owen, author and speaker, and a suggested church service outline. Register below and we will send you past resources now, and email you with the new 2025 materials when they are available.
• The resource pack for 2024 is currently available on the theme 'Journey with Jesus', which includes a short video on how God is with us on our journey, and a service outline. When you register, we'll give you access to past resources straight away. 
• If this is your first Disability Awareness Sunday, you may want to use the initial service resource based on the Luke chapter 5 'Through the roof' theme which contains a full range of videos, key messages, children's and youth ideas, prayers, and much more. Complete the form below now for access. 
• There are also free disability inclusion leaflets to order for churches in the UK (see foot of page).

To receive your Disability Awareness Sunday materials and more helpful disability inclusion resources in future, please complete this form: