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The “Equipping and Building Accessible and Whole Communities” panel at the 2026 Clergy-Laity Congress in Cleveland offered practical guidance for parishes to become more welcoming and supportive of people with disabilities and their families.
Speakers explored the theological reasons Christ calls us to welcome all, shared helpful and unhelpful practices for caregivers and people with disabilities based on lived experiences, and addressed the isolation caused by inaccessibility. With 20% of the population living with a disability, speakers explained how physical, educational, and socio-cultural barriers impact sacramental and community life, leaving parish families incomplete and unhealthy. Presenters shared strategies for educating greeters, parish council members, and clergy to foster inclusion, address pastoral needs, and expand accessible faith formation. Additionally, speakers identified and addressed barriers to accessibility by utilizing national ministry accommodations, resources, and assessment tools. Attendees received best practices, pastoral insights, and downloadable resources for parish use, drawing on successful pilot parishes to launch and sustain disability ministries for greater inclusion and pastoral care.
The panel was moderated by Fr. John Chryssavgis—Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne, theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues, and Executive Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute (HEI)—while speakers included Presvytera Melanie DiStefano, Resource Developer at the Archdiocese Department of Marriage and Family Ministry and Director of the On Behalf of All (OBOA) Initiative; Subdeacon Jeremy Swartz, Assistant Director of OBOA; Presvytera Maria Drossos, BBA, M.Div., advisory board member for Saint Catherine’s Vision and for HEI; and Priscilla Callos, M.Div., BCC (ret.), CT, co-founder of The Passing On Collective, LLC, and grief and accessibility coach with the Archdiocese’s On Behalf of All Initiative.
Fr. Chryssavgis and Subdeacon Jeremy will teach a course at Hellenic College Holy Cross entitled “The Broken Body of Christ,” which Subdeacon Jeremy described as an effort to restore community and dignity to people the Church has ignored. Drawing on Scripture, the Church Fathers, liturgical theology, contemporary scholarship, and lived experience, students will examine disability, healing, suffering, and communion through the lens of the Body of Christ, tracing the history of disability and Christianity’s impact on it, why things went wrong, and why we need to fix things now.
> For more information about the course, contact hei@hchc.edu or subscribe to the HEI newsletter.
Callos discussed the trauma and grief that comes with the lack of accessibility excluding individuals with disability from fully participating in our religious tradition and community. “We find a sense of belonging in community,” she said, “and exclusion can be passive. It is the failure to accommodate, it is the failure to include … There is the thought: ‘How can I be made in the image and likeness of God, yet the place and people whose presence is where I understand God tell me I am broken and cannot be here?’”
Pres. Melanie presented current initiatives under On Behalf of All: Toward an Accessible Divine Liturgy for Children with Disabilities (OBOA), funded by the Lilly Endowment. The five-year initiative nurtures children with disabilities, from birth to age 12, in worship and prayer, developing tools to enhance intergenerational worship. 12 parishes have been chosen for the pilot program, which has hired 22 accessibility coaches—individuals with lived experience of disability or serving as caretakers— who implement the tools and resources.
The St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival guidelines were also updated to include accommodations for youth with disabilities, and the Archdiocese’s Holy Eparchial Synod adopted a policy for service animals in Greek Orthodox churches beginning in September 2025.
Pres. Melanie outlined upcoming initiatives as well: research by Dr. Rob Saler on church views of disability; a partnership with Dr. Drew Baker and the Department of Religious Education to adapt the new DRE curriculum for students with disabilities; specialized OBOA training for Sunday School teachers; and a weekly curriculum for high-support-needs classes underway at St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church in Des Plaines.
OBOA is also enacting pilot-parish action plans based on assessments and fundraising for improvement and renovation projects, with whole-community retreats planned at pilot parishes in 2026–2027. Pres. Maria said these retreats will bring everyone together rather than further isolating individuals with disabilities. As a coach, she shares Archdiocese resources that parishes may not otherwise know about.
The panel emphasized accessibility is not simply about removing physical barriers, but about strengthening the Body of Christ by ensuring every person is welcomed, valued, and able to participate fully in the life of the Church. Through theological reflection, practical resources, and the growing work of OBOA, presenters encouraged parishes to view accessibility as an essential expression of Orthodox faith and hospitality. As pilot programs expand and new educational initiatives take shape, speakers expressed hope that every parish will become a community where all people and their gifts are embraced.
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