Arms Open Wide

12 Orthodox Christian Pilot Parishes to Focus on Disability Awareness and Accessibility

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12 Orthodox Christian Pilot Parishes

I have been remiss in that I have not shared this before. It has been almost a year since this program was initiated.

“On Behalf of All: Toward an Accessible Divine Liturgy for Children with Disabilities” campaign has begun to choose twelve Orthodox Christian communities as Pilot Parishes which will create or enhance accessible worship ministry efforts for children with disabilities through a Nurturing Children through Worship and Prayer Grant Initiative awarded by Lilly Endowment Inc.”

Here they are!

Here’s an update from July of last year. It describes the training process for the program:

Milestones, On Behalf of All

This is a big step for disability awareness in the Orthodox Church!

Toward an Accessible Divine Liturgy for Children with Disabilities

Temple Grandi: What It Feels Like to be Autistic

Published January 12, 2026 accessibility , development , stories Leave a Comment

Reflections on the Feast of Theophany: God’s Power is Manifest in Weakness

Published January 5, 2026 Christ , Church , gifts , Orthodoxy , prayer , stories Leave a Comment

From the website of St. Elizabeth Convent

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God’s Power is Manifest in Weakness

On this night of the Theophany, we are all one with our Lord. For our sake, He came to this world. He restored us to His inheritance and showed us that our true homeland is not in this finite world, but in His eternal kingdom of Heaven. We partake of His Body and Blood to have everlasting life. We must accept these gifts with gratitude; they are ours to keep.

Sin lives in us and keeps us from following God. But God has returned sanctity to us, to our bodies and our souls, giving us all it takes to live forever.

We have a choice, but once we have chosen the way of God, we will remember that He is near, and leading us forward. We know it and have no doubt, despair or fear.

We gathered here today for an overnight service, where attendance is always a feat of giving to the Lord a piece of ourselves. In the words of the Holy Fathers, give blood, accept the spirit.

There is great wisdom in these words. We take a lot from the Lord, and He gives us generously. But we also need to give something to Him, which is not easy. We must give to the Lord our strength, abilities, time and some of our comforts to take from him His spirit.

Our engagement in this struggle is a form of living in the spirit. In it, we discover our infirmities. We also become aware of them in our troubles and illnesses, which are given to us to learn that our future is not made by our hands, but by God’s love; that we do not create it by our personal accomplishments, but that we achieve salvation by our humility and patience. In our trials, we learn to build a genuine relationship with God and overcome our sense of autarchy and conceit.

Tonight, many of us have taken the Body and Blood of Christ into us. We are also taking the Holy Water, which we will bring home to sanctify our dwellings as our domestic churches. We will sprinkle this holy water on our loved ones who could not join us at church for some reason. Let us keep this relic close to our hearts and guard our minds and spirits against sin. O, Lord! Glory to You!

Archpriest Andrey Lemeshonok

Sin lives in us and keeps us from following God. But God has returned sanctity to us, to our bodies and our souls, giving us all it takes to live forever.

We have a choice, but once we have chosen the way of God, we will remember that He is near, and leading us forward. We know it and have no doubt, despair or fear.

We gathered here today for an overnight service, where attendance is always a feat of giving to the Lord a piece of ourselves. In the words of the Holy Fathers, give blood, accept the spirit.

Archpriest Andrey Lemeshonok

Access the video by clicking on the You Tube title into a new tab

“… the Mighty One entered, and put on insecurity …”

Published December 29, 2025 Christ , families , gifts , international , Orthodoxy , patristic , prayer , stories , Theotokos Leave a Comment

Your mother is a cause of wonder: the Lord entered into her
and became a servant; He who Is the Word entered–
and became silent within her;
Thunder entered her and made no sounds;
there entered The Shepherd of all,
and in her He became the Lamb, bleating as He comes forth.
Praise to You to whom all things are easy, for You Are almighty.

Your mother’s womb has reversed the roles:
the Establisher of all entered into His richness,
but came forth poor; the Exalted one entered her,
but came forth meek; the Splendorous one entered her,
but came forth having put on a lowly hue.
Praise to You to whom all things are easy, for You Are almighty.

The Mighty one entered, and put on insecurity
from her womb; the Provisioner of all entered–
and experienced hunger; He who gives drink to all entered–
and experienced thirst; naked and stripped
there came forth from her He who clothes all!
Praise to You to whom all things are easy, for You Are almighty.

a

An excerpt from St. Ephrem the Syrian’s Nativity Hymn 11, translated by Sebastian Brock, the distinguished Oxford Syriac scholar (The Harp of the Spirit, Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius, 1983).

Saint Ephrem the Syrian

St. Elizabeth Convent: Ministry to Children and Adults with Disabilities

Published December 22, 2025 Christ , Church , development , Orthodoxy , prayer , stories , vision Leave a Comment

To Access:

St. Elizabeth Convent: People With Diss abilitie

(Ministry to Children and Adults with Disabilities)

St. Elizabeth Convent, located in Minsk, Belarus, is consecrated to God in every way, but especially in the singing of praises and to a mission of mercy. The page on their website displayed above describes the various aspect of this ministry along with eight stories that illustrate these efforts, this labor of love, or rather the celebration of this love.

A Video about the Ministry and also . . .

Nativity Chants by their choir:

Multiple Intelligences

Published December 15, 2025 development , foundational , gifts 1 Comment

Just as we all have our limits, our disabilities, we all have our strengths. As St. Paul shows in his first letter to the Corinthians, even the “weaker” brother’s gift is indispensible (12:22) (“Weaker,” like “the least of these,” is really from the human point of view; whatever gifts we have, natural or spiritual, are from God, and we are equally human in His eyes.)

The theory of Multiple Intelligences illustrates this. Nine intelligences have been identified: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and existential. And there are probably more. A person with disabilities has abilities. One or more of these intelligences are his natural gifts. And God gives spiritual gifts which may or may not align with the natural ones.

He who has eyes to see, let him see; he who has ears to hear, let him hear- each person’s possibilities. In the RESOURCES:

7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences; Revised and updated with information on 2 NEW Kinds Of SMART, by Thomas Armstrong, PH.D.

That God’s Works Might Be Revealed: Stories of Saints, Sickness, and Disability

Published December 8, 2025 Christ , Church , inspiration , international , Orthodoxy , patristic , stories , U.S. ministries , vision Leave a Comment

Check out this book on Goodreads: That God’s Works Might Be Revealed: Stories of Saints, Sickness, and Disability, by Charlotte Riggle: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231580752-that-god-s-works-might-be-revealed

And at the author Charlotte Riggle’s Webpage: https://charlotteriggle.com/

And at Park End Books: https://parkendbooks.com/ (The picture below is from our Church parish’s bookstore)

More Practical Disability Resources from Summer Kinard

Published December 1, 2025 accessibility , Christ , Church , development , families , inspiration , Orthodoxy , prayer , stories , U.S. ministries , vision Leave a Comment

Here is a list of some of Summer Kinard Disability (Abilities!) Posts this year. She overflows with practical approaches!

And here is the overflow: her Disability Resource Page

Disability Resources

Letting her speak for herself:

Thank You, Lord . . .

Published November 24, 2025 Christ , Church , gifts , inspiration , Orthodoxy , patristic , prayer , vision Leave a Comment

Thank You, Lord, for our daily bread- what we need, when we need it, from Your loving hand. On Thanksgiving and forevermore. You are the living Bread which has come down from heaven and given life to the world.

The CD Akathist of Thanksgiving was written by Metropolitan Tryphon in a Soviet Prison Camp, where he passed through the shadow of death into the eternal loving Presence of God. In the midst of great terror and privation, he found within the illumination to grasp “the beauty of the universe … the festival of life … the bread of eternal joy.” Here is an excerpt:

through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:57) To order copies of this CD or to read the Akathist of Thanksgiving in its entirety see this website: Saint Ignatius Church: Akathist of Thanksgiving

“Glory to you, for every sigh of my sadness … for every moment of joy … for the fragrant lillies of the valley and the roses … for the morning dew, shining like diamonds … I kiss reverently the footprint of Your invisible tread … for the last rays of sunlight … for rest and the gift of sleep … for providential encounters with people … for the love of relatives, the devotion of friends … for our tireless thirst for You … Who have broken the spirits of darkness … for the genius of the human mind … for the life-giving strength of work … Who grant my wishes when they are good … for Whom there is no such thing as a hopeless loss … Who send failures and sorrows to us so that we might be sensitive to the sufferings of others … Who have raised love higher than anything on earth or in heaven … for providential coincidences … for the guidance of a secret inner voice … for revelations in dreams and when awake … Who destroy our useless plans … Who humble pride of heart to save us … for the unfathomable life-giving power of grace … Who have raised up Your Church as a refuge of peace for an exhausted world … Who breathe new life into us with the life-giving water of Baptism … Who restore the purity of immaculate lillies to those who repent … Glory to you, inexhaustible abyss of forgiveness … Who led us to heaven … Who have loved us with love immeasurable, deep, Divine … Who have surrounded us with light, and with hosts of angels and saints … Glory to You , all Holy Father, Who have willed us Your Kingdom … all Holy Son, the Way the Truth, and the Life …all Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age … Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful … unto ages of ages.”

“Thanks be to God, Who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Accessibility Is About Communion – Fr. John Chryssavgis

Published November 17, 2025 accessibility , Christ , Church , gifts , inspiration , Orthodoxy , patristic , vision Leave a Comment

Fr. John Chryssavgis explains that accessibility is more than merely making it possible for people with disabilities to enter church buildings. Accessibility is about communion and communication. Listening and learning from those affected by disabilities is integral to our call as fellow members of the Body of Christ.

Here they are!

Here’s an update from July of last year. It describes the training process for the program:

This is a big step for disability awareness in the Orthodox Church!

See also (a clearer list included):

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Access the video by clicking on the You Tube title into a new tab

Access the video by clicking on the You Tube title into a new tab

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a

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To Access:

(Ministry to Children and Adults with Disabilities)

A Video about the Ministry and also . . .

Nativity Chants by their choir:

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He who has eyes to see, let him see; he who has ears to hear, let him hear- each person’s possibilities. In the RESOURCES:

7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences; Revised and updated with information on 2 NEW Kinds Of SMART, by Thomas Armstrong, PH.D.

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Here is a list of some of Summer Kinard Disability (Abilities!) Posts this year. She overflows with practical approaches!

And here is the overflow: her Disability Resource Page

Letting her speak for herself:

Share this:

Thank You, Lord, for our daily bread- what we need, when we need it, from Your loving hand. On Thanksgiving and forevermore. You are the living Bread which has come down from heaven and given life to the world.

through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:57) To order copies of this CD or to read the Akathist of Thanksgiving in its entirety see this website: Saint Ignatius Church: Akathist of Thanksgiving

“Thanks be to God, Who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

See also: http://frted.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/glory-to-god-for-all-things-ode-6-illustrated/

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