Our Writers
The Key Ministry writing team brings together the leading voices in the disability ministry community. They are parents, ministry leaders, and self-advocates whose words will encourage and inspire you. Click below to learn more about each one.
Dr. Stephen grcevich
Dr. Stephen Grcevich (MD, Northeast Ohio Medical University) serves as the founder and President of Key Ministry. He is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. He blogs at Church4EveryChild, is a regular contributor for Moody Radio Cleveland and frequently speaks at national and international ministry conferences on mental health and spiritual development. His first book, Mental Health and the Church, was published by Zondervan in February 2018. Steve and his wife Denise live in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
Catherine Boyle
Catherine Boyle has been impacted by mental health issues her entire life, including her own struggles with anorexia, bulimia, anxiety and depression. Catherine authored Hungry Souls: What the Bible Says About Eating Disorder, and helped launch a ministry home for women with eating disorders. In 2015, Catherine founded Outside In Ministries, focusing on how the church can minister to and with people with mental health issues. Catherine lives in Richmond, Virginia and has been married to Barney since 1994. They have two children, Jack and Natalie.
SANDRA PEOPLES
Sandra Peoples is the author of Unexpected Blessings and Held: Learning to Live in God’s Grip (a Bible study for special-needs parents). She has an older sister with Down syndrome and a son with autism, giving her a unique perspective of life in a special-needs family. She and her family live outside of Houston, TX where her husband is a pastor. Connect with Sandra at sandrapeoples.com
Jolene Philo
Jolene Philo is the author of the Different Dream series for parents of kids with special needs. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She's also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Jolene is the author of several books for the special needs community, including Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman. Jolene and her husband live in central Iowa.
Joe & Cindi ferrini
Joe and Cindi are authors of Unexpected Journey – When Special Needs Change our Course who enjoy speaking on topics that will encourage men and women to make a difference in their sphere of influence by being all they can be for the Lord, their families, and themselves. They speak nationally for FamilyLife Weekend To Remember Get-a-Ways and are on associate staff of CRU.
Shannon Blosser
Shannon Blosser is the pastor of Pea Ridge United Methodist Church (Huntington, WV) and an advocate for autism inclusion in the small church. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has served churches in West Virginia and Kentucky. He writes on autism inclusion-related topics at shannonblosser.com and on his Facebook page, Autism Inclusion Mission. He is married to Abbi and they have two children, one of whom has special needs.
Lisa jamieson
Lisa Jamieson is a caregiver consultant, pastoral counselor, and author of popular books and Bible studies including Finding Glory in the Thorns and the picture book Jesus, Let’s Talk. Lisa and her husband, Larry, live in Minnesota with the youngest of their three grown daughters, Carly, who has Angelman Syndrome. Together, the Jamiesons founded Walk Right In Ministries in 2008, a non-profit organization building faith and community with special needs families. Lisa is the primary contributor on the Walk Right In blog sharing practical and spiritual encouragement for parents and other family members caring for children with health and developmental challenges.
Dr. Lamar Hardwick
Dr. Lamar Hardwick is a father, husband, pastor, and best-selling author. In 2014, after years of silently struggling with social anxiety and sensory processing issues, Dr. Hardwick was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is the author of Epic Church as well as his best-selling book, I Am Strong: The Life and Journey of an Autistic Pastor. Lamar is the pastor of New Community Church located in Lagrange, GA.
Jonathan mcGuire
Jonathan and his wife, Sarah, reside in Northeast Indiana and have been married for 16 years. He has two sons, ages 11 and 13. His journey in special needs began with the birth of their youngest son. Jonathan and Sarah are the founders of Hope Anew, a ministry that comes alongside the parents of children impacted by special needs on a spiritual and emotional level through speaking, writing, and workshops.
Evana Sandusky
Evana is a God-fearing wife and mother of two children. When she's not engaged in motherly duties, Evana is a pediatric speech-language pathologist where she serves babies and toddlers with autism, feeding disorders, and other developmental delays. You can connect with Evana on twitter, Facebook, and her blog, A Special Purposed Life.
Jess Ronne
Jess Ronne is an author, speaker, podcast host, and caregiver advocate. She is founder and executive director of The Lucas Project — a nonprofit dedicated to providing recognition, resources, and respite for special needs families. She and her husband Ryan live in Tennessee with their 8 children, including Lucas who has profound special needs. Her story of beauty from ashes has been shared on The Today Show, Daily Mail and Huffington Post and is detailed in her memoir Sunlight Burning at Midnight. To follow the ongoing saga she can be found at www.jessplusthemess.com or www.thelucasproject.org
Faith Clarke
Faith is a wife and homeschooling mom of three kids.. Her oldest, Jaedon, was diagnosed with autism at 2 years old. She blogs at Melody of Autism, which provides caregiver training, consultations, and care for families supporting loved ones with ASD. She is the author of Parenting Like a Ninja: An Autism Mom's Guide to Professional Productivity.
Deborah meyer abbs
Deborah Meyer Abbs works as a freelance journalist and blogger as well as serving as a disability ministry coordinator for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Illinois and Indiana. Her children, Brandon and Luke, both live at their schools. Brandon attends university at Augustana College and Luke goes to Monarch Center for Autism. Deb has a new IVP Bible study guide, called Belonging: Accessibility, Inclusion & Christian Community. She is also a co-author of Life on the Spectrum, a book by and for caregivers.
Mark Arnold
Mark Arnold is the Additional Needs Ministry Director at leading national Christian children’s and youth organization Urban Saints and is Co-Founder of the Additional Needs Alliance. He blogs as the national award winning ‘The Additional Needs Blogfather’, and is father to James, who has Autism Spectrum Condition and associated Learning Disability.
John felageller
John Felageller is the Ministry Relations Manager at Joni and Friends Chicago. Previous to that, he spent almost 20 years in education, working with children from infants through middle school, serving in a variety of roles including Teacher, Mentor Teacher, and School Director. John lives in Highwood, IL and is a single father to his son Christopher (ASD). He is a public speaker, multiple podcast guest, and regular contributor to Key Ministry’s Special Needs Family blog, as well as other special needs blogs including Hope Anew and The Mighty. Connect with John on his website.
Melanie Gomez
Melanie’s passion is to proclaim to every special needs mom that there is joy, fulfillment and hope to be found in their journey. Married for 26 years, she’s a mom to two young men (22 & 19), the second was born with a rare genetic disorder. Melanie can be found on Facebook at Redefine Special or her blog website, RedefineSpecial.com where she shares encouragement and hope on a regular basis.
Sarah McGuire
Sarah has her M.A. in Counseling from Grace Theological Seminary and her M.S. from Michigan State University. She served for thirteen years as a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Currently, Sarah serves with her husband Jonathan as the founder of Hope Anew, guiding the parents of children impacted by special needs to Christ-centered hope and healing on a spiritual and emotional level. She resides in Northeast Indiana, homeschooling her two sons.
Sarah BROADY
Sarah Broady is a mother passionate about encouraging parents of special needs children and building authentic relationships with fellow special needs moms. She is married to her college sweetheart, Kyle Broady, who is in music education as Choral Director of a high school in southern Indiana where they live with their three teenage boys. Their second son was diagnosed with autism at age 2. Sarah blogs about her life raising a son with autism at Hope in Autism, and is host of A Special Hope Podcast. She has spoken at multiple disability conferences and is co-host of the new Glorious Hope Conference, a new disability ministry conference for ministry leaders hosted in Louisville, KY. She also works full-time as a receptionist and patient coordinator at a local therapy clinic. Sarah can be contacted through her blog, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Hunter & Amberle Brown
Hunter and Amberle Brown help lead an organization called The Banquet Network, working with church plants to inspire, equip, and resource them to reach people with disabilities who are on the margins of their communities. They are passionate about helping churches include and reach people with disabilities based on Amber’s own experience of becoming visually impaired.
Mike george
Mike is co-founder of SoaringFamilies, an online community focused on making a difference in the lives of families impacted by a disability so they can live more freely, more fully and with more energy. SoaringFamilies is about believing in a future that is bigger than the past, creating a world where all persons are accepted and included, and where every life is of equal value. Visit https://soaringfamilies.com
Patty Myers
Patty Corrigan Myers is the author of Autism Is A Blessing. Patty’s perspective is to look at the positive side of all struggles that we face and how we can learn and love through them.
Barbara dittrich
The mother of three children, all of whom have a variety of chronic illnesses or special needs, Barbara Dittrich founded Snappin' Ministries (Special Needs Parents Network) in 2002 prior to its merge with Key Ministry in 2018. She lives with her husband of over 25 years in Southeastern Wisconsin, writes and speaks nationwide, and has contributed to a number of blogs since 2002.
Sarah PARSHALL PERRY
Sarah’s most recent book is Mommy Needs a Raise (Because Quitting’s Not an Option) (Revell 2016). It’s her privilege to use her boys’ autism, OCD, and ADHD diagnoses to encourage other families living with disability. Sarah and her husband Matt enjoy an extraordinary, ordinary life in Maryland farm country. Follow their adventures on Facebook.
Stephanie Hubach
Stephanie Hubach and her husband Fred have been married since 1983 and have two deeply loved sons: Fred and Tim, who has Down syndrome. They are also blessed with a delightful daughter-in-law, Cecelia and a beautiful granddaughter, Caroline. Steph is currently serving as a Research Fellow in Disability Ministries and as a Visiting Instructor in Educational Ministries with Covenant Theological Seminary. Prior to her affiliation with Covenant, she served as founding director for Mission to North America’s (MNA) Special Needs Ministries for nine years. She is also a founding member of the Lancaster Christian Council on Disability. Published in ByFaith magazine, Focus on the Family magazine, Covenant magazine and Breakpoint online magazine, Steph has periodically posted for enCourage blog and for Not Alone blog. Steph is the author of Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability—First Edition (2006), Updated and Revised Version (2020). In 2011, in collaboration with Lancaster Bible College, Steph produced a Christian Education DVD series based on Same Lake, Different Boat, which is available on YouTube. She has served as a contributing author for the Ministry Essentials Bible, The Dignity and Sanctity of Every Human Life, and Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith Disability and Inclusion.
Andrea Foster
Andrea Foster is a Christian mom, speaker, writer, disability advocate and wife to Kirk. They have four grown kids. Their two youngest are twin girls who both have profound disabilities. Andrea holds her Master of Science in Education (Disability Studies) and Bachelor of Theology and ECE. She is passionate about equipping church leaders, encouraging families and challenging all Jesus followers to see the world through the lens of disability.
Jeremy Smith
Jeremy is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor working with adults and youth who writes at ChurchAndMentalHealth.com about uniting faith and mental health. Jeremy worked as a ministry director for Youth for Christ for 8 years and then as a mental health and substance use adult and youth counselor in Ohio and Colorado, as well as starting up an Opioid Residential Treatment Center.
JENN SOEHNLIN
Jenn Soehnlin is the mother of two boys who are precious blessings and who both have special needs. She is the author of Embracing Life: Learning to Flourish as the Mother of a Child with Special Needs. Jenn enjoys blogging about faith and special needs parenting at www.embracing.life.
Skip McDonald
Skip McDonald is an author, speaker, nurse and resource specialist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship—a college campus ministry. She champions mental and emotional health, notably in the faith community. As a psychiatric nurse and Mental Health First Aid Instructor, she brings a wealth of experience. Skip is the author of “Christ, My Life-The Great Exchange,” “The Garden of My Heart” and “And She Lived Happily Ever After.” She resides in Smyrna, GA serving with InterVarsity in the southeast.
SUE SUTTON
With nearly 50 years of experience working with people with learning disabilities, starting as a volunteer and subsequently as a special needs teacher, Sue has worked with children and adults, and developed training programs for people working with a variety of learning disabilities, ranging from mild to severe, including those with autism spectrum disorder and mental health issues. Sue’s book “Living Fulfilled Lives, Empowering People with Learning Disabilities”was published in 2018. Sue is dedicated to sharing God’s love with the wider Christian community, and shares her expertise to help the Church include people with disabilities.
Joanna French
Joanna French, her husband Jairmie, and their two sons, who are both autistic, live in Junction City, Kansas. In 2016 she started Flint Hills Embrace with the hope to help Flint Hills Church become more inclusive. She now serves as the Special Needs Pastor there. Joanna has multiple developmentally disabled siblings, and several members of her immediate family, including herself, have faced mental illnesses head-on. Joanna is dedicated to helping churches become inclusive so that the gospel is accessible to everyone.
Diane DOKKO Kim
Diane is a disability ministry consultant, national speaker, and author of Unbroken Faith: Spiritual Recovery for the Special-Needs Parent (Worthy 2018). As the mother of two children with multiple challenges including autism and ADHD, her two-fold passions include encouraging families, and equipping local churches into becoming inclusive faith communities. A frequent collaborator with Joni and Friends, her work has also been featured in Christianity Today, LifeWay, BibleGateway, Parenting Magazine, Moody Radio, Parent Cue, and Jen Hatmaker’s For The Love Podcast. Diane and her husband, Eddie, live in Silicon Valley with their two sons.
