Catherine Boyle, Beth Golik, Dr. Steve Grcevich, Jillian Palmiotto and Ryan Wolfe discussing innovative ministry practices at #IFL2021
We’re looking forward to being “together again” with our friends and co-laborers in disability ministry at the end of April in Cleveland.
I’m honored to invite pastors, ministry leaders, volunteers and all individuals interested in ministry with children, adults and families impacted by disability to join us in Cleveland on April 29-30, 2022 for #IFL2022 , our fourth live, national disability ministry conference, hosted by Key Ministry, in collaboration with The Tim Tebow Foundation.
#IFL2022 is designed to advance the disability ministry movement throughout the worldwide church.
When we last gathered at a single site in 2019, we welcomed well over 300 attendees from 25 states. We had in excess of 100,000 views of our main stage presentations on our Facebook and Vimeo pages during the livestream and following the conference. When COVID hit in March 2020, we were forced to cancel that year’s conference. Last year’s conference featured six live conversations focused on disability ministry after the pandemic and one “featured” conversation presented by video on the central role disability—and ministry leaders with disabilities—should play in the dialogue around diversity in the church.
Lamar Hardwick with Tait Berge, Amberle Brown, Jim McCaffrey, Salina Miller & Joscelyn Ramos Campbell on Diversity, Disability and the Church from #IFL2021.
We want conference attendees to come away with new ideas, new resources and new relationships for advancing ministry with children and adults with disability and their families. We’re looking for dynamic speakers with innovative thoughts and approaches to share as the church emerges from the pandemic. That’s where you come in!
Our Program Committee is seeking knowledgable and dynamic speakers to offer workshops (75 minute in- depth presentations on topics of interest to either ministry leaders or families, featuring from one to four presenters) and “Quick Takes”—up to 15 minute TED Talk-type presentations live-streamed from our main stage that introduce new ideas or inspire churches and individual Christians to grow their ministries, and will be available to everyone joining us online.
Some of the topics we’ll be prioritizing this year include:
Supporting outreach and reintegration into church of persons impacted by disability after the pandemic.
Finding, empowering, and resourcing individuals with disabilities and families impacted by disability to launch and lead ministry.
Growing mental health ministry.
Innovative disability ministry strategies.
Impacts of trauma upon disability.
We extend a special welcome to ministry leaders with great ideas or experience who labor in relative obscurity who long for the opportunity to share their message with a larger audience and become better networked with disability ministry leaders with established platforms. We have reserved slots for “first-time” speakers at larger disability ministry events. We launched IFL after having been made to feel like outsiders looking in at the world of ministry. We get it.
Attendees at #IFL2019
The application process is competitive, and we anticipate a more competitive process this year. We have fewer workshop slots available because of opportunities for networking and collaboration we’re building into the program, as well as a special event we’re planning for families on Friday night during the conference.
Submission of a proposal is not a guarantee of acceptance. We’ve historically received significantly more proposals than we can accept. Our Program Committee reviews all submissions for quality, interest and relevance. Proposals from first-time speakers are more likely to be accepted if accompanied by video for our committee to review. Workshops featuring multiple presenters from different organizations who present complimentary or divergent views on topics of interest to our audience are encouraged.
Speakers will receive free admission to all conference events, along with free space among our vendor tables to share products and resources with the entire audience of #IFL2022.
Do you want to speak at #IFL2022 or know someone who would like to? Speaker proposals may be submitted here electronically. All submissions need to be received by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard time on Monday, January 31st. Notices of acceptance will be sent to speakers by Monday, February 14th, and speakers need to notify us of their participation by Friday, February 18th. The timeline has been accelerated so that we can open registration by February 22nd with a complete list of speakers.
We’re looking forward to a great program with great colleagues over the final weekend in April.
Worship at #IFL2019
