Jan 27 2025 47 mins 3
Join Dr. Stephanie as she discusses disability theology and disability ministry with Stephanie O. Hubach, author of Same Lake Different Boat.
Questions Stephanie and Stephanie Discuss:
What is Disability Ministry and Why Does it Matter?
a. How would you define disability ministry?
b. Why doesn’t your definition of disability ministry even have the word disability in it?
c. What is the role of disability ministry in the local church?
d. If disability ministry is “central to the life of the church” what do you mean by that?
e. How does the presence of people with disabilities in a church change the fabric of congregation life?
f. What type of steps need to be taken to help a church that is not disability-friendly to move towards people with disabilities?
g. You refer to the biblical concept of “equal concern” in your philosophy of disability ministry. What does that look like in practice?
About our Guest:
Stephanie Opdahl Hubach
Biographical Information
Stephanie Hubach is a Research Fellow in Disability Ministries and a Visiting Instructor in Educational Ministries in affiliation with Covenant Theological Seminary. From 2007-2016 she served as Mission to North America’s Special Needs Ministries Founding Director. Mission to
North America (MNA) is associated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Steph currently serves on the Wheaton Center on Faith and Disability advisory board and the board of directors for Key Ministry.
She formerly volunteered as a member of the board for The Arc of Lancaster County, chairperson of the Lancaster County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Advisory Board, and president of the board of directors for the Infant Evaluation Program of State College, PA.
Steph is the author of Parenting & Disabilities: Abiding in Gods’ Presence (P&;R Publishing, 2021), Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability (P&;R Publishing, 2006; Revised and Expanded 2020), director of a Christian Education DVD series
based on Same Lake, Different Boat, and author of All Things Possible: Calling Your Church Leadership to Embrace Disability Ministry (Joni and Friends, August 2007).
She has been published in ByFaith magazine, Covenant magazine, Focus on the Family magazine, and Breakpoint online magazine. Steph currently writes for Key Ministry’s Special Needs Parenting blog, which is for parents of children with special needs, and for the Presbyterian Church in America’s enCourage blog. She has been a guest blogger for The Gospel Coalition and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and has been interviewed on a wide variety of podcasts.
Steph also coordinated a writing team for Christianity Today to provide a Disability Ministry Track in The Ministry Essentials Bible, released in September 2014. Stephanie is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), has an MA in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and an MATS from Covenant Theological Seminary.
Steph and her husband, Fred, have been married for 41 years. They have two deeply loved sons, Fred and Tim, the younger of whom has Down syndrome. In 2013, the Hubachs were blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law when Cecelia married Fred, and in 2019, they were thrilled to welcome their first grandchild, Caroline. In 2022, twin grandsons joined the family—Everett and Dietrich. The Hubach family resides in Lancaster County, PA.
Stephanie's Book Same Lake Different Boat-Revised Ed. and other resources:
https://www.stephaniehubach.com/
Dr. Stephanie's Uniquely Us:
https://www.christianneurodiversemarriage.com/uniquelyus
Questions Stephanie and Stephanie Discuss:
What is Disability Ministry and Why Does it Matter?
a. How would you define disability ministry?
b. Why doesn’t your definition of disability ministry even have the word disability in it?
c. What is the role of disability ministry in the local church?
d. If disability ministry is “central to the life of the church” what do you mean by that?
e. How does the presence of people with disabilities in a church change the fabric of congregation life?
f. What type of steps need to be taken to help a church that is not disability-friendly to move towards people with disabilities?
g. You refer to the biblical concept of “equal concern” in your philosophy of disability ministry. What does that look like in practice?
About our Guest:
Stephanie Opdahl Hubach
Biographical Information
Stephanie Hubach is a Research Fellow in Disability Ministries and a Visiting Instructor in Educational Ministries in affiliation with Covenant Theological Seminary. From 2007-2016 she served as Mission to North America’s Special Needs Ministries Founding Director. Mission to
North America (MNA) is associated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Steph currently serves on the Wheaton Center on Faith and Disability advisory board and the board of directors for Key Ministry.
She formerly volunteered as a member of the board for The Arc of Lancaster County, chairperson of the Lancaster County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Advisory Board, and president of the board of directors for the Infant Evaluation Program of State College, PA.
Steph is the author of Parenting & Disabilities: Abiding in Gods’ Presence (P&;R Publishing, 2021), Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability (P&;R Publishing, 2006; Revised and Expanded 2020), director of a Christian Education DVD series
based on Same Lake, Different Boat, and author of All Things Possible: Calling Your Church Leadership to Embrace Disability Ministry (Joni and Friends, August 2007).
She has been published in ByFaith magazine, Covenant magazine, Focus on the Family magazine, and Breakpoint online magazine. Steph currently writes for Key Ministry’s Special Needs Parenting blog, which is for parents of children with special needs, and for the Presbyterian Church in America’s enCourage blog. She has been a guest blogger for The Gospel Coalition and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and has been interviewed on a wide variety of podcasts.
Steph also coordinated a writing team for Christianity Today to provide a Disability Ministry Track in The Ministry Essentials Bible, released in September 2014. Stephanie is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), has an MA in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and an MATS from Covenant Theological Seminary.
Steph and her husband, Fred, have been married for 41 years. They have two deeply loved sons, Fred and Tim, the younger of whom has Down syndrome. In 2013, the Hubachs were blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law when Cecelia married Fred, and in 2019, they were thrilled to welcome their first grandchild, Caroline. In 2022, twin grandsons joined the family—Everett and Dietrich. The Hubach family resides in Lancaster County, PA.
Stephanie's Book Same Lake Different Boat-Revised Ed. and other resources:
https://www.stephaniehubach.com/
Dr. Stephanie's Uniquely Us:
https://www.christianneurodiversemarriage.com/uniquelyus
