LB Disability Justice is led by Rev Alex Camp and Rev Steff Wright.

Rev. Alex Camp, is minister of Streatham Vale Baptist Church. She says:

"I have a passion for seeing church and society in general becoming inclusive and accessible to all people, especially those who have a disability of one kind or another. I myself am disabled, with a connective tissue disorder that causes me constant pain and fatigue. I also have lots of friends and family who have had challenges with accessing church due to their disabilities, of varying kinds. As a result of these things, I am truly passionate at seeing the church become a more accessible place where all can worship, serve and love God and each other.

I have grown up in the church, and have been very blessed to be part of churches that have given me a very loving, supportive church family who have walked with me through my disability, diagnoses, treatment, and long term needs. I want others to experience that same blessing, so that wherever they worship, they are made to feel welcome, loved, and encouraged.

I also love using creative ways to worship and experience God. I use art, drama, music, (and if I could I’d probably use dance!) I love being able to meet with God in fresh and unusual ways, using all of our senses and gifts and talents.

Before training for ministry, I studied history – expecting that I was going to become a history teacher at secondary school – but clearly God had other plans! But as a result, I do love stories – stories of the past and stories of the present; stories of those I know, and those I will never meet."

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Rev Steff Wright is minister of Brandon Baptist Church, and began training for ministry in 2014, following a background in health care, IT support in schools, and training for and qualifying as a primary school teacher. She moved to Camberwell in 2021 to serve Brandon BC as their minister.

Steff has been passionate about justice for as long as she can remember. Her awareness of her own personal experiences and supporting others to access church events drives her particular interest in Disability Justice.

She will say she still has much to learn, but her desire is for all churches to think beyond themselves, and to make changes which enable everyone to access God through them.

Steff loves being creative and seeing friends. She also normally enjoys walking with her dog, except when he finds the muddiest puddles to lie down in!

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‍Welcome!

The Disability Justice Hub Aims to:

Equip ministers, churches, members, and church communities so they can:

• Avoid, challenge, and stop issues of accessibility and justice.  
• Challenge issues, resolve conflicts and, or advocate for people who need support.

In time we aim to raise awareness of wider issues of justice; develop links with disability justice groups and develop a support network for ministers and churches on disability and accessibility.

This page includes links to resources, self-assessment tools, ideas and organisations which may be able to help you and your church evaluate and improve the accessibility for all. The aim of accessibility is to remove barriers which stop us belonging. There are links to other resources further down the page, but in particular this article by Ruth Wilde suggests five practical steps to take when trying to better include people in church:  

• Do not act out of fear
• Be open to learning
• Do not assume disabled people are just passive and not active
• Make your church as accessible as possible
• Begin a conversation around the language of deficit, perfection and healing

Where to begin?

A good first step is to invite input from members of your community; around how they enter the building, access seats and toilets without assistance, can they hear and understand the sermon, can they read the words or images in hymn books or on screen?  

The next stage will be to consider the accessibility needs you may not have covered which prepares you for new visitors. To do this you can carry out an Accessibility Audit. Whether this is carried out in house, or by an external company; in one go, or over a course of weeks; it will provide insights of things to work towards in terms of accessibility for all. A good accessibility audit will be extensive as they cover access to buildings and facilities, communications and printed materials, to screen use, language and websites. However, these are not all instant targets and can be tackled over time.

From the outcomes of the audit, an Access Statement can be written to share on noticeboards or your website. The Sensory Trust has guidelines on how to write an access statement which should reflect the work you’ve done, and the church’s aims and plans for the future.  

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Download the resources document for further resources and information on helping to make your church more accessible for all.