Community SupportsFaith Based Supports

Faith Based Supports are a variety of activities and projects either led or supported by The Boggs Center that encourage congregations to include and support people with disabilities and their families.

The projects include:

• Coordination of training and technical assistance events with faith based organizations in New Jersey and around the country
• Collaboration with the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Ministries
• Educational Opportunities for Seminarians
• Faith-Based Products and Publications
• Faith Community Leadership: A Collaborative Project between New Jersey and Pennsylvania

New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Ministries
The Boggs Center helped to initiate and organize The New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Ministries, now incorporated and moving toward 501(c)3 status.

Activities of the coalition include a listserv to share information, resources, and training events, a periodic newsletter, That All May Worship, an annual Awards and Recognition Dinner, speakers for congregations and other organizations, educational events in congregations; distribution of resources to clergy and lay leadership; access to a resource and video library at The Boggs Center, and a quarterly networking forum and other educational events sponsored by the Coalition.

Membership in the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Ministries is open to organizations, congregations, and individuals. The Coalition is always willing to receive information about resources and stories of inclusive congregational supports for the newsletter and listserv. Membership is free.

Educational Opportunities for Seminarians

The Boggs Center is an accredited site for Clinical Pastoral Education. The Center also helps to coordinate field education opportunities for seminarians and works with seminaries on inclusion of disability issues in other seminary courses and training.

Faith-Based Products and Publications

Through collaborative projects with statewide and national advocacy and support groups in New Jersey, The Boggs Center has produced several resources for faith based supports.

• Brain Injury: When the Call Comes. A Congregational Resource
• Autism and Faith: A Journey into Community
• Dimensions of Faith and Congregational Supports
  
  

Bill Gaventa also serves as the Editor of the Journal of Religion, Disability, and Health, published by Taylor and Francis, and Newsletter Editor for the AAIDD Religion and Spirituality Division.

Project Director/Contact: William Gaventa
Program Staff: Alice Walsh