Request for Stories of Lived Experience of Disability in Congregations

We invite you to contribute your story of lived experience of disability in your congregation.

Nothing about Us without Us! That is the rallying cry of the Disability Rights Movement and one we intend to honor. We are working with Skinner House to publish a book on the lived experience of disability in congregations. We are seeking authors, named or anonymous, who would be willing to share their authentic story. If chosen, these candidates will receive an honorarium.  We want the book to have a strong intersectional framework, so we are looking for stories in which authors bring their whole selves.  We welcome you to reflect on how your other identities are part of your experience as a disabled person in a UU community.  This book is meant to give insight into how disabled people worship and experience life in their congregations; how disability impacts a person’s faith, spiritual identity, and showing up with your authentic self. It will show the gifts that disabled people can bring to their congregations. It is also a book on moving from the Disability Rights Movement to the Disability Justice Movement. Please let us know if you would be able to write your story or be interviewed.

We hope that this message is viewed far and wide and realize that we may need additional permissions. If you are under 18, or sharing with someone under 18, we welcome your story! AND we ask that you let us know, so we may obtain the proper permissions.

The average contribution for books like this one is around 3,000 words, and the typical range is 1,500-5,000 words.

A rough draft of your submission is due on May 15, 2023.

Rev. Barbara Meyers

Shelly McFadyen Rohe

Please send your submission to uudisabilitybook@gmail.com

3 thoughts on “Request for Stories of Lived Experience of Disability in Congregations

  1. We have a story we would like to contribute. Could you please give me the guidelines as to word count, images, etc.? Thank you.
    Pamela Rickey
    President, Calgary Unitarians

  2. I would agree to be interviewed. I live with disabilities and have been a UU since 2009. I haven’t been able to work since 2013. I also recently have written about justice for people living with disabilities but I haven’t published what I wrote. I’d like to though. I just didn’t know how to get it published. Thank you

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