United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities

The United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities is a national caucus in The United Methodist Church. We were founded in 1990 as the Association of Physically Challenged Ministers. We changed our name in 2009 to reflect a wider mission, encompassing all disabilities and both representative (clergy) and congregational (lay) ministry.

Our main purpose is to encourage and support men and women who sense the call to ministry, who exhibit the gifts and graces for ministry, but also live with a disability. A current concern is that while the number of people with disabilities is increasing, the number of persons with disabilities in the United Methodist Church who are either in professional ministry or preparing for professional ministry seems to be decreasing. The task of the UMAMD continues that of the former APCM: to alert the denomination and others in faith communities to the ways attitudinal barriers have discouraged such ministry.