About Us

How We Started

The Inspire Ministry for people with disabilities at Colonial Baptist Church and the local community prayerfully started from Colonial's Vision 2020 Goal 1.2 dated July 12, 2015 which states, “To diversify our worship in age, culture, race, disability and income” and Goal 3.1 to provide a ministry environment that builds relationships and encourages a sense of belonging.

The mission of Inspire is based on Matthew 28:19,20 (The Great Commission), in which Jesus to make disciples of all nations. The ministry vision is based on Luke 14, in which Jesus said to “bring the poor and crippled and blind and lame” to the banquet. Tom Stolle, CFO/COO of the BCMD stated at Colonial’s Missions conference on Saturday, March 10 that, “Any comprehensive church evangelism strategy that does not include individuals and families affected by disabilities is no strategy at all.”

Why We Started

The purpose of the Inspire Ministry to provide a safe and welcoming environment for people with disabilities in Colonial Baptist Church while bridging the gap between families with disabilities and churches in the greater Baltimore area. Less than 5% of people with disabilities attend church so Colonial has prayerfully answered the call to share the gospel of Christ with all nations. It will build a loving community within Colonial Baptist Church that will encourage all members to worship and serve together.

Colonial will provide small groups such as Sunday school classes and Bible study groups that will be specially designed for children and adults with disabilities. The ‘Anew’ Sunday school class is for adults with developmental disabilities. We will use the Lifeway curriculum “Access” for pre-teens and teens and “Special Buddies” for children in grades 1-5. We will encourage people with disabilities to become leaders in ministries and the local community so they can share the gospel of Christ to family, friends, loved ones and the world.

What We Will Do

There are three primary goals for the Inspire Ministry for children and adults with disablities and special needs in Colonial Baptist Church and the local community:

We will work closely with parents, care givers, medical personnel and other designated family members to ensure all reasonable accommodations and modifications are followed so we can effectively serve the children, youth, adults and their families.

There are seven objectives we will use to help the children, adults and their families achieve these goals:

Intentional sharing of the gospel

New life in Christ

Spirit-filled Volunteers

Praying for the children, adults and their families

Innovative approaches to outreach

Reasonable Accommodations for members with Autism and other developmental disabilities along with physical disabilities. There will be safe spaces in the Sunday school wing and reserved seating in the back of the sanctuary.

Educating members of Colonial on developmental and physical disabilities and encouraging members to be sensitive to the needs, feelings and spiritual development of people with disabilities.