Baptism & Membership

Believing & Belonging

An Accessible Anabaptist Baptism & Membership Curriculum

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Accessible Theology

Believing and Belonging is a baptism and membership curriculum for everybody, especially youth and adults with intellectual disabilities. Written at a third-grade reading level, with brilliant illustrations by Dona Park, these lessons interpret Bible stories from an Anabaptist perspective and invite participation from readers with embodying spiritual practices. After using this curriculum, participants will be ready to make an informed decision about baptism and becoming a member of the Anabaptist church.

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cover of believing and belonging, an accessible membership curriculum
This curriculum offers

A Year of Preparation for a Decision on Baptism & Membership

  • Learn about God’s first people, Jesus’s life and ministry, the Early Church, Anabaptist beliefs and practices, & baptism and membership.
  • Captivating illustrations by Dona Park
  • Suggested activities to embody theological concepts
  • Teacher’s guide with teaching tips
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Illustrations

See Yourself in God’s Story

Illustrations of Bible stories intentionally include people with diverse abilities, ethnicities, and genders. Readers see people who look like them and imagine themselves in God’s story.

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  • illustration of Jesus holding a cup of wine and a loaf of bread. Around him are three disciples of various abilities, ethnicities, and genders.
  • illustration of five people of various ethnicities, abilities, and genders with their hands raised or folded. A red streamer weaves between and around the people as a sign of the Holy Spirit.
  • illustration of a person with an intellectual disability being baptized in a river, surrounded by witnesses with various ethnicities and abilities.
  • illustration of Jesus sitting with four people of various abilities, ethnicities, genders, and economic status. One person is a roman soldier.
a young adult and her mother look at a book together.

A Reader’s Review

I am very moved by and thankful for the Believing and Belonging curriculum. As a parent of an adult daughter with intellectual disabilities, I find this curriculum deeply beautiful and truly inspiring. Jeanne Davies has written the Bible stories with clarity and respect for people with intellectual disabilities while encouraging them to think, question, pray, and serve in the beautiful, important ways that they are able to. I am humbled and inspired as I share the Bible stories and church history with my daughter, as we look at the colorful, inclusive illustrations that contain such important and love-filled representation of people with differences.

Hannah and I enjoyed the stories, the history, and the activities in the Believing and Belonging curriculum together. My daughter was able to pray a responsive prayer to the lesson through the clear prompts provided, and we enjoyed many of the creative step-by-step activities included with the lessons. She specifically said, “I like these pictures and learning sign language for ‘Peace be with you!'”

Through the Believing and Belonging curriculum, I believe that my daughter will be equipped to make a personal, informed choice to be baptized and join the church. Thank you so very much for creating a curriculum that helps my daughter feel included and helps her to more fully understand the love that God has for her and for the world!

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Reviews from Disability Theology Scholars

Age-appropriate, Informative, and Engaging for Everybody

It is all-too rare that denominations, churches, and faith traditions provide resources that are easily understood and engaging. It is even rarer that these resources are created from the ground up to be meaningful for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities without coming across as reductive or juvenile. Believing and Belonging is an accessible Anabaptist membership curriculum that manages to be age-appropriate, informative, and engaging for everybody. Between the captivating graphics, robust theology, and opportunities for further engagement and follow-up, I’m thrilled to recommend this resource not only for those who come from my own Anabaptist tradition, and not only for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, but for anyone who is looking to learn about and follow the way of Jesus.
Keith Dow, PhD
Manager of Organizational & Spiritual Life with Karis Ministries

Gets to the core of what it means to be Christian

Believing and Belonging gets to the core of what it means to be a Christian, while also teaching the history and principles of the Anabaptist traditions. It invites teachers and students into a learning relationship that leads them all into a deeper relationship with God and the faith community. Finally, it is a product of believing that everyone can learn and demonstrate their faith at their own level of understanding and action. We are all invited, called, and needed.
Bill Gaventa, M.Div.
Disability Advocacy Consultant and Educator
Author of Disability & Spirituality

Faithfully Anabaptist

Thanks to the Anabaptist Disabilities Network, churches now have an accessible membership curriculum to welcome persons with intellectual disabilities into fellowship! Faithfully Anabaptist, the curriculum focuses on creating a loving community where people with disabilities are welcomed and their gifts honored. With simple but powerful words and stunning illustrations, the Bible stories will engage students of all ages and levels of understanding. This curriculum will help churches welcome people with disabilities, fully visible and with voice, into full fellowship in the body of Christ. What a gift!
Joan L Daggett, MAT
Projector Director for Shine: Living God’s Light

Beautiful, Accessible, and Theologically Faithful

The “Believing and Belonging” curriculum offers a beautiful, accessible, and theologically faithful resource on church membership and baptism for Christians in the Anabaptist tradition. Drawing upon Scripture, church history, and the church’s core practices of worship, Jeanne Davies offers a resource that will bring forth faithful reflection and action for all those who explore its pages. In its use of plain language and multiple modes of learning, this resource demonstrates accessibility for followers of Jesus from a wide range of ages and disability identities. Christian denominational affiliations beyond the Anabaptist tradition will also find “Believing and Belonging” a faithful companion for formation in discipleship and Christian identity.
Dr. Sarah Jean Barton
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy & Theological Ethics, Duke University School of Medicine & Duke Divinity School
Author of Becoming the Baptized Body

Simple but Deep Lessons on Following Christ

Believing and Belonging connects the Old and New Testaments, connects the old story with Jesus and then connects the whole Bible to each one of us. What a beautiful way to prepare people for baptism. This book will help not only our intellectually disabled friends and family as they prepare for baptism, but also each one of us as it strengthens our connections to the Story and to each other.
Michelle Hershberger, MATS
Bible & Youth Ministry Professor, Hesston College
Author of God’s Story, Our Story

A Breath of Fresh Air

Believing and Belonging is a thoughtful, lovely curriculum that introduces people to baptism and the church in an inclusive and welcoming way. (Read Full Review)
Sarah Werner, M.Div, PhD
author of Rooted Faith: Practices for Living Well on a Fragile Planet
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