The questions can be overwhelming:
- Help! I need curriculum help for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
- Can you give me information about accessibility audits/checklists/surveys?
- My presbytery meets in a church that’s not accessible. Don’t they get it?
- How can our church begin a ministry with persons who are deaf?
- What do I say to a child who asks, “Why me?”
Four consultants hired by the office of Social Welfare Ministries/PHEWA are available to help the Church with questions like these.
To contact the consultants directly, the best procedure is via email. The consultants work in a variety of professional capacities and are glad to be of assistance. However, they can better serve you if given some time to focus on your question and gather information prior to calling you back or responding via email. Please leave a detailed message concerning your question or concern and how best to contact you. You may also call PHEWA at (800) 728-7228 x5800.
Kathy McIndoe
Consultant for Hearing
kathymc.pdc@gmail.com
(240) 206-6144
Kathy retired from community mental health, where she provided counseling to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals for over 30 years. She continues to provide this service in her private practice. She also keeps busy with walking, reading and creating handmade cards for family and friends. Kathy is deaf and is passionate about advocating for other deaf individuals.
The Rev. Sue Montgomery
Consultant for Mobility/Accessibility
P.O. Box 16
Knox, PA 16232
(814) 227-6185
Email
Now retired, Sue has been given the new title of “foodie.” Collecting cookbooks and learning how to use Kamado ceramic grills, sous vide, and other innovative forms of cooking is a new adventure. Sue embraces the joy of chocolate chip cookies for her four grandchildren, Caleb, Ceilidh, Holly, and Highland. The Montgomery family is unique within the PC(USA) in that there are four ordained Rev. Montgomerys—Husband (HR), son,(Joel) and daughter-in-law (Janis) who serve a federated PC(USA) and UCC congregation in Ohio. She has served as a chaplain at Polk Center, a residential facility for persons with intellectual disabilities since 1983. Sue has served on local and national boards addressing advocacy issues for persons with disabilities. She’s no stranger to the barriers persons with mobility disabilities face. To address more than just the architectural barriers, Sue has done extensive study in the areas of theology, language, and philosophical approaches to life with a disability. Sue is an avid handcyclist who enjoys riding her 27 speed handcycle on the many rails to trails systems along the rivers of Pennsylvania. She received the Women of Faith Award from the Women’s Ministries Program Area of PC(USA) for her work with persons with disabilities.
Rev. Dr. Karen R Moritz
Consultant for Visual Disabilities
1307 H Street,
Lincoln, NE 68508
(402) 570-7827
As a “navy brat” and minister she has lived all over the US in the south, east and midwest. Most recently she served as a Mission Coworker in Prague, Czech Republic. Karen lives in Lincoln, NE where she is serving as the Pastor at First Christian Church. She loves to read and enjoys music of all types. She is a movie buff and describes herself as a “SciFi geek”, and a big Doctor Who and Star Trek fan. She also enjoys learning languages. Karen is our blindness/low vision consultant.
Rev. Dr. Bethany McKinney Fox
Consultant for Intellectual Disability and Neurodiversity
BethanyFoxPDC@gmail.com
Bethany has lived out her passion to make churches and the broader culture more embracing of the gifts, full participation, and leadership of folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities for more than 20 years. She founded Beloved Everybody, an ability-inclusive New Worshiping Community where people with and without intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities lead and participate together; which she led through 2022. Her book Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church (IVP Academic, 2019) examines how Jesus’ healing in the Gospels, too often used in ways that wound people with disabilities, might point a way toward real healing and mutual thriving.
You can find more information about her writing, speaking, and teaching on her website: bethanymckinneyfox.com.