Parish Advocates

Are you driven by a joy-filled passion for inclusion of disabled persons in your parish? Would you like to connect with other parish advocates throughout the archdiocese, and make a difference in the lives of persons with disabilities? Become an advocate for persons with disabilities and their families in your parish/cluster!

A parish advocate should be:

• driven by a joy-filled passion for parish inclusion.
• willing to seek out the spiritual needs of physically and intellectually disabled persons in your parish/cluster, and to share those needs with your pastor and parish leaders.
• an outgoing recruiter and organizer of volunteers in your parish/cluster with a shared compassion for persons with disabilities and their families.
• the contact for those who seek information, resources, or a supportive presence.
• a liaison to the parish pastor and to the Archdiocese when resources are requested.
• a means of connection/networking for families of persons with disabilities in your parish/cluster.

Become part of the network of advocates who share ideas and help one another in ministry! Share your compassionate heart with persons with disabilities in your parish/cluster! For more information, contact Lynne Chapman at [email protected], or call 563-556-2580, ext. 246. 

A printable brochure with additional information about Parish Advocates for Disability Inclusion is available through the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
Brochures are available in English and Spanish. If you would like printed copies of this brochure, contact Lynne Chapman at [email protected] or 563-556-2580, ext. 246.

The webinar below was presented to a group of National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD) affiliate leaders of diocesan disability ministry by Lynne Chapman, Disability Inclusion Manager for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. Lynne shares the process of initiating the Parish Advocates Program in the Archdiocese. If you would like to become a Parish Advocate for Disability Inclusion in your parish, please contact Lynne at [email protected].