The treatment of people with disabilities or learning difficulties in churches

The following article is from the latest edition of Affinity’s Social Issues Bulletin which is free to download.

Heidi Crowter is a disability rights campaigner who is bravely challenging the UK’s discriminatory abortion laws. You can follow her on Twitter: @HeidiCrowter95.

Hi, my name is Heidi, I am 26 and I happen to have Down’s syndrome but that doesn’t hold me back from living a fun and vibrant life. I live on my own, in my own flat in Coventry and I can cook beef crumble, lasagna, three cheese pasta and toad in the hole. I have a husband called James who I love with all my heart and there is nothing that he could do to stop me from loving him. We met through family relatives. I have a great family who I love to pieces and they love me. I support Liverpool and my favourite player is Mohammed Salah. My second team is Crystal Palace and my favourite player is Conor Gallagher.

How I came to faith In Jesus

I was brought up in a Christian family, praise God! The first year of my life was very difficult as I was dangerously ill with heart failure and leukaemia, I could have died but thankfully God healed me. The doctor said at the time: ‘I have no human explanation of why there are no leukemic cells today’. This proves that God works in mysterious ways, he healed me even though I didn’t know him. I have been going to church since I was born, I loved singing all the hymns and singing about Jesus.

As I was getting older I wanted to know more about this God who healed me. I wanted to go to church more and learn more about Jesus so I went along to some youth groups and I loved it! Mainly because I made a lot of friends and I could see a little glimmer of Jesus in the leaders. I also attended the youth group for people with and without disabilities which I loved as well and that also helped me to learn more about Jesus. 

I have a lot of friends in my church family, but my best friend in church is my pastor Paul Watts, he was the third person to hold me when I was born. When I first met him we struck up a friendship, we are very close friends; he dedicated me, baptised me and he married James and me, which was very special to me because Paul is very special to me.

I came to faith through Paul Watts as I saw Jesus in that great man, and through his sermons, I could tell that he really loves the Lord and how gently he speaks to me. When I was 12 I put my faith in the Lord Jesus and the verse that changed my life was John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ It was then my eyes were opened to who I was before the Lord and that frightened me to the very core.

I knew that I had to put my hope in Jesus otherwise I would be heading to a lost eternity without the God who healed me and who died to save me. I was baptised when I was 13 on the 8th June 2008. I chose the song: ‘The Power of the Cross’ because it reminds me of what Jesus went through just to make me his precious jewel.

My amazing church

Since I stepped into my church I have been overwhelmed at the love they have shown me, I have made a lot of friends who have helped me in my walk with the Lord. My church is very welcoming to all sorts of people with and without disabilities and learning difficulties, the thing that I love about my church is that my church accepts everyone no matter who they are, regardless of race, gender or disability because we believe that the gospel is for everyone.

I think that churches all around the country should put things in place for people, who have speech impediments and disabilities. My church has a lift for those who are in wheelchairs or have back problems, churches should be accessible for all no matter what additional needs they have.

Taking the UK government to court

I took the UK government to court over their discriminatory laws. At the moment the law states that a baby without Down’s syndrome can be aborted up to 24 weeks, but a baby with Down’s syndrome can be aborted up to birth. Which is downright discrimination in the womb, this is a landmark case I am the first woman with Down’s syndrome to challenge the government. On the 6th July 2021, we had the hearing and it went really well. We went back on the 23rd September 2021 and we found out that the court ruled against us, so I was so upset. I lost my confidence in fighting for this, I felt that all my fighting was for nothing and that I let everyone down.

Then I remembered that I had changed people’s perceptions and raised awareness about the law, which cheered me up. The love of Jesus convinced me to carry on, I will not give up on fighting for equality for me and my husband and others with Down’s syndrome. We are now appealing to the court of appeal and we will see where it goes from there. The hearing date is the 8th March 2022.

Thank you

Thank you for reading my article hope you enjoyed it. Please pray for me; for my court case and ask all your churches to pray for me and the judges. Please pray that I will be like Abraham, Moses, David and Esther and I won’t give up. You can donate to the court case here.

Stay Happy

Heidi