Disability advocate Terry A. DeYoung will present the address “Am I So Broken That I Need to Be Fixed? Disability, Faith and Belonging” as the 2023 Disability Inclusion Lecture at Hope College on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
As described in the presentation’s abstract, “Attitudes about disability are often harder to deal with than the everyday experience of living with one. By contrast, if communities of belonging respect differences and examine their assumptions, they can honor one’s lived experience and avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”
Terry A. DeYoung is a longtime disability advocate who has a passion for fully accessible communities that utilize the gifts and experiences of all people. He is a founding board member of Disability Network Lakeshore (1992) and currently serves as its board president. He is also a member of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Holland.
An ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America (RCA) since 1988, he served as a pastor, magazine editor and denominational staff member in Disability Concerns until his retirement in 2023. He is the author of numerous articles and co-editor of “Everybody Belongs, Serving Together,” a handbook for inclusive church ministry with people with disabilities.
A Chicago native, DeYoung lives with a rare, congenital bone disorder that is part of the dwarfism family. As a high school junior, he began working as a part-time sportswriter for the Joliet (Illinois) Herald-News and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1978 from Northern Illinois University. After college, he became the sports editor of the Frankfort-Mokena (Illinois) Star and then associate editor for Pro Football Weekly in Chicago, where he worked for three years before sensing a call to ordained ministry in 1983.
After earning his Master of Divinity degree in 1987 from Western Theological Seminary, he served for six years as a pastor of Central Park Reformed Church in Holland. In 1994, he joined the Church Herald, the RCA’s monthly magazine, and served as managing editor for 15 years. In 2009, he became the RCA’s first coordinator for disability concerns, created in partnership with the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s Disability Concerns ministry, and served in that capacity until his retirement in 2023.
Since 1990, he has been married to Cindi Veldheer DeYoung, also ordained in the RCA. They share their home in Holland with Dexter, a lively Brittany Spaniel. Among other things, they enjoy traveling, boating, baseball, craft beer and all things Chicago.
The lecture is being presented by the college’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion in collaboration with Hope Advocates for Invisible Conditions, Disability and Accessibility Resources, the Office of Culture and Inclusive Excellence, and the GROW Diversity Council.
To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.