Banquet Of Belonging
A conference exploring discipleship, disability, and belonging. Learning together across difference at one shared table.
Banquet of Belonging is a conference exploring how community and discipleship are reshaped when disabled and non-disabled people learn together across difference. Through theology, lived experience, and shared practices, participants are invited into a vision of belonging formed at one table—where gifts are celebrated and everyone matters. [Calgary live gathering is at First Alliance Church on the 2nd floor in the Harvest Room.]
$80/Ticket To Join Us In Person On Wednesday & Thursday Across Canada.
$25/Ticket To Join Us In Person On Wednesday Evening Only (Calgary Only)
($40/Ticket To Join Us Online)
This conference gathers disabled and non-disabled Christians, pastors, and families to explore how discipleship changes when people learn from one another across differences. Sessions will address theology, access, relationships, and lived experience, grounding everything in practices that create shared tables rather than parallel ministries. Each regional gathering includes a shared meal that embodies the call: a community formed by mutual welcome, celebrated gifts, and a commitment to belong to one another.
Plenary Keynote Speakers
Sarah Wardlaw (Vancouver)
Growing up with cerebral palsy, Sarah has always wanted to encourage others who feel underestimated and not truly known, whether as a consequence of a disability or some other circumstance. She works as a speech-language pathologist, and believes that the opportunity to express ourselves and be understood – whatever form that may take – is a gift from God for all people.
Sarah has been blessed to be part of several amazing church communities, including St. John’s Vancouver Anglican Church, which she has attended for 11 years. Through true friendships built with family in Christ, Sarah continues to learn more about how we can value interdependence and experience Jesus’ great compassion in our pain and weakness, without denying that pain. Dogs are guaranteed to bring a smile to her face, and she enjoys sci-fi TV and fantasy games.
Jon Coutts (Calgary)
After growing up and pastoring in western Canada, Jon wrote a PhD on forgiveness in Scotland and went on to teach ethics in England before returning home to continue his theological work in and for the Canadian church. Jon is married to Angie and they have four grown sons who still gather to watch Liverpool Football Club.
Chantelle, Jenna, & Terry Sanderson
Terry and Chantelle Sanderson have dedicated much of their lives to pastoral ministry, serving in London, Ontario, St. Louis, Missouri, and now at Bayview Glen Alliance Church in Thornhill. Their journey has been marked by a desire to follow God’s leading and to serve His people faithfully.
A central part of their story is their daughter Jenna. Living with a disability, Jenna radiates joy and creativity, with a love for history, art, and ministry alongside her sisters, Jadyn and Jovanna. Her perspective has opened up new ways for the Sandersons to see God’s presence at work in their family, church, and community. Jenna is a published author often writing about her experiences with disability within a church context.
Together, Terry, Chantelle, and Jenna share a testimony of faith, family, and the beauty of God’s image reflected in every person.
Workshop Presenters
Ty Ragan
Bio: Ty Ragan, Psy. D (Doctor of Psychology) (he/his/him), PTSD, PNES, stroke survivor, neuro-spicy, partner of 1, father of 2 (one medically complex, 1 creative songstress storyteller), advocate, writer, speaker, educator, Trekkie, Whovian, Robin Hoodologist, Ancient Aliens and the Weird, comic geek, mixed heritage Settler and connections with Indigenous folks, Generation X, current events and politics engaged, sober, practical researcher, philosopher and theologian on belonging.
John Van Sloten
Bio: John is a Calgary-based theologian and writer who is passionate about engaging God everywhere. For the past 34 years he has been learning about God through his son Edward—who has Down syndrome. His fourth book—Thy Tender Care: What Caregiving and Disability Can Teach Us about God’s Kingdom (Herald Press)—will be available this fall.
Sweet Conversations – Wednesday Dessert & Storytelling Night (Presenters)
Ron & Teresa Buschman
Bio: Ron and Teresa Buschman have been married for over four decades and are passionate about helping couples build strong, healthy, and life-giving marriages.
They have been part of First Alliance Church in Calgary for many years, where they have served in a variety of leadership and volunteer roles. Their heart has been investing in marriages — walking alongside couples, facilitating marriage courses, mentoring, and creating spaces where relationships can grow and thrive. They previously served as Couples’ Ministry Coordinators and continue to be actively involved in supporting and encouraging couples in every season of marriage.
Ron and Teresa are trained facilitators for a number of marriage and relationship tools and have led workshops, small groups, and mentoring experiences both within the church and in partnership with organizations like Focus on the Family. Their approach is practical, honest, and grounded in real life — not theory.
They believe great marriages aren’t built by accident. They grow through intentional connection, healthy communication, shared purpose, and a willingness to keep learning and growing together.
When they’re not investing in couples, Ron and Teresa enjoy staying active, travelling, camping in their trailer, spending time with their grandkids in Chilliwack, and making the most of life together.
More than anything, their story isn’t about having a perfect marriage — it’s about a long journey of learning, growing, and choosing each other again and again.
Erik & Bonnie Freiburger
Bio: Having been both in wheelchairs due to a spinal cord injury caused by separate motor vehicle accidents in the early 90’s, Erik and Bonnie Freiburger have learned a great deal as to what it means to be disabled. Meeting in a group home that served as a place for transition from the hospital to community life, they developed a great friendship that would eventually turn into a deep love for one another. Getting married in 1999, they built a home in SE Calgary and spent the last 27 years learning, growing, and sometimes juggling the chaos that comes in marriage and a life of disability.
Bonnie loves baking at home in the kitchen and hosting movie nights with their friends. Erik loves eating Bonnie’s baked goods while writing and hosting a Substack and podcast advocating for disability and faith called ‘At The Bottom Of The Well’ and ‘The Well Dwellers Podcast’.