reading braille

10 Things You Should Know about Ministry to the Visually Impaired

  1. People who have vision loss need and want to be part of their church family. Begin a conversation with a person who is blind by identifying yourself.
  2. As members of the Body of Christ, God has given them gifts to serve. Encourage your committee leaders to ask members with visual impairments about their abilities and desire to be involved.
  3. Technology has made it much easier to provide visually impaired people with resources so they can fully participate in the worship and activities of the congregation.
  4. “Serve one another in love” works both ways: people with visual impairment often need a fellow Christian to help them cross unexpected barriers, but they will surprise you with the ways they can assist in ministry.
  5. WELS Mission for the Visually Impaired (MVI) provides spiritual resources such as Meditations, Forward in Christ, and NPH publications without charge. All material is mailed postage free.
  6. MVI has online catalogs of materials in braille, large print, and audio resources at csm.welsrc.net/visually-impaired.
  7. MVI will custom produce resources in braille when none exist for a WELS ministry.
  8. MVI also serves people who have reading impairment. MVI has an online library, called “WELS Listen Library.” The Listen Library provides visually impaired and print impaired people Christian audio and digital resources that can be read online or downloaded to a device.
  9. Many people who are blind or visually impaired are using the Internet to find resources. Contact MVI to learn about making your website compatible with technology for the blind.
  10. If you are already serving members who are blind or visually impaired, consider reaching out to the blind community. Contact WELS Special Ministries at 414-256-3241 to find out how to let the community know that your church is “blind friendly.”

For guidance on ministry and free spiritual resources for the blind and visually impaired, contact:

WELS Mission for the Visually Impaired
1000 Portland Ave
St. Paul Park, MN 55071
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 651-291-1536

MVI Resources

Find a catalog of resources available to the visually impaired.