Special Needs Roundtable

This will be a Zoom meeting. Sandra Peoples will be the guest speaker. This meeting is open to anyone who has a role in Special Needs ministry, not just ministerial staff members.

Sandra Peoples (M.Div., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a PhD candidate at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where her dissertation examines the history of disability inclusion in the Southern Baptist Convention over the past fifty years. She anticipates graduating in fall 2026. Sandra serves as an adjunct professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and at Liberty University’s School of Divinity.

In addition to her academic work, Sandra serves as disability ministry consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, helping churches across the state start and strengthen disability ministries. She is a member of the SBC Disability Ministry Task Force and will participate in presenting its report at the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. She has also partnered with Lifeway Christian Resources to develop Be All In: A Ministry Guide for Special Needs Inclusion in Children’s Ministry, a free ministry resource accompanied by training videos available at lifeway.com/specialneeds.

Sandra’s commitment to disability inclusion is primarily shaped by personal experience: she grew up with a sister with Down syndrome and is the mother of a son with level 3 autism. She and her family live outside Houston, Texas, where her husband serves as a pastor, and she helps lead their church’s disability ministry.