Ryan Wolfe: A Pioneer in disability ministry

For Ryan Wolfe ’98, the role of a disability ministry has always been a clear calling from God on his life — he just had to take time to figure out what it meant.

“I graduated from MVNU 25 years ago with a degree in Religion and Christian Education. Twenty-five years ago, there were no degrees or even classes in the field of disability ministry. Why? Disability ministry really wasn’t a thing back then and it is still an emerging ministry today,” explained Ryan. “That said, disability ministry has always been a clear calling from God on my life.”

“MVNU has always valued the college experience for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD),” he said. “I know this because I had several friends in my graduating class that had IDD. They were integrated and loved in the typical college experience 25 years ago. That to me was some­thing that made MVNU special to me.”

MVNU’s motto — “To seek to learn is to seek to serve” — has played out daily for Ryan as works to figure out what disability ministry is and how it can be most effective in the local church setting.

“Getting to be a pioneer in an emerging ministry field has required me to be a ‘learner.’ The more I have learned the better servant I have become. Having this motto instilled in me from my time at MVNU set me on the right trajectory,” he said.

Ryan is currently the President and Executive Director of Ability Ministry. Ability Ministry is a religious non-profit organization with nearly 40 years of history in providing group homes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Tennessee and Missouri.

“I was brought on board a little over six years ago to grow the organization beyond the excellent Residential Ministry that we provide,” said Ryan. “Ability Ministry recognized that while we were making a life-changing impact for our residents and their families there were well over one billion people affected by disability around the world that we were not reaching.”

Because of his 15 years of experience in full-time disability ministry at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, Ryan was the perfect candidate to lead the organization.

“With my arrival, the new mission and focus of Ability Ministry be­came ‘Equipping the local church to reach their disability community for Christ.’ In just six short years we have worked directly with over 275 churches in 45 different states and 27 different countries helping them to either start a new disability ministry or take the next step in being more effective in reaching their disability community for Christ,” said Ryan.

The organization offers free consulta­tions for churches and offers close to 2,000 unique resources on their web­site for churches to use for free. This includes free stock photos, podcasts, videos, one page guides and more.

“My favorite part of my job is the fact that I get to be creative and use my unique gifting,” said Ryan. “Outside of training churches, I spend most of my creating resources for churches to use in their disability ministries.”

This year, MVNU started a new two-year certificate program designed to support high school graduates with intellectual disabilities. The residential program called IGNITE — Indepen­dence and Growth Nurtured through Integrated Training and Education — focuses on academics, indepen­dent living, self-determination and employment. Participants in IGNITE also fully engage in Spiritual Forma­tion and Student Life programming.

“There are very few things in the world and field of ministry that makes me more excited than MVNU’s new IGNITE program. It is so needed!” said Ryan. “The IG­NITE program makes me even more proud to be an alumnus of MVNU.”

He is excited about the new IGNITE program at MVNU and hopes that others are as eager to collaborate as he is.

“The IGNITE program will be an example for many Christian colleges and universities for years to come,” said Ryan.

Outside of keeping up with his two active teenagers and wife, Melissa (Darling) ’98, Ryan enjoys volunteer­ing and being involved in the com­munity. Even though he is no longer on staff at First Christian Church in Canton, he is still involved in serv­ing in their Disability Ministry. His family has also served on the board of Challenger Baseball, Light After Loss, and other great community orga­nizations. As for hobbies, Ryan is a “big-time sneakerhead” and a “fantasy football nerd.”

Ryan also became published in 2024. He worked as a contributing author on the IVP book, “Ministering to Families in Crisis: The Essential Guide for Nurturing Mental and Emotional Health.”

Learn more about Ryan’s work at Ability Ministry at abilityministry.com.