Rochelle Scheuermann, Ph.D.

Rochelle Scheuermann is passionate about the church, God’s mission, and connecting people with Jesus. She has been active in vocational and lay ministry as an ordained minister for almost thirty years, and has spent the last fifteen years in higher education, focused on forming and equipping missional church leaders. Her teaching, research and writing focus on disability and the church, theology of mission, and the intersection of preaching and culture. If you ever talk with her, you’ll likely find the inclusion of people with disabilities in the work and witness of the church coming up in the conversation.

In addition to holding memberships in several academic societies, Rochelle serves as a global Disability Concerns Catalyst for the Lausanne Movement and is active in the Evangelical Missiological Society, having served on the national board in multiple roles, including society President (2022-2024), national co-chair (2015 and 2020), and JEMS editor (2024-2025). She is a peer-reviewer for Missiology, a board member for Can Do Kids International, an advisory editor for Koinonia Journal, and an advisory board member for Koinonia Inclusion Network.

She is the author of Disability and Evangelism: The Good News of the Fullness of God’s Kingdom (2026, IVP Academic) and co-author of the textbook, Preaching in the Contemporary World (2006, Global University) and guest editor for Missiology: An International Review on a themed issue related to mission and disability. In addition to co-editing three academic monographs, she has contributed numerous articles to numerous peer-reviewed journals and anthologies. In 2022 she received a Knox Fellowship Award for Research in Evangelism for her article "Apologetics and Disability: Reframing Our Response to the Question of Suffering." Her next book is bringing two of her research interests together and focuses on disability and preaching.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Ph.D., Intercultural Studies

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary
Master of Divinity

• Disability and the Church
• Preaching and Culture
• Theology of Mission

Book Chapters:

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2027. “Disability and Missiology.” In Handbook of Disability and Christian Theology, eds. Sarah Jean Barton and Devan Stahl. London: T&T Clark.

Cheong, John, and Rochelle Scheuermann. 2022. “The Character of the Incarnation in Preaching with Translators: Principles and Practices.” In Communication in Mission: Opportunities and Challenges of Communicating God’s Mission, 15-27. Evangelical Missiological Society, EMS Monograph Series no. 30. Pasadena, CA: William Carey.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2021. “Missiology Through the Lens of Disability: Assessing the Unreached People Group Idea.” In Advancing Models of Mission: Evaluating the Past and Looking to the Future, edited by Kenneth Nehrbass, Arminta Arrington, and Narry Santos, 115-131. Evangelical Missiological Society, EMS Monograph Series no. 29. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Cathcart, Rochelle L. 2012. “How to Integrate the Arts and Preaching.” In Worship and Mission for the Global Church: An Ethnodoxology Handbook, ed. James R. Krabill, 460-467.  Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Guest Editor of Theme Issues of Journals:

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2024. Guest Editor: Disabling Beauty: Disability, Worship, Art, and Mission. Missiology: An International Review 52, no. 4 (Oct-Dec).

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2026. “Redemption in Christian Theology: (Re)Examining Atonement Models in Light of Disability.” Journal of Disability and Religion 30, no. 2 (April): 210-231.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2024. “Learning and Living God’s Story: The Power of Liturgy For, With, and  Through People with Disabilities.” Missiology: An International Review 52, no. 4 (Oct-Dec): 415-426.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2023. “Enabling Evangelicalism: How a Renewed Vision of Church as an Alternative Community of Reconciliation Necessitates the Inclusion of People with Disabilities.” Christian Scholar’s Review 52, no. 3 (Spring): 79-101.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2022. “Apologetics and Disability: Reframing Our Response to the Question of Suffering.” Great Commission Research Journal 14, no. 2 (Fall): 85-102.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2022. “Not Whole Without Us: Including People with Disabilities in our Understanding of the Church, the Gospel, and the World.” Missiology: An International Review: 50, no. 3 (July-Sept): 290-303. (online first Oct 1, 2021)

Scheuermann, Rochelle Cathcart. 2018. “Paul G. Hiebert’s Anthropological Insights for Missionaries [1985] – Thirty-Three Years Later.” Missio Dei: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis 9, no. 1 (Winter-Spring).

Scheuermann, Rochelle Cathcart. 2016. “Integrating the Arts and Preaching.” Orality Journal 5, no. 2: 75-109.

Cathcart, Rochelle L. 2012. “Culture Matters: How Three Effective Preachers (Timothy Keller, Rob Bell, and Father Pfleger) Engage Culture in the Preaching Event.” Trinity Journal 33, no. 2 (Fall): 209-222.

Cathcart, Rochelle L., and Mike Nichols. 2009 “Self Theology, Global Theology, and Missional Theology in the Writings of Paul G. Hiebert.” Trinity Journal 30, no. 2 (Fall): 209-221. (first author)

• Disability and Evangelism: The Good News of the Fullness of God's Kingdom (2026, IVP Academic)
• Not Forgotten: Mission to Women Amid Global Crisis (2025, First Fruits Press)
• Communication in Mission: Global Opportunities and Challenges (2022, William Carey Library)
• Controversies in Mission: Theology, People, and Practice of Mission in the 21^st Century (2016, William Carey Library)
• Preaching in the Contemporary World (2006, Global University)

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2026. “Known, Seen, Invited: How Doing Ministry With and Among People with Disabilities Reveals the Kingdom of God.” Outreach Magazine (March/April): 68-74.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2026. “Disability & Evangelism.” Gospel Witness, August 3, 2026. Podcast, 40 min, 56 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ164IhmvBI&list=PL4l451XMYNijRIbOmFj9CMo1OFN5dHnzj&index=10.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2026. “Why the Church Needs Rituals Again.” The Esau McCaulley Podcast, May 21, 2026. Podcast, 40 min, 14 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTxaI7VZUdM.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2026. “Episode 31: How Evangelism Can be Truly Inclusive for People with Disabilities. Podcast, July 10, 2026, 59 min, 23 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVZWJ5EVedo.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2025. “Inclusive Theology: Empowering Individuals with Disabilities and Embracing Childlike Wonder in the Church.” Disabling the Church, April 24, 2025. Podcast, 19 min, 36 sec. https://disablingthechurch.buzzsprout.com/2452029/episodes/16639812-inclusive-theology-empowering-individuals-with-disabilities-and-embracing-childlike-wonder-in-the-church.

Scheuermann, Rochelle. 2024. “Partnering with People with Disabilities in the Church.” Ed Stetzer Live (radio show) Moody Radio. https://moodyaudio.com/products/partnering-people-disabilities-church

2026   Craddock Lectures on Preaching. Johnson University, April 7-9, Knoxville, TN.

Theme: Building Accessible Bridges: Engaging Disability in the Preaching Event

• Lecture 1: Disability in Text and Context
• Lecture 2: Disability in Sermon Construction and Delivery
• Sermon 1: Jesus and the Blind Man (John 9)
• Sermon 2: God’s Kingdom Party (Luke 14:1-24)

2026   Disability, Imago Dei, and the Mission of the Church. Plenary Address for the Evangelical Missiological Society, North Central Regional Conference, March 14, Wheaton, IL.

2024 Burnett Lectureship in Homiletics. Inaugural lectures at the Cordas C. Burnett Preaching Center, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Sept 23-24, Springfield, MO.

Lecture 1: Preaching Hospitably: Setting an Accessible Table

Lecture 2: Contextualizing Preaching in a Contemporary World

2024 Disability and God’s Mission: An Invitation to Evangelism. Plenary Lecture for the Symposium on Disability and Ministry at Western Theological Seminary, July 13, Holland, MI.