The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has had a long
history of advocacy for persons with disabilities. The 189th General Assembly
in its adoption of Overture 16 (1977), proclaims the church's mission and
focuses on the ministry to the disabled. That policy aims to include all
persons - regardless of ability or disability - in the Family of God. It
applies to the spiritual needs of people with disabilities and their families
as well as the more practical needs - accessibility to buildings, services,
transportation, housing, education and medical assistance. It does not differentiate
physical and mental disabilities in their policy definitions.
This Overture, later published in 1989 as the booklet, "That All May
Enter" addressed its recommendations mainly to the concerns of physical
disabilities. That policy, at its most succinct, called for "the religious
community" and the Presbyterian Church in particular, to stop treating
its brothers and sisters who were disabled as objects of condescension and
charity. This policy was reaffirmed by the PC(USA) again in 1978 and 1979.
In 1981, the Assemblies of both UPCUSA and PCUSA approved resolutions to
support the International Year of Disabled Persons, along with policies
to promote inclusion of all people with disabilities in both public and
church policies. The 1985 General Assembly (GA) of the PC(USA)
in publishing the report of The Task Force on Severely Handicapped Children
adopted an extensive and detailed policy statement which included Mission
Directions, Ethical Statement of Care, and Recommended Strategies, in addition
to the results of its detailed study of the needs of disabled people and
their families.
A 1991 report from the Education and Congregational Nurture Ministry
Unit of PC(U.S.A.) included the establishment of an annual Disabilities
Awareness Day.
In 2000, the 212th General Assembly (GA) approved the Advisory Committee
on Social Witness Policy recommendation that the GA and presbyteries be
directed to....."encourage churches to identify and remove architectural
barriers; seek ways to remove architectural barriers, to reach out to
persons who are disabled, to engage in ministries of advocacy for disabilities
concerns, and encourage compliance as soon as possible. GA also took action
to recommit the resouces and people, the imagination and energies of the
whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) so that the goals of "That All
May Enter" may be more fully accomplished; directing the National
Ministries Division to:
|
 Enhance publicity about
the availability of loans and guidelines to help churches to become more
inclusive, and make clear that the loans are for more than only mobility
accessibility.
Urge presbyteries to promote
learning events to help ministers of the Word and Sacrament and Christian
educators to preach and teach in ways that show conscious acceptance of
people with and without disabilities.
Urge presbyteries and
congregations to promote educational events for sessions and church leaders
to gain knowledge about ways churches can work for justice and become
more inclusive.
Make available lists of
resources to help with the learning and educational events noted above.
Continue to develop educational
and worship resources for churches to use with children and adults who
have disabilities.
Support the work of the
Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy Task Force as it convenes
over the next three years to develop a comprehensive disabilities policy,
including learning disabilities, disabilities prevention, and all other
disabilities identified by the Resolution on "Disability Concern"
and reported to the General Assembly (2005).
In its publication "That All May Enter", the 189th General
Assembly identified four steps Presbyterian congregations can take to
respond to their mandate:
STEP I Eliminate physical barriers.
STEP II Eliminate attitudinal barriers.
STEP III Encourage full participation of people with disabilities
into the life of the congregation.
STEP VI Be an advocate for people with disabilities.
Their call? "Each congregation, presbytery, and synod needs someone
to lead in this unique act of justice. A group can be pulled together
by the pastor, the session, a choir member, a junior high school student,
anyone milling to advance the idea of invitation and communication with
people with disabilities."
|
| The toughest barriers for people with disabilities
to overcome are the attitudes of those who have inadequate information about
disability. Your church, as an inclusive community of faith, is in a unique
position to break down these attitudinal barriers as the first step toward
the full participation of people with disabilities. However, for the members
of your congregation to become knowledgeable and effective, they must get
to know, in some depth, people with physical, sensory and intellectual differences.
By doing so, including them in the life of the congregation will be a great
deal easier.
Here are a few questions that will help you reflect on the attitudes
your congregation may have toward people with disabilities:
Are persons with disabilities
welcome to worship with us?
Are there people with
visible or invisible disabilities who are
currently members?
|
Are we encouraging more persons with disabilities in our community to consider
joining our church?
Do we recognize the gifts
of people with disabilities and are they involved in the full life of
the church?
Are people with disabilities
given opportunities to serve others within the congregation and in outreach
programs?
Are positions of leadership
offered to individuals who happen to have a disability?
How does our congregation
respond to religious or lay leaders who require a disability?
"How much better to regard someone
primarily as a person WITH ABILITIES,
and secondarily as someone who may need assistance to use those abilities."
|
| How inviting is your church building to a person in a wheelchair?
To a person who has great difficulty walking? To an aging member who goes
up steps one at a time, holding on to a banister? To a person who cannot
open heavy doors? To one who gets around with a seeing eye dog? To a person
with chronic respiratory or allergy disorders? To those who have a difficult
time hearing?
Everyone with or without a disability should be welcomed into the House
of God with courtesy, thoughtfulness, and hospitality. By anticipating
the particular needs of those with disabilities, the atmosphere and convenience
of ready access are frequently improved for all. In doing so, you will
find that even the most subtle changes will make a positive difference
in making everyone feel welcome.
Here are some suggestions for making your church more welcoming:
Build awareness in your
congregation by completing a checklist of physical barriers in your facility,
both inside and out. Begin removing them by concentrating on those with
solutions that are "readily achievable" and benefit the greatest
number of persons.
Getting to church can
be a barrier onto itself. Organize neighborhood carpools to provide transportation
for members and give the person with a disability a list of willing drivers.
Station someone near the
main entrances to assist persons in and out of cars and in and out of
the building.
Ushers are the first
sign of hospitality for your congregation. Train them to anticipate the
needs of persons with physical impairments.
Provide large-print Bibles,
hymnals, bulletins, reference books and other materials used in worship
and study.
Accept a guide dog in
the sanctuary as you would any guide.
Offer volunteer reader
service.
Make sure important announcements
are also provided in print form.
Make audio tapes of entire
services, sermons, speeches or seasonal study guides.
|
Provide assistive listening
devices (ALDS) for worship and other large assembly gatherings and meetings.
Designate a "scent-free"
seating area in the sanctuary for the 15% of our population that have
some form of chemical sensitivity leading to chronic allergy problems
or other respiratory diseases . Use unscented products for soaps, detergents,
tissue and other housekeeping products used in your church.
Provide a telecommunications
device (TDD) for the church office.
Encourage some members
of the congregation to learn American Sign Language, Signed English, and/or
finger spelling as a way to increase the number of times deaf persons
feel "at home" within the congregation.
Follow up general announcements
of church activities with personal invitations and arrangements for transportation.
For additional information contact:
Northwest American ADA/IT Center
P.O. Box 574
Portland, OR 97201-0574
(503) 494-4001 (voice)
(503) 418-0296 (TTY)
(800) 949-4232 (voice or TTY)
(503) 418-0785 (fax)
State of Oregon
Building Codes Division
Attn: Richard Rogers
P.O. Box 14470
Salem OR 97309
(503) 378-4472
(503) 378-2322 (fax)
Oregon Disabilities Commission
1257 Ferry Street SE
Salem, OR 97301-4278
(503) 378-3142 (voice or TTY)
(800) 358-3117 (voice or TTY)
National Organization on Disability
Religion and Disability Program
910 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 293-5960
(202) 293-5968 (TDD)
(202) 293-7999 (fax)
(800) 248-ABLE (2253)
|