Alex
Are these Good Ideas?
Posted on: 03/16/2009 19:03
One Church (Mennonite)denomination in the USA decided to agree by the Americans with Disabilty Act, even through churches were exempt. They have had much success in doing so. So much so that this Mennonite Church is condsidered to be the Gold standard to which measure other churches on access to the disabled
Do you think it would be a Good idea to lobby United Churches and organisations in Ontario to abide by the Accessibilty for Ontarians Act? If so how would that be done?
Another movement is the Accessible Congregation Campaign. Would you believe something like this would be better, it's more general. thrus might be less perhaps successful, it could be changed to be more specific and expanded to include other faith communities in Canada as well. What kind of approach would be more successful or worthwhile?
Ten Things You Should Know About the Accessible Congregations Campaign
http://www.nod.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&FeatureID=94
- The Accessible Congregations Campaign (ACC) seeks to gain the commitment of congregations of all faiths to include people with all types of disabilities as full and active participants. It is sponsored by the Religion and Disability Program of the National Organization on Disability.
- The theme of the Accessible Congregations Campaign is "Access: It Begins in the Heart."
- The campaign seeks to enlist congregations of all faiths and is based on the scriptural understanding that all people, with and without disabilities, are created in the image of God.
- The campaign seeks to identify and certify the full range of congregations - from those newly alert to disability issues to those which are architecturally and programmatically accessible. Our goal is to open hearts, minds and doors.
- An Accessible Congregation acknowledges that it has barriers (both physical and attitudinal) to the full participation of people with disabilities and makes a commitment to removing them.
- Congregations need not be perfect. They do need to make the commitment to action.
- To join the campaign, a congregation must commit to using the gifts and talents of people with disabilities in worship, service, study and leadership. A congregation then completes and returns the Commitment Form to Rik Opstelten, Accessible Congregations Campaign at N.O.D., 910 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.
- Once enrolled, a congregation posts the ACC logo, as above, on its web site.
- Joining the ACC costs nothing. Even the commitment certificate is free.
- The N.O.D. web site lists committed congregations by state and by faith group.
Comments
Arminius
Posted on: 03/16/2009 19:11
Hi Alex: You raised an important point.
I fully agree. All churches and church halls should be wheelchair accessible, with wheelchair accessible, handicapped-friendly washrooms.
I think most of the bigger churches are. Ours isn't!
RevMatt
Posted on: 03/16/2009 22:35
It's a good idea, but not really necessary. With most churches doomed to close in the next 15-20 years, that will solve many of our accessibility problems.
Alex
Posted on: 03/17/2009 12:06
It's a good idea, but not really necessary. With most churches doomed to close in the next 15-20 years, that will solve many of our accessibility problems.
Do you think that the first idea might not only people facing barriers, but help prevent a few congregations from closing, by becoming more accessible.
As for the second idea, I do not see it so much as something for churches, but for people with disabilities. At the very least an Accessible Congregation campaign would give some idea that the people in the congregation are willing to be open to the idea of making changes to accomadate people living with disabilities.
RevMatt
Posted on: 03/17/2009 12:27
Oh, I agree completely, Alex. It's an excellent idea, and one that we ought to have taken up long ago. The cold hard reality, though, is that the only way to do it is ditch virtually all of our old buildings. Again, maybe that is a good thing, but you can imagine how that argument will go :)
Birthstone
Posted on: 03/17/2009 13:27
I can feel the fire & brimstone rainin' down!
But yes, the old buildings are coming in with huge cost estimates for going accessible & green(er) and it is necessary for our congregations that we start being honest about such things.
But Alex, it all goes hand in hand. We should be committing to Accessibility & also greening our spaces. If it means we need some renos or closures, its time we owned up to it.
Faerenach
Posted on: 03/17/2009 13:52
I feel pretty proud of my church. We're 160 years old next year, and we put an elevator and ramps in more than 5 years ago. But I know what historical buildings are like, and I know it would be an incredible expense for many churches out there.
Perhaps this is something that the overall church could be looking to fund? Or at least help fund?
Tyson
Posted on: 03/17/2009 14:12
When I was in the Anglican Church, the churches that I went to were accessible. When I was a youth pastor in Winnipeg (also in the Anglican Church), the Church was also accessible.
My wife and I now go to a Brethren Church (open) and it is also wheel chair accessible. I don't think that I have ever been in a church building (new or older) that did not have some kind of wheel chair accessibility.