Thank you for posting this, Alex.

My thoughts...

Everyone benefits from going to church in some way. There isn't anyone who does not.

Our building has steps and no ramp. People can, however, choose to use a lift to take them from street level into the church. They can access both of the church's levels in this way.

We strive to value and include everyone who comes into our church. We who are disabled are not seen as being bad or inferior.

(We did once have a guest speaker who told us that disabilities stem from genetic weaknesses due to humanity falling from grace in Eden.)

Our washrooms are wide enough to allow people who use mobility devices to use them.

I can't say that, however, for every doorway inside the building. There are doorways that lead from the sanctuary to rooms in the back of the church that a person with a wheelchair etc. simply could not go through. One of those back room is used by us for our business meetings. The other is the pastor's office. Now that I think about this, Alex, this is really bad. All people should be able to get to those rooms. I'm going to have to speak to someone about this.

We use neither hymn books nor church bulletins. Our announcements, and the words to our songs are presented via powerpoint.

We do provide use of large-print Bibles, and they are heavy to hold.

There is another access barrier that may be present in some churches which should be noted. Some churches may not provide easy enough access into a pew. At my church we have taken a pew in the middle of the sanctuary out, so that people who need or desire to may sit down more easily and enjoy more leg room.

Our signage needs work. Our web presence needs work.

We welcome people of sexual minorities. All are free to come and worship with us.

We sometimes use low lighting. We haven't given much thought to how that might impact vision. We very seldom use the organ. Our music is about 99.99% on CD, DVD, or piano.

Honestly, the whole "scented products" thing is just silly nonsense.

Hi Jae:

Our small rural church has no hi-tech gadgets, just a printed service bulletin, but I agree with you that everyone benefits from going to church in some way.

There is, however, a perception out there that we are a bunch of Bible-thumping believers who blindly believe in a set of absurd dogmas and self-righteously lord  their beliefs over others.

I think we need to convince the public that this is what we are not!

The greatest barrier is isolation. A church should be, above all, a welcoming and caring and inclusive and place. If it has those qualities, it can usually get around all the other barriers. If it doesn't, you can have drive-in washrooms, and it won't help.

graeme

Isolation is indeed a problem.  It happens when members refuse to allow new people to work on committees, in the kitchen etc.  It happens when members with a problem, sorrow etc are ignored (or basically told to suck it up).

Churches should be open and inclusive.  Like a school, barriers must be taken down.  At the same time one has to realize that not all churches can be all things to all people.  There is simply not enough money.  That being said if a church is aware of a barrier it can be dismantled or if the church knows of someone who would like to come but has a disability then the church can be proactive and deal with it.

Our diocese has just dismantled another barrier.  We have a new priest in charge as of Sept. 1.  She is the first priest in this diocese who is living in a loving, committed, church blessed and married relationship with another same sex partner.  The Holy Spirit does move in awesome ways.  It is something I've been asking for for a long time.

Shalom

Mate

One of the "barriers" that we try to cope with is parking.  We don't have a parking lot other than a few spaces for staff.  The street right infront is parkable but of course it is "first come" and the choir is always "first come".  We have always saved about three spots for those needing wheelchair access but it isn't enough.  WE now ask the choir to park else where and try to save the entire strip for those who really need the short walk.  During the bad weather we also use ushers to monitor the street and assist those who need help coping with parking and snow.

We don't use power point, our church design makes it prohibitally expensive but that is a good idea about the hymns Alex.

Currently we print the weekly order of service in large font for a few members.  I think they do about 10 copies.  But we could also do 10 or so for those who need the hymns printed.  Put the words of the hymn right there.

Our parking design is also problematic. We have but one parking lot. It's in back of the church. It's gravel. There's no back door to the church, so people entering the building have to go all the way around the building to the front door. There is a side door, but it is often locked. There are no designated handicapped parking spots.

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Language.... after the service we'll all meet in the CE Hall, just past the Narthex, for some C&C.

Uhh, CE what, coffee and .......

We love our language.

Peace

IT

Russ

Access for wheel-chairs has been a concern at our church.   They can enter the top-level, but there is no access to the basement, where the after-services lunches are held.

But we cannot afford to fix it at the moment.  We have 1-2 people a week with wheelchairs, and some people sit upstairs with them after the service, and someone always brings up a lunch for them.

Large-print not a real issue in an Orthodox service, because the Divine Liturgy is the same from one week to the next and everyone knows it by heart.  (Books containing the service are available for new-comers however).  

Needless to say, no Powerpoint at an Orthodox service.  In fact, if the power went out half-way through, we could keep going because of all the candles and oil-filled lamps.  All the singing is a capella so no worry about an electric organ.

Someone does have to remember to bring the icons to the wheel-chair bound so they can kiss them, though.

I wanted to reply to this piece of a previous post.  From my experience, people who do not have issues with scents have difficulty understanding the impact a scent can have.  Let me try to explain from my experience. 

I have asthma and it continues to evolve.  I was diagnosed in my early 20's.  At that time there was a perfume on the market that would instantly send me into wheezing and shortness of breath when anyone walked by with it - I never did find out the name of that perfume!  It seems to have faded from fashion and I am grateful for that. 

My asthma has changed again - strong scents and perfumes around me make it very difficult to breathe.  This has happened recently quite often in church and unfortunately, there are certain people that I generally avoid as speaking with them, or even standing around them, causes a breathing reaction.  At times, I have been sitting in church and someone with a strong perfume has sat around me, and I am left in the position of needing to change seats or having difficulty breathing throughout the service.   Some of you may say that I should speak up, and I agree with you, however, not only is it difficult to tell someone that how you smell is a problem for me, but additionally, I am having trouble breathing!

The impact of an astha attack is quite exhausting.   If I have an asthma attack due to a scent,  or other triggers, I feel exhausted for the rest of the day, which makes it hard to care for children. 

The people in our church have been asked not to wear strongly scented products, however some continue to do so.   I don't think that they mean to be malicious at all; they just don't understand the impact of something that they think smells beautiful.  It's hard to understand unless you have experienced it.  That being said, breathing problems can be life threatening and they definately are a barrier to full participation in a church or other organization.

 Alex, I just wanted to share something with you.

Tonight, I was overjoyed to be able to have hte elevator working in our church.  People were able to get into the sanctuary and down to coffee and anywhere in between, on their own.  What a blessing it was, honestly.  It is good to see people who do not have to enter the "other door" or go down a different hallway.  This new entrance way is quickly becoming the most popular one.

In addition, well, the congregation had a number of same-gender couples who have found that Wesley is a good place to be...and they are not "THE" couple, they are just one of many..ie, normal, with or without kids, just part of the family

and today, one of the young girls in my church school class, read the prayers of the people with her Dad...this young girls lives with Downes Syndrome and in being one of the readers on Christmas Eve, was able to help to knock down assumptions and barriers.  

Our church was almost full...over 450 in attendance, and well, it felt good to see some of those barriers start to fall.

peace to you all this night.

Pinga,

How lucky you are to have a child with Down Syndrome in your Church School class! In my experience they are just the sweetest, most loving people that you could ever meet. How wonderful it must have been to see and hear her read tonight.

It's really interesting to read this thread. When I first came to my congregation, one of the things that really impressed me about it was that it had an elevator! We have two pews that are shortened so that people in wheelchairs can sit with their families. Our services are broadcast on FM and there are several headsets that people who are hard of hearing can borrow. We print bulletins in large print, but I think people with vision problems are out of luck when it comes to hymns. We recently did some upgrading of the sanctuary and the final thing that we plan to install is a lift so that people with mobility concerns can take part in worship leadership. So, upon brief reflection, I feel like we are doing pretty well in most areas - but have some room for improvement.

mysticfire1,

Is there a way of posting your post in your churches newsletter?

Unless you experience it yourself, it is really hard to imagine what you have to live with and that might help. Talk to your minister/ session about it.

Incense would be bad for that then?

I am surprised that no one has suggested that one barrier to church attendance may be the balance in one's cheque book!

I know we are United Church; we are supposed to be "better than that"...but I am really challenging this idea lately. Could you bring a single not-employed mother to your church?

In small rural congregations, where the social and financial status of people in the community is widely known, and where mobility from one social strata to another is difficult...is this an issue?

I do not like to talk about this; but I do think it can come into play..especially as rural congregations struggle with financial problems...are prospective church people sometimes looked at "desirable" or "undesirable" depending on their theoretical potential to contribute to the financial well being of the church? Is is considered far more acceptable in your congregation to contribute to the local Christmas food bank drive than it might be to consider opening up to allow a recipient family to be included in worship?

(I feel like a Grinch for even suggesting such heresy!!! but I think it can be an issue)

Hello Angelanb!

In our congregation that isn't an issue. We are a larger congregation with a wide range of economic backgrounds - from students and those on welfare, to those who are very well off. There have been times when I haven't been able to contribute financially - and I have felt no less welcome than I did this morning. When I can't contribute financially, I try to contribute more in other ways (volunteer hours for example).

Barriers do exist within congregations even as we, maybe, wish they didn't.  Some are physical (no way to get in because the door is up a flight of stairs) financial (money is needed to participate in some activities) and social ('everyone' there is middle class, financially secure and literate).

Maybe though the problem is is going to show up repeatedly just because churchpeople are fallible humans?  There are those who have started to attend a church and quit because it was too difficult to find a way to be included in small group activities.  This has been discussed in the WC several times in various threads.  How does an energetic younger person get to bring in friends for (maybe) a Mom and Tots meeting or an extra Youth Group gathering when Mrs Church Pillar refuses to let her use the kitchen for a snack?  How does an artistically gifted person get to help with decorating the church/hall when a small group of people insist that it be done the same way as last year (and all the years before)?  How is new music accepted - with interest and curiosity - with delight because it more closely matches our changing theology - with groans because we haven't sung 'this' before? 

Is the congregation even interested in learning what gifts and treasures a new member has to offer?  How would a new 'seeker' of community  know who to approach to help solve this type of problem?  Minister is busy - it isn't the secretarys problem - s/he gets bruched off by those already settled in to the various groups.  Unless a congregation has something in place to help absorb the people who show up they will lose many of them again.

Angelanb - in my previous church I too sometimes felt that financial barriers could be a problem to full participation in the life of the church - having been there myself, I really got annoyed at some of the practices; like charging for congregation building events like Wednesday evening supper and discussion, and like selling the leftovers from church suppers (they actually bought a scale so they could weigh the left over meat they were selling after church the day after the roast beef supper.  Previously people had been invited to go to the kitchen after the service and pick up some leftovers and leave a donation in the bowl if you so desired. 

But at my present congregation I don't see this type of barrier.  We have a lot of people from the down-town core who attend our services or take advantage of our mid-week services.  They are welcomed at fellowship time after worship (including the man who lives in a room nearby and brings his big dog with him).  

If you find letting the plate pass you by when the offering is received, you might not be a problem here either.  Many people are on PAR (pre-arranged deductions from their bank accounts).  They let the plate pass them by, as do those who write a monthly cheque, those who's spouse is sitting somewhere else (choir, Sunday School) and making the offering.  When I usher I can generally count on at least half the congregation waving the plate by.  And I find the ushers are sensitive to the little nod, or head shake, or hands folded that might indicate that they need not pass the plate to that pew.  If they do, just pass it on.

There are other ways than financial to show your care - singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, setting up chairs, pouring coffee, sweeping up, tidying the books in the library, visiting the sick, peelling potatoes for the church supper. 

My apologies for not responding sooner - family was visiting!

Thanks for the suggestions - I truely appreciate them.  I may chat with the reverend about putting something in the bulletin.

And yes, incense is also not good for my breathing, which is unfortunate, as I love sandalwood!