The Advisory Committee for the Interfaith Disability Connection met on Wednesday, June 2nd to tell our stories and take stock of the gifts, skills and abilities of those in the room.We wanted to begin the work of building a movement for greater accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities and their families in congregational life.

There were 20 powerful people with and without disabilities in the room! We shared stories about the experience each person has seeing their congregation changed for the better by working for full-inclusion of people with disabilities and their families. There were Presbyterians, United Methodists, Members of the Jewish Community, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, Baptists,Non-Denominational and Seventh Day Adventists in the room. It was an amazing group of old and new friends of IDN!

After we shared our stories and our successes the group brainstormed a list of accomplishments they had witnessed in their congregations. The list included:

Ramps
Accessible restrooms
assisted listening devices
sign language interpreters
chair lifts
large print
accessible water fountains
more accessible parking
curb cuts
automatic doors
language used in sermons
participation of people with disabilities
expanding leadership of people with disabilities
Shabbat service dedicated to disability issues
Jewish disability awareness month (Feb) is now national (and international)
seminars on autism to educate the congregation
use of internet to broadcast services
captioning in internet services
accessible websites
rabbi toured building using a wheelchair to experience first hand
same approach in educating children and teens
have achieved an atmosphere where inclusion takes on a life of its own
moving from ministry TO people with disabilities to ministry WITH
increased support from senior leadership

The list was an amazing testimony to the stories. expertise and experience in room. The members of the Advisory Committee in the room all said that as a result of their experiences in their congregations they could teach someone in a another congregation to do what they have done.

We are building a powerful movement of advocates! We need you to join this movement with YOUR EXPERIENCE, YOUR STORIES and YOUR POWER! We are building a movement to locate and engage advocates in every congregation so that we can all benefit from being together on this journey. We dream of a day when every house of worship will be a place of love, acceptance and opportunity for ALL People The meeting on the 2nd was exciting, but it was only the tip of the iceberg.

Will you join us on this journey? If you will send an e-mail to Mark@Interfaithdisability.org Tell us a story and join this powerful movement!

You can also tell your story in the comments to this post.

Interfaith Disability Connection Podcast Episode #1:

In this first podcast of the Interfaith Disability Connection Director Mark Crenshaw interviews Ginny Thornburgh, Director of the Interfaith Initiative at the American Association of People with Disabilities in Washington, DC, Thornburgh will serve as an event facilitator at the 2nd annual IDC Summit this Sunday, August 9, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. Click the play button on the player below to listen to the podcast.

Click below to download the podcast to your computer:

Download this episode (right click and save)

Reading and then meeting Dr. Nancy Eiesland brought about a transformation of thought and a transformation of possibility for me. She was a wonderful mentor, conversation partner, and friend. I am most grateful for her prophetic advocacy in the classroom, from the pulpit and in the larger world. She was capable of painting a picture of the already and the not quite yet for people with disabilities with equal measure of hope, grace and urgency. She did not shy away from inviting G-d into the fray or to request an account of the church’s failure to respond to the gifts and the needs of people with disabilities.

(Ret.) Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks about the concept of ubuntu. Watch Tutu speak about ubuntu:

I understand ubuntu because of Dr. Eiesland. I would not be who I am apart from her contributions as teacher, writer, mentor, and friend. I assume that many people who met, heard and interacted with Nancy felt similarly.

Nancy’s books The Disabled God and Human Disability and The Service of G-d (Edited with Don Saliers) provide some of the most well conceived scholarship at the intersection of theology and disability even though it has been more than a decade since their publication.

Nancy will missed, but she leaves a hundreds of students and friends who will work to carry on the conversation in her absence.

Nancy’s words, deeds and friendship transformed the world for people like me, who were privileged to spend time with her. I ask that I may be an agent of that continued transformation so that Nancy’s legacy might live many years past her time here on Earth.

Nancy’s husband Terry and her daughter will remain in my prayers.

If you would like to attend a memorial service in honor of Dr. Eiesland there will be one held in the Cannon Chapel at Emory University on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 2 PM.

Links to other pieces written about Nancy:

Update: A memorial to Dr. Eiesland from the Emory Wheel, Emory’s student newspaper

Update: A link to a nice memorial from the New York Times

American Jewish World Service is taking the opportunity that Jewish Disability Awareness Month provides to make the public aware of the ways their organization supports the work of people with disabilities in the developing world. Read the feature from American Jewish World Service titled: Taking Jewish Disability Awareness Month Global.

The past twenty years have witnessed much progress for people with disabilities here in the United States, so I think it is easy to overlook the life situations of people with disabilities in other parts of the world. Please take a moment to read the article and consider supporting the work of American Jewish World Service to support self/advocacy in other parts of our world.