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.

Yesterday I drove over to Carrollton to attend the Funeral Mass for a woman who had been born with Down Syndrome.

As I neared the church I noticed that intersecting streets were being blocked by police department personnel. When I actually got to the church, it was already nearly full. I had to park behind the church. Walking around the church building to the front, I watched as the hearse and family cars arrived. The city had provided a full funeral procession with police riding motorcycles front and back. Waiting at the front door were current and previous pastors. The thought actually crossed my mind that I might be at the wrong funeral.

However, I found the church full of her friends, acquaintances, and coworkers. One reason they were so numerous was because she had been an active member of the parish hospitality ministry. She had also been a greeter at the supermarket where she worked. It had taken her nearly a year to die, and there were several members of the medical profession and hospital staff attending as well.

The other reason was because she treated all those she encountered with a special kind of cordiality. This cordiality was honest. It was not judgmental. Really, it was a kind of loving. The priest said she had been a reflection of God’s love. That she had been specifically sent as a great teacher for the rest of us about the nature of love.

The celebrant took that passage about love they so often read at weddings. He took each one of those descriptions (“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous,” etc.), and he tied it to an event or “snapshot” in this woman’s life that described her loving nature.

Although obviously well prepared, he was doing all this without notes; just standing there holding the Bible open to First Corinthians. Finally, the beauty of what he was telling caught up with even him. He said: “I have to stop talking now, before I start to cry.” And he sat down.

Mark, all this began years ago when a previous pastor insisted that she be included in the hospitality ministry of that parish. It was from there that she developed the skills that got her the jobs she held. It was from there that she earned such profound respect from that entire community.

Mark, this event is so exemplary as to what IDN is all about. It also refreshed the vocational meaning of my life. And yes, I disgraced myself by openly weeping during Mass all the while sitting in the middle of a bunch Protestants.

Do you have a story to share about why inclusion matters?

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Here is a helpful reflection on Pesach titled: Passover: Why Redemptive Things Happen to Good People.

One of the questions from the article that I find interesting is:

Is freedom escape from pain or is it embracing our challenges and using them as a catapult for inner growth?

I would be interested to know how other people with disabilities experience the G-d of Pesach and what freedom looks like in the live of people with disabilities.

Reading this reflection and looking at the questions it poses Makes me want to share a reflection of my own:

I must first say that I am not Jewish, but as a person who identifies as a Christian with a disability I find resonance and hope in the story of the Passover. Because the Jewish community is about to begin the observance of Pesach I wanted to comment about the significance the holiday holds for me.

The story of passover has always had a resonance with me as a person who lives with a disability. The are ways people with disabilities are made disabled by the barriers communities erect. Some of these barriers include buildings without ramps and systems that do not prepare for the presence and participation of people with disabilities.

Some of the barriers to freedom also include the ways I erect barriers for myself that keep me from realizing the fullness of who G-d has called me to be.

In the light of this, I need to read and hear stories about a G-d who partners with people to overcome the ways we enslave ourselves and others. The G-d of the Passover is a G-d who hears and responds to the cries of G-d’s people.
The G-d of the passover is with us as we work to build communities where everyone, persons with and without disabilities, have opportunities to be who they are without the barriers of shame, inaccessibility, ignorance, fear, and isolation.

At Passover and everyday may we partner with G-d to be agents of liberation, hope, and possibility in communities where hopelessness too often rules the lives of too many.

What are the stories in your life that speak of the the journey you are making toward freedom?

Another helpful question may be to ask are there ways in which my actions and/or inactions are keeping others from freedom/liberation?

Mary Lou Vergara from the Atlanta Regional Commission came to present about issues facing older adults in our congregations. I was reminded about how issues of accessibility and welcome are central in keeping elders engaged in the work of the community. I was also struck by the idea that congregations often plan events and outreach to elders without consulting them about their needs and desires.

Mary Lou shared some resources with participants to help them enter into thought and conversation regarding including the voices, experiences, needs, and dreams of elders. Here are some examples:

Aging & Disability Resource Connection:One Call to open doors to resources for community based programs and supports for elders and people with disabilities. (404) 463-3333.

Resources from the United Methodist Church’s Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries

I was reminded of something I heard from Dr. John Banja from the Ethics Center at Emory a number of years ago. He said, “life is a journey from disability and dependence toward independence and then back towards disability and dependence.” This begs the question then, who are people with disabilities? I believe the answer might be each of us is a person with a disability eventually. Given this reality it is important to plan congregations that are accessible to and welcoming of the people we will become.

I would love to know what your congregation/faith group is doing to plan for the presence and participation of peole as they age?

An excerpt from the Theology Forum that took place during the 2009 Interfaith Disability Connection Summit on Sunday August 9, 2009.

The question posed by forum moderator The Reverend Benno D. Pattison was: Does your tradition provide guidance about who people with disabilities are or why people have disabilities? Does this explanation help or hinder congregations in your tradition as they seek to welcome and include people with disabilities?

Responding to this question are:

Reverend Guy Pujol, Executive Director, AIDS Alliance for Faith and Health and Faculty Member, Interdenominational Theological Center

Dr. Khalid Siddiq, Atlanta Islamic Community Leader

Rabbi Mark Zimmerman, Congregation Beth Shalom, Dunwoody, GA

Download this episode (right click and save)

Making A Difference Magazine Summer 2009

Thank you to Reverend Bill Gaventa, Ginny Thornburgh, Imam Furqan Muhammad, Pastor Devin Strong, Rabbi Harvey Winokur, Reverend Denny and Varion Spear, Pat Nobbie and many others for their work in lifting the profile of this important issue.

Thank you to The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities for shining a light on religious leaders and congregations who actively engaging people with disabilities in worship, study, service and leadershi.

Betty and Alan are two individuals who helped plan and deliver the 2008 That All May Worship: Beyond The Ramp Conference. They discuss the impact that attending the 2008 event has had on them and help us preview what is most exciting to them as the prepare to participate in the 2009 Interfaith Disability Connection Summit on Sunday, August 9, 2009.

They also discuss why the think YOU Should plan to attend!

You can listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below:

Download this episode (right click and save)

The congregation’s web site includes a number of wonderful resources for understanding the foundation of the congregation’s commitment to people with disabilities and their families.

Congratulations to Rabbi Kipnes and the Congregation Or Ami Family on their much deserved EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award.

I am inspired by the congregation’s efforts and I hope you are too.

Do you know about a congregation or a leader that is doing wonderful things like this?