This article was recently sent to me from an Interfaith Disability Connection volunteer. The article discusses the challenges faced by older adults when they seek to attend their congregations of choice.

I am very interested to read the article. The idea of building coalitions between people with disabilities and people who are aging in congregations has long been a fascinating area for exploration and action for me. The concerns that members of these groups have are similar and the opportunities for action and reflection on inclusion of seniors and people with disabilities can lead to interesting discoveries, in my experience.

Are people who are aging out of participation in your congregations on your radar screen? Have you undertaken projects or discussions in your congregation to consider the needs of the population and the gifts your community risks losing if they are not invited, accommodated, and included?

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)

I had an interesting and enlightening conversation with a college friend last week. This woman is a Christian Pastor, Mom and an Autism Advocate. She posted on Facebook about how she was convinced that in her experience of her son, who lives on the autism spectrum, she was becoming more and more convinced that autism was a cultural thing.

I asked her to say more about this and she talked about how she was convinced that her son spoke another “language”. My friend’s sense was that if she could just commit to learning the “language” she could better understand and support her son.

I had that conversation last week and then I came in this morning to find a link to this article from the New York Times in my inbox. I think the article offers some of the same insights.

I lead disability awareness training often and I think there are definitely elements of cultural competency involved.

What do you think? How much of disability awareness is cultural competency vs. teaching people with disabilities to operate appropriately within the culture of the communities where we seek to be connected?

This article by Archbishop Wilton Gregory from last week’s Georgia Bulletin provides and important example. I am grateful for the Archbishop’s perspective on these important issues

The Director of Ministry with People with Disabilities at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta recently invited me to view a webinar produced by the National Catholic Partnership on Disability.

The webinar was titled: Access to Liturgical Spaces: Welcoming ALL To This Place. The webinar lasts an hour and you can access the presentation here.

I was very impressed with the presenters, especially Robert Habiger, who is an architect. Habiger specializes in design of worship spaces. Mr. Habiger introduced participants in the webinar to a design concept called equivalent experience. Habiger says in an article about the concept from the EnvisionChurch.org web site that equivalent experience involves five key principles. The Principles are:

» Be intentional in discussing prejudices.
» Start with a focus on full, conscious and active participation.
» Explore situations disabled people face when in a worship environment.
» Donâ??t succumb to the belief that it is too difficult to accomplish.
» Think inclusivity, not separation.

If you would like to read more about the concept of equivalent experience in liturgical design you can go here and here.

The webinar is informative and the images used to convey Habiger’s concepts are powerful because they offer a fundamental reorientation to some of the common ways we conceive of congregational accessibility.

I would love to here from people who have been actively engaged in planning and implementation of design and renovation of your sacred spaces. Are Habiger’s concepts provocative? Are the feasible in your experience?

I am grateful for my colleague at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta for his willingness to share this resource with me and I am also grateful to the National Catholic Partnership on Disability for using this tool to help parishes be in this important conversation.