Signs of Liberation and Access
by
Reverend Harold Wilke
The festivals of the religious year show forth new meanings for access and
liberation:
In the glory of Easter – the stone rolled away – we see the barrier removed.
In the wonder of Pentecost the message is heard, understood, and seen by
all,
In the liberating act of Passover the message is:
“Let My People Go!” and the parting of the Red Sea.
In the joy of Advent God embodies divinity in human form.
Yet for many persons today – who are blind or deaf or have mental
retardation or who are in wheelchairs – the barriers still remain;
The stone is still in place;
The waters are not parted, the way not opened;
The words cannot be heard;
The flame of the Spirit’s tongues cannot be seen, the message not
understood.
Proclaiming the message in all languages for today means using Braille or
larger print for people with visual disabilities, signing or special
sound systems for persons with hearing disabilities; image, color and
drama for people with cognitive disabilities; architectural access for
people with physical disabilities or who are getting older.
Let the stone be rolled away!
Let the glorious message be proclaimed truly, in all languages
So all may hear and understand!
I came across this prayer this weekend while preparing for Access Sunday at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Grant Park. I would love to know what these images communicate to you? Thoughts?
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.
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?
Linda Zimmerman, Executive Director of The Amit Program shared a wonderful article from Exceptional Parent Magazine. The article shares wisdom from an amazing group of leaders in Jewish Special Education.
The article titled: Programs of Acceptance and Inclusion In The Jewish Faith begins with a quote from a Jewish teacher who lived during the 1st century B.C.E., Hillel. The quote says:
If I am not for myself, who is for me?
If I am for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers)
The authors of the article go on to look at the need to provide inclusive Jewish education through the lens of the quote. The article is a wonderful resource for parents who have questions about including their children with disabilities.
The article is Co-written by:
Shelley Christensen
Dr. Sara Rubinow Simon
Debbie Gettes
Linda Zimmerman
and Arlene Remz (Check out the links!)
The article offers the perspectives of five women who are in the forefront as leaders in the field of Jewish Special Education. The collected wisdom in the article is invaluable,
A big THANK YOU to Linda for sharing the article! I hope readers gain insight and food for the journey.
â??My son is very fond of his junior church leader and she has done loads of little things to keep him included. Even though some of them donâ??t work, I am really heartened by her willingness to be creative and think of my son and want him to be happy in the group and to be able to contribute. He often is offered a musical instrument and is the person she asks to draw the curtains and switch off the lights. She accepts a certain level of noise from him and encourages me to contribute to the group overall. He often starts his prayers at night with thanking God for her. â?¦.It is helpful to have people who are willing to learn and understand and treat us both like human beings with feelings. Someone asked me for what they could do to make it easier for him when we went for a picnic together, and that individual approach really
helps.â?
This is an example of one of the many quotes offered by people who live on the autism spectrum and their family members in Welcoming Those with Autism and Aspberger Syndrome In Our Churches And Communities. The document was published by the Anglican Diocese of Oxford.
One of the things that impresses me most about the document is the multiplicity of ways that the voices of people living on the Autism Spectrum show up in the document.
Please download the document and review it. I believe it presents may helpful tips for welcoming people on the Autism Spectrum and their families. Tips like:
The Order of service â?? really clear instructions for us e.g. where to sit, when to stand and sit, what to say at each point? Either write it down, or get someone to be with us to quietly say what to do, please. (This also helps those new to church). Different colour paper may help some to read service sheets, e.g. light blue paper rather than white.
What do you think?
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.
Last Week I received the following message:
For Religious Educators and Ministers as well as Parents
I See You
As religious educators and teachers we are asked to do a lot with limited time to create a welcoming and inclusive ministry for all the children who come to our churches. Some religious educators are part time, parent/teachers are busy with the daily activities of caring for families and making a living, and ministers have an entire congregation to care for. We are not a social service agency, so how do we respond to children that need more time and attention than others?
If you have attended one of my workshops, you know that I emphasize cultivating an attitude which looks for the positive in children rather than focusing on the negatives implied by the label. Children are more apt to act in constructive ways when they feel positive, unconditional regard from the adults leading the religious education (RE) program. Instead, what often happens is that teachers expect behavior based on past inappropriate behavior or based on the deficits implied by the label. Therefore it becomes easy to fall into the trap of trying to control the behavior rather than trying to understand why children are behaving the way they do. We do not have to condone the behavior in order to embrace the child. And really it is as simple as that. Conveying to the child, “I see you, not the label, not the difficult behavior,I see you.” All the teaching techniques in the world are ineffective without the attitude of positive, unconditional regard for all the children in your RE program. Changing our minds about the children we perceive as difficult frees us to be more creative and our task becomes easier. We do not have to be a social service agency; we do not have to do it all in one hour Sunday morning and at other church events. All we have to do is affirm the worth and dignity of every child by seeing past the labels to each child’s unique gifts. The rest will follow.
This comes from Sally Patton, who is a Unitarian Universalist educator and parent.
Sally has also written a Declaration On Celebrating The Whole Child. You can see and sign it HERE. If you want more information about the work shops Sally provides  about making your congregation a welcoming place for all children you can visit her web site HERE.
If you want to read about how one IDC member congregation is welcoming children with disabilities in their religious education program you cand read a success story HERE.
I would love to know what you think?
I have just begun reading This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities & Biblical Studies. At this point I am impressed. If you are interested the book provides a wide range of perspectives both from scholars in disability studies and biblical studies. I think the book provides some interesting and helpful scholarship that seeks to counter some of the most prevalent nations about disability and the biblical story.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?
