With the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, it's a good time to reflect on the positive and significant changes brought into the church and into into people's lives by this legislation.
Three years after the ADA was passed, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church passed a comprehensive recommendation regarding accessibility in which it “heartily recommend full compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act . . . in all portions of the CRC located in the U.S. and Canada.”
As a result of the legislation and the synodical decision, the CRC has changed considerably for the better in the last 17 years, with most churches at the very least providing basic accessibility. Many churches do much more.
The new issue of Disability Concerns' newsletter, Breaking Barriers, features a number of articles about the ADA including a feature story about First CRC of Detroit's journey to accessibility and another story about the impact of the ADA and the CRC Synod's decision on a CRC person who uses a wheelchair. Author and speaker Rich Dixon also contributed several brief storys, some funny, some painful, about his experiences with accessibility in different churches.
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