Everybody belongs. Everybody serves.
Disability
Staci
lynn
Stanley & Monica
Michele
Together, we create disability. Once we recognize and admit to our participation in other people’s disability, we can begin to remove the barriers to participation that we have erected.
If it is true that people are excluded from church for social- skill reasons, what changes might be instituted within the social environment that would benefit not only persons with disabilities but the larger population as well? What “social ramp” would cause more people to have access and find social acceptance?
When we envision the diverse church, in our minds' eye, we see a diversity of skin colors, foods, ethnic identities, and languages. Usually, we also see we see the young and the old, male and female. But in our vision of the diverse church, we rarely see a boy who uses a wheelchair, woman who lives with mental illness, a girl with Down Syndrome, a man who is blind, or a woman who is Deaf and uses sign language. Why?
Last week I asked why we tend to limit our idea of diversity in church to ethnic diversity. Like one reader responded to the question last week, diversity of ability falls outside of most people's thinking because most people don't want people with disabilities included in their activities.
Kathie Snow's website has a host of great resources. Don't miss the newsletter sign-up, her articles on people-first language, and that list at the bottom of her homepage.
Mark Wafer grew up with a hearing impairment, so he knows disability from the inside. When he began purchasing Tim Hortons franchises, he decided that he would hire people whom he believed would work well, whether or not they had a disability.
According to a new study, hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is good for business. Yet 85% of those are unemployed. HuffPost Live looks at a new initiative that aims to change this.
This short litany, which can be read in unison, affirms that each member of the community is valued and loved.
The Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition has helpful resources for congregations to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The urgency and even panic in the host's voice show how desperate he was to be accepted. He cannot bear the disgrace of having prepared food ready for so many and having no guests.
The Lord calls us as his covenant people to care for each other. We who belong to Christ must answer his call to serve each other in his name...
Creating more awareness for inclusion.
A prayer by Elizabeth E. Schultz to offer at a Diversity/Disability Awareness service.
Autumn prayer to offer at a Disability Awareness Sunday service.
This hymn was commissioned for a national conference on disabilities hosted by Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. Presbyterians for Disability Concerns has posted it on their website. This hymn was included in the United Church of Canada’s hymnal supplement, More Voices.
These are the Disability Emphasis Week devotionals (volume 1) by special education teacher Barbara Newman.
These are the Disability Emphasis Week devotionals (volume 2) by special education teacher Barbara Newman.
Communion and Disability
This message describes a continuum of disability attitudes and challenges listeners to move to a deeper, richer, and more loving attitude towards people with disabilities.
A responsive prayer
To offer at a Disability Awareness Sunday
To offer at a Disability Awareness Sunday
Do you get a day off if you are unemployed? No, until you're hired, there's no taking off from unemployment.
These two brief videos featuring people with disabilities talking about their jobs and a journal article make the same point in very different ways: don't be afraid to hiring people who have disabilities.
Are you planning a Disability Worship Service? Wondering what to do? Perhaps setting up a panel discussion as part of the message will work for you and your church!