Barriers In Temple: Making God More Accessible
Written by admin2 on September 14th, 2009Filed under: Uncategorized
Quoting The Wall Street Journal:
Churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are places where people with disabilities might not expect to feel excluded, isolated or patronized. Yet that has often been the norm. For years congregations have effectively excluded the disabled from worship—by steps, narrow doorways and straitened attitudes—or segregated them in “special” services. Houses of worship (except those with more than 15 employees) were excluded from the 1992 Americans with Disabilities Act, which, among other things, bars discrimination against people with physical or intellectual disabilities—including access and architectural barriers—in public accommodations and transportation.
…there are also some potential benefits for congregations that are willing to make the investment in architecture and attitude in order to become more welcoming. Mainline congregations with declining memberships, for example, would have much to gain. More families with a disabled member would attend religious services, experts say, if congregations would make efforts to open their buildings and programs. Older people tend to attend services in greater numbers than the young. The good news is that some churches, synagogues, mosques and temples are already getting ready for the coming influx of the disabled, tapping technology and simple thoughtfulness to reach out in creative ways to this faith-hungry community: At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk, Va., priest Joe Metzger instructs an 11-year-old autistic girl in an empty sanctuary, while wearing vestments, so she’ll feel at ease making her First Communion. At Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnetonka, Minn., no sanctuary steps lead to the pulpit; congregants approach it using a long ramp, symbolizing that all people come to the Torah equally. At St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Charlotte, N.C., and St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Exton, Pa., adult members with Down Syndrome serve as altar servers, “greeters” and Sunday morning ushers. As these examples suggest, it takes more than just automatic door openers, large-print Bibles and improved signage to make a congregation disability-friendly.
Read the entire article on wsj.com >>
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