Open doors

Lutheran, The, Aug 2000 by Clemmer, Cindi L

People with disabilities find community at congregations that reach out to them

The tables decked out in checkered cloths are set. The candles are lit. As coffee brews, people hug each other in greeting, like long-lost cousins. A makeshift stage sports a large paper heart, and musicians perform Puff the Magic Dragon.

No, it's not a '60s love-in revival. It's the monthly Coffee House at Good Shepherd Lutheran, Raleigh, N.C., an evening-out for church and community members, including residents of a nearby Lutheran group home and other developmentally delayed adults.

"It's like a party, a party for God," says parishioner Nicole Barefoot, one of the group-home regulars.

The singing picks up as the 50 participants enjoy gospel favorites. A mother rocks her baby to the music. One girl sings about Jesus with such joy her tablemate with Down syndrome is inspired to join her.

The Coffee House is only one example of how ELCA congregations welcome people with diverse abilities:

Faith, Seattle, hears Sunday morning lessons electronically vocalized by a member using a "light board" device on her motorized wheelchair.

St. John Evangelical, Mercersburg, Pa., sponsors the Angel Handbell Choir, whose members represent such a variety of physical limitations that one member rings a chime with his foot.

St. Luke, Charlotte, N.C., sponsors a drop-in activity center two Saturdays a month for those living with mental illness.

Lutherans also are leading the way in a campaign sponsored by the National Organization on Disability. The privately funded advocacy group in Washington, D.C., is trying to enlist 2,000 churches of all faiths as "Accessible Congregations" by year's end. So far, Lutheran congregations represent about one-fourth of the total signed up, says Ginny Thornburgh, head of the group's religion and disability program.

Thornburgh praised ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson as the only denominational leader to endorse the campaign. Anderson backed the effort in a letter to congregations last year.

With the theme "Access: It begins in the Heart," the campaign asks congregations to "identify barriers and work to remove them in the future," Thornburgh says. In addition to physical hurdles, she says congregations promise to work on attitudinal barriers that may prevent people with disabilities from being full and active participants.

"Just to put in a ramp or an electric door opener is a good beginning, but to see that person fully as a child of God, that's really exciting," she says. "True religious access is about opening hearts, minds and doors."

Meanwhile, Lutherans are moving in new directions, partly guided by a 1998 ELCA study. Among its recommendations was reinstituting a churchwide staff position. Last year Lisa T. Cleaver, a former parish pastor, was hired as director of disability ministries and deaf ministry. "I'm trying to broaden the emphasis of disability ministries," she says.

Following another recommendation, deaf ministry was separated in structure and budget, recognizing that the deaf consider themselves a unique culture with a non-English language (American Sign Language).

Other efforts include strengthening ventures with the National Council of Churches, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and other denominations; organizing a churchwide advisory committee; and helping synods develop disability teams (a consultation for synod representatives is planned Oct. 28-29 in Chicago).

To encourage congregations, Cleaver's office coordinates other disability-related events, offers resources and administers an annual accessibility award.

Last year's award recipient, Good Shepherd, demonstrates how a congregation can work to include people with disabilities in its church life. Eight years ago it created an adult Sunday school class involving six residents of a Lutheran Family Services group home. When few suitable curriculum materials were found, teachers developed their own, incorporating role-playing, reading aloud and using drawings or original props.

"We have a variety of reading levels and learning styles in class and have to figure out how to engage everyone," says Gail Vaughn, a special education teacher who helps lead the class.

The home's residents-and friends who started attending worship because of the Coffee House-also serve as greeters, ushers, nursery helpers and musicians. "It's important to them that they can contribute instead of always being the ones receiving," says Dale Tutor, the home's director.

Good Shepherd's leadership also involves people with varying disabilities. Council member Ben Robinson, a software engineer whose vision is 20/600 in both eyes, uses a magnifier to read. "I've learned to accommodate myself," he says. Among his other church activities, he can be found welcoming Coffee House guests-even playing his conga drum.

But it's not always easy for a congregation to know how to involve those with disabilities. "It's tricky to talk about disabilities because people don't want to be offensive and are afraid to ask questions," Cleaver says.