“I was preaching one Sunday and was rather distraught that one of our families literally could not be in the same worship space just because we didn’t have a seating arrangement that made sense.”
Religious entities are exempt from Americans with Disabilities Act and have much room for improvement, advocates say.
But it bothered the Rev. Adam Kelchner, the new pastor: “That’s not terrible. But then when you start to ask the questions of how are they accommodating all the other challenges and disabilities? …Then it just almost drops off,” Thumma said. “They don’t make the full accommodations to allow all of their people to actually worship to their fullest in the service.”
“We’re not providing a sort of separate and unequal service for people who can’t come in person,” Colwell said. “Individuals with special needs can be on a board. They can contribute. They can give you a perspective,” said Zaman, 37, who has muscular dystrophy. “We are not defined by our special needs. It’s just a part of who we are … but there’s more to us than that.”
Lamb wants to invite policymakers to what he thinks would be an eye-opening outing in wheelchairs. They would experience firsthand just how hard it is to do basic activities, like using public bathrooms and finding restaurants with enough space between tables for a wheelchair, he said. Anybody who’s “had to go through the kitchen to get to the sanctuary has experienced what congregations need to do,” Asin said. “Some of it is about getting around... some of it is about making sure that path has dignity.”“If we’ve had the blessing of living long enough, we will all be disabled. This is not about them. This is about all of us,” Asin said.
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