Accessibility and Awareness

How welcoming is your church to people with disabilities?

A new addition and entrance brings accessibility to Cincinnati Mennonite Church

If someone arrives at your church in a wheel chair, can they get in the front door? Can they use the restroom easily?

If someone has hearing loss, will they be able to hear the sermon?

When a person with vision impairment comes to church, can they fully participate in the liturgy or congregational singing?

The journey to fully including people with disabilities and welcoming their gifts begins with access and leads us to examine and transform our attitudes.

An annual disability audit using our quick checklist or accessibility survey will help your congregation grow in awareness of the barriers that inadvertently make it hard for people with disabilities to participate fully. We all have room to grow!

The pages listed in the right column and below offer stories for raising disability awareness and tools for assessing access and attitudes.

Stories about accessibility

- Planning Accessible Meetings & Events
  Tips & Suggestions for Planning meetings and events that are accessible to people with disabilities.
- College Mennonite Church
  College Mennonite Church (Goshen, Indiana), already blessed with a fully accessible building, has taken steps to extend hospitality to people who use a visual language.
- Crest Hill Community Church
  All it took was a short discussion and a few eager volunteers to install a new ramp at Crest Hill that welcomes people with mobility challenges.

- Freeport Mennonite Church
  Freeport Mennonite Church (Illinois) rejoices that their building is now fully accessible, on one level.
- Grand Marais Mennonite Church
  Grand Marais Mennonite Church (Michigan) completed a new fellowship hall in 2011 that is barrier free.
- Hudson Lake Mennonite Church
  How one congregation partnered with another Mennonite church to bring about accessible building renovations.

- Indiana Michigan Conference
  After more than twenty years in second-floor offices with no elevator access, Indiana Michigan Conference moved to accessible ground floor headquarters in late June of 2011.
- MHS Alliance
  MHS Alliance moved from second floor offices in downtown Goshen to ground floor offices in the new Everence Financial building
- Michigan Avenue Mennonite Church
  A grant from Indiana-Michigan Conference allowed the congregation to upgrade equipment it needed to record worship services for homebound members.

Learn more

Accessibility and Awareness
- Accessibility
  Explore tools for auditing accessiblity of church buildings and programs, and learn from congregations that have led the way.
- Awareness
  Resources for learning about people with disabilities and their unique gifts and needs.
- Changing Attitudes
  Where are you on the Journey of Disability Attitudes?

Opening Doors

Out Now: "Everybody Belongs, Serving Together"
A new resource for congregations
Accessibility Benefits Everybody
Making Spaces Welcoming for All
Jeanne Davies calls congregations to greater belonging and inclusion.
Creating Space for Love
The fourth week of Advent
Solidarity with Disabled Friends in India

Connections

Responsiveness and Relationship
Resources for Including Children
Growing Pains
Stepping Stones
Barrier-Free Grants for Congregations
A resource for increasing accessibility
We Are Able Workcampers Inspire
We Are Able workcampers served in Elgin this summer
Designing Leadership
Dan Longmore's pastoral leadership is shaped and enriched by his disability. Read more for an example of how churches can welcome the leadership gifts of those with disabilities.
Church of the Brethren Annual Conference
Brethren Annual Conference-goers with disabilities had Rebekah Flores working to make sure they could participate fully.
Open Roof Award
Cedar Lake and Staunton congregations were honored with the Church of the Brethren Open Roof Award for 2015.
Becoming More Inclusive
Two churches take new steps to become more accessible to people with disabilities. ADN offers resources and connection to congregations like these seeking to widen their welcome.