January 2008 - Accessible to All

Instructor: The Rev. Cynthia Robinson, member of Monroe Congregational Church, United Church of Christ.

Scripture References: Psalm 139: 14a; Isaiah 40: 3-5; Luke 4: 16-21; Romans 8: 38-39; 1 Cor. 12: 12-26; 1 Peter 4: 8-11a.

“From the begining of the UCC until now, we have come to know that an extravagant welcome honoring the fullness of God’s image in the lives of those the world sees as limited and handicapped, disturbed, or disturbing also requires a conversion of heart.”
–– John H. Thomas, general minister and president, United Church of Christ

Introduction

One definition of grace is the removal of obstacles, such as fear, prejudice, ignorance, shame, pride, between God and humankind, that we might know the fullness of God. (1) This is also true of the Church being accessible to all people. When barriers such as these are uprooted, it becomes easier to remove the physical ones. Jesus said to his disciples in the gospel of John to keep the commandment to love, that by doing so we would have the joy that was in Jesus and that our joy would be made complete in us (15: 11). When we love one another without fear, without regard for ability but conscious of the image of God within each one of us, we have joy and abundant life. The work of accessibility is the work of grace and justice, that we all might live in the fullness of God.

The Rev. Dr. Harold H. Wilke

If this 'conversion of heart' is to occur, it usually happens through personal experience and/or through relationship. I'd like to introduce you to someone you may have heard about, whom I've come to know through the writing of this Bible study:

The Rev. Dr. Harold Wilke (1914-2003)

“We don’t think our way into new ways of acting; we act our way into new ways of thinking.” --Harold Wilke

Rev. Harold Wilke was one of our own. He was an ordained UCC minister and a tireless advocate for the civil rights of the disabled.

I learned from Dr. Wilke that wholeness has little to do with the body. - Dallas Dee Brauninger

He was a founding board member of the National Organization on Disability and a member of the U.S. Council for the Year of Disabled Persons. He served on the faculty of Union Theological Seminary. He founded and directed The Healing Community, which served to educate congregations and create awareness about access to a life of faith. He published a newsletter entitled The Caring Congregation, as well as numerous books and articles to help congregations to not only include the differently-abled in church life but to promote them as leaders and to discern the gifts of any who desired to serve God.

He also opened doors and sipped tea with his toes. Harold Wilke was born with no arms.

“The word 'sacrament' means an outward sign of an invisible reality. For the disability movement, Harold is our sacrament. Harold makes visible that to be an effective pastor or church executive or world leader or visionary, you do not have to shake hands; that you can claim ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’ as a favorite hymn when you do not have arms. This sacrament — this outward sign of a too often invisible reality was his life and ministry among us.” — words offered at Harold Wilke’s memorial service by David Denham.

Harold embodied what it means to be made in the image of God. Before he was due at a speaking engagement in Fargo, ND, the local pastor who was to host Harold at his home spoke with his daughters to prepare them for their guest. Wanting to avoid any embarassing comments or inappropriate staring, he told his girls that a man with no arms was coming to visit. Later, as Harold and his host sat at the kitchen table, the girls and some friends came in for a snack and to meet their guest. Harold chatted with them with his gracious charm, all the while drinking his coffee with his toes. That evening, when getting ready for bed, one of the daughters asked her father, "When is the man with no arms coming?"

On July 26, 1990 he offered the blessing at the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.

“Move [us] to discard those old beliefs and attitudes that limit and diminish those among us with disabilities.” - From Dr. Wilke’s blessing at the signing into law of the American Disabilities Act, 1990.

Harold Wilke was a giant among us, with an incarnate faith in Jesus Christ and a heart that embraced each person.

All of us are differently-abled. None of us can do it all. Yet most of us have access to buildings, schools, health care, employment, leadership positions, and resources. Most of us do not have a stigma attached to our inabilities. Jesus aligned himself with the minority, the least of his society, and saw the image of God within. He subverted the boundaries of his time, reaching out to those considered unclean by the purity system and putting them first in line for his kingdom.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

July 26, 1990 - President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act. Harold Wilke looks on, upper left

It is a tremendous piece of civil rights legislation. Within its comprehensive scope are aspects of daily living that most take for granted: employment, public transportation, telephone relay service, education, health care, housing, parks and recreation, even agriculture.

The ADA has its roots in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, including voting rights and fair housing, the latter amended in 1988 to include families with children and people with disabilities. In 1968 the Architectural Barriers Act was passed but only mandated that federally funded facilities be made accessible to people with disabilities. It was not civil rights legislation and was poorly enforced, mainly because it lacked the legislative teeth that were yet to come. It wasn't until 1973 when the federal Access Board was created by Congress that the Disability Rights movement began to be taken seriously. Still, there was a long road ahead and Dr. Wilke had yet to become the first chair of the UCC National Committee for Persons with Disabilities (now the UCC Disabilities Ministries).

The Disability Rights movement found its inspiration in the Civil Rights and the Women's movements, which partly had their roots in the gospel of Jesus Christ, grounded in the law and the prophets: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

One of the Five Historic Commitments of the UCC

Along with United and Uniting, Multi-Racial and Multi-Cultural, Open and Affirming, and Peace with Justice, Accessible to All is a historic commitment of the United Church of Christ. These commitments have risen out of the struggles, prayers, and celebrations of past General Synods. They have been embodied in local churches as they strive to witness to the Spirit moving amongst them. Our general minister and president, John Thomas, has said that an extravagant welcome takes evangelical courage--courage to live out the message we have received in Jesus Christ.

The Synod Resolutions

General Synods 11 (1977), 13 (1981), 14 (1983), and 15 (1985) all passed resolutions affirming and reaffirming full participation of persons with disabilities in the life of the Church.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) did not put a legal bind on most religious institutions, organizations or local places of worship.

In 1995 in Oakland, CA General Synod 20 passed a resolution whereby:

• Each person is affirmed to be created in the image of God; all persons incarnate the nature and presence of God.
• When we allow barriers and obstacles to stand between persons with disabilities and the work of the Church, we turn our back on the Creator.
• The Body of Christ is disabled and less whole when any of its members are denied worship or church programming because of inaccessible buildings and/or attitudinal barriers.
• The whole United Church of Christ is called upon to embrace the spirit of the ADA and to be morally bound by the conditions of the act.

In 1999 the United Church of Christ went further still, passing two resolutions with these provisions:

• To include persons with serious mental illnesses (brain disorders) such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, depression, obsessive/compulsive disorder.


• That these persons are to be treated like any other biologically-based medical problem.


• Recognize that there is still great inequality in health-care coverage.


• Strong social stigma and discrimination against those with mental illness.
  
• One in four families are affected, including church families.


• 30 million Americans, 12 million children.


• The Church is called to be community for all--without fear, offering hope.


• Call for education about these disorders and encourage congregations to be truly inclusive.
  
• The Pension Boards of the UCC are to provide adequate coverage to those affected.
  
• The UCC will be an advocate in State legislatures and in Congress for health care equality and anti-discrimination legislation.

In addition, a campaign was instituted to assist clergy with disabilities in the search process. Educational programs and resources for local congregations were to be made available. UCC-related seminaries were urged to remove barriers of all kinds which would prohibit persons with disabilities from receiving the same preparation as non-disabled persons.

At General Synod 25 in 2005 the Church was "Called to Wholeness in Christ", calling on the UCC at all levels--national, conference, association, congregations, seminaries, campus ministries, camps, and covenanted ministries--to include 'every body' in the work and witness of God's people on earth. This resolution recognized that even with all the work that has been done, more is still needed.

"Barriers that diminish the access of any diminish the wholeness of all." --from the theological rationale of the resolution "Called to Wholeness in Christ".

Personal Experience with Differently-Abled Persons

In Oaxaca City, Mexico, in the village of San Agustin de Las Juntas, are the children of Casa Hogar. It is one of the few facilities in southern Mexico that will accept children with special needs. Two of the children's caregivers, Vicky and Jacinta, are in wheelchairs themselves, having had polio when they were younger. A current project underway is to raise funds to build Jacinta and Vicky their own living space as they continue to love the children in their care.

I've played the card game Uno with deaf children like Luz and Luiz, not knowing a single sign. I've sang songs with Ester, blind from malnutrition. I've pushed Ricardo to church in his new wheelchair. I've hugged Eufronia and had her drool on me. I was able to do these things not because of something in me but because of the hospitality, hunger for connection, and image of God within each of these beautiful children.

Accessible to All is not only every body having access to the Church, but also having access to one another, to the richness of every body's experience of the life in the Spirit.

Questions for reflection and discussion

1. What experience/relationship brought accessibility to the fore of your consciousness?

2. How would you respond to a search committee's candidate for pastor who gets around in a wheelchair? Is blind? Is being treated for a brain disorder?

3. What attitudinal barriers still exist within you?

4. How have you 'acted into new ways of thinking'?

5. Is there a differently-abled person who is a hero to you? What about this person inspires you? What action could you make to honor them?

6. What work still needs to be done in our church so that it is truly accessible to all?

Resources

Access Sunday - 2nd Sunday in October

Any Body, Every Body, Christ's Body: A Congregational Guide for Becoming Accessible to All

Shine, God's People: A Resource on the Five Historic Commitments of the UCC

United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries

General Synod resolutions on disability

Americans with Disabilities Act Home Page

The Children of Casa Hogar

Notes

1. Philip Gulley and James Mulholland, If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 2003), 14-15.