Well, again, delighted you could hear from Barb. I'm excited to wrap up this  week thinking about universal design, but in a little bit of a different way. So I  want to revisit kind of the idea that we were creeping up upon about accessibility features, but this is really because we are anticipating everybody. So universal  design is about anticipating that people of all abilities are going to participate  and find belonging. So we're providing those options to make that possible. And  again, right? I want you to hear directly from people with disabilities, just as  much as I want you to hear directly from pastors and churches and students  who've already taken this course. So I want these voices to be present in this  conversation, and so we're going to have a look at these dimensions of  accessibility that people with disabilities have expressed are highly important for their full participation in church and in worshiping communities. So looking at  this right architecture, the physical features and layout of a church, as well as  the ease with which the sanctuary can be navigated. Have you ever tested this?  Have you ever tried it out, gotten in a wheelchair or used a walker and tried to  navigate your own ministry space? I encourage you to try that out or use an  accessibility audit. And there's some things in the resources of the course for  this section that I'd like you to take a look at, just to think about, how is your  architecture saying You are welcome here, we anticipate people of all abilities to participate in our church here, our attitudes. We've spent a lot of time on this, so  I hope I don't need to say more about that, but it matters, right? So the views  regarding disability that are expressed in words or actions that should be clearly  articulated in the way that now your ministry is thinking. And again, I said it  should be articulated, right? So that comes to communication, the ways in which information is imparted or exchanged throughout worship services. So you see  what I'm saying about those, those show and engage and express things. How  we show the information? Are we expecting that people will always get it from  just me saying words, or will they also get it in written form? Will they get it  visually, right? What are the options we're providing? Because we expect that  people need different ways to engage with it, contributions, opportunities to  share one's gift or serve others within the context of regular worship services.  This is that idea of people having gifts to bring as well. So not just caring for  individuals with disabilities, but receiving from individuals with disabilities and  knowing what they have to give to the community. So listening to them, hearing  from them, receiving from their service to us, and that's true of every single  person. Contributions are an important part of truly being a part of the  community expectations, especially those unspoken assumptions or rules  regarding which behaviors are expected, encouraged or allowed. So this, again,  this is coming straight from people with disabilities have expressed this is what  helps things to be accessible, and the researchers who put this together are at  the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities and the Baylor Collaborative on faith and disability, and I'm just so thankful for them, because how often do we 

have unspoken rules and assumptions about how we worship together and the  behaviors that we expect and why we exclude people who simply don't behave  properly in our estimation, right, those that we glare at until they leave the  service because of the noise they're making or their child is making. And so the  expectations, can we be clear about those, and can we change those based on  who we want to welcome in our services, interactions, the social exchanges and conversations that take place before, during and after worship services. We're  going to talk a little bit more about this when we talk about autism spectrum  disorders and the social differences along with that. But church is a very social  place, and are we equipping people well to interact successfully with others with  whom they may have things in common, and they may not have that much in  common. So how are we setting people up for social interactions, and how do  we support that our liturgy, the structure, the sequence, the activities and  predictability of worship services, some of our congregations are very liturgical,  and we have things very predetermined and laid out, and we don't veer from  them very much. Other churches are very free flowing, and even the amount of  time that our worship service takes could be different from from week to week or day to day. And so those are really helpful things to think about. And how do we  inform people about what our liturgy is and looks like? So I encourage you to  think about that and to plan for it and note what's going on our postures. We've  talked about right how flexibility we are, or how flexible we are and adaptable  within our worship services, our sense of community, having deep affiliation  friendships or belonging within our faith community. So some of us are from a  more familial and communal context. Some of us are from a more independent  context, and some of us value independence higher than we do community.  Some of us value community higher than we do independence. But in our faith  communities, we have a sense of community. And so people with disabilities  have noticed that the sense of community matters, and it can be very easy to  feel excluded from that. So as you build community, ensure that you're not  building exclusive community and only a sense of community for people who are very similar and have so many things in common, are you building community in a way that says we like to have variation in our community here, sensory  factors. We're going to talk more about this with volume and lighting and textural or tactile input, temperature and other sensory elements that impact  participation. And there are some things here that you may not be able to  control, but there are some things that you can and again, can you offer options  so that people can participate more fully, so that if it's cold or if it's hot or if it's if  it's loud or if it's too quiet, you have some options so people can adjust those  things on their own, supports that are in place individualized assistance that  enables full and meaningful participation in worship services. And that's why that third part of our three part plan is individualized or responsive design planning,  right. Technology, the array of tools, devices and apps that can enable or 

enhance participation. And I am trying to introduce you to some tools and some  apps and some technology along this course. So I hope that you take advantage of those, because they're great examples of how technology can be utilized to  engage people of all abilities. Our theology, I've said this before, our religious  beliefs related to disability, or statements about how God used disability, or  disabled people, greatly encourage you to dive into what is your disability  theology? Does your denomination have some statements? Can you help to  inform that? Can you look into some of the scriptures that I've quoted and I'm  going to and I'm going to share some books and some authors as well a little bit  later on, that I would encourage you to read into and and to learn from. If this is  an area that you think you need to grow in, transportation is always something  that people with disabilities just need and understanding so simplifying things,  which again, brings us back to that idea of those vertical habits, and that  avoiding Christianese too much, or just being very clear and having things at an  understandable level. So all of these are things that matter to people with  disabilities, so they need to matter to us now. Finally, if those are talking about  aspects of accessibility as we've been reflecting on universal design, and as we  anticipate everybody, I want to spend a little bit of time thinking specifically about belonging, because what it is to belong. And again, this is named by people and  families with disabilities, and they express this because they lived without it, and so they could clearly identify what it was that was missing from their experience, and these are the dimensions that researchers discovered from these families  with disabilities by naming what they weren't experiencing. So to belong is to be  present, invited, welcomed, known, accepted, supported, heard that means  listened to right and participating in meaningful ways, befriended, needed and  loved. So we're going to spend some time looking at some of the resources  about this In this next segment. So I want to just give you a preview of what  those look like. This is what you'll find if you look at the dimensions of belonging  on Wheaton universities, or Wheaton colleges center for faith and disability. And  so they've actually divided this into five sort of general sections. But whatever  you look at, I just want you to think about these for a moment. So I'm going to go back to this version of the depiction and just reflect for a little bit on what this  really means, and maybe some scriptures that help to inform this. Remember, I  wanted to talk about our theology a little bit, so I'm trying to offer this along the  way as well. Think about what it is to be present. It means that they are present,  so they're physically there, or maybe virtually there, as we are in this course, but also has a presence in all aspects of the community. So I think of II Samuel 9  and Mephibosheth being at the table of the king, or in Acts 2:44 where it simply  says they shared all things together as a community in the church. And so it's  about being together and being present. So that's the presence we talked about, being invited. Each person is issued a personal, intentional invitation. And so  that comes right out of Revelation. We are invited to be a part of the feast that 

God has for us, which is seen in Luke 14. So we are invited to this God has  invited each one of us. We need to be intentional about inviting individuals and  families and the disability community in general to be a part of our churches,  because they are a part of God's great kingdom. So invited to participate and  welcomed when they get there, each person noticed and greeted with authentic  hospitality. This idea of greet each other with a kiss, kind of thing, right? Of You  are welcome here. I'm excited to have you here. Known. Each person is truly  known by their strengths, their interests, their likes or dislikes. So their thoughts  matter. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. You know, we're talking about  how each one of us is exhibiting love for one another, right? We know and we  care about what this person cares about. We're supporting what they what  matters to them. It might mean going to their, you know, their their cheer  competition, or watching a video with them, or whatever it might be, but knowing what it is that interests them, and so spending the time to really get to know  them as well as the struggles that they face, and being with them in that  accepted each person is valued and embraced without condition, and that's just  simply who we need to be as followers of Christ, that we value and embrace  people without condition. That doesn't mean that we don't have rules for  participation in the community, because we absolutely do, and that's good and  right as well. God has laws. There are things called sin, but we accept one  another, and we desire that these people be here and that we work together  through our mess, through our sin, we accept one another, and we're all learning to be disciples of Jesus together. So each one of us is valuable, not because of  what we bring to the community, but because we are created in his image, and  because we we are here, and God has placed us here, so accepting that we are image bearers of God. We're supported, individually supported in ordinary and  innovative ways. I love that because it helps us to think about supporting the  ordinary things, like help getting a drink of water or using the bathroom,  perhaps, but also sometimes in innovative ways, like how to take the Lord's  Supper when you have a feeding tube and don't eat foods, right, those kinds of  things, but it's thinking creatively when needed, but also just thinking about the  very ordinary needs of a human and supporting those cared for. Each person  has their needs responded to in meaningful ways. Love thinking about this that  we put others ahead of ourselves, as Philippians 2:4 says, so it's meaningful.  We're caring for one another deeply. We're putting others in front of ourselves.  So it may be easy for me to do things this way with my technology buttons and  just using spoken words, but if I'm going to care for others who don't use those  methods of communication, I need to not just do what's easy for me. I need to  take the time to do what's easy or what's helpful for others. Befriended each  person has enjoyable and reciprocal relationships with peers. So true  friendships, right? This idea that true friends are like brothers, that we support  one another. We do things together. We simply enjoy activities together. We 

spend time together by choice, and that's what we're talking about, being  befriended, needed. Each person brings gifts to the community that are seen as  indispensable. So it's not just that we are just glad you're here, but it's that we  need you. We miss you when you're gone, there's something that we're lacking  if you aren't here. The body of Christ is incomplete without you. So think about  that and how each one is an important piece of being here. And finally, love  each person is deeply and unconditionally shown God's love. So yes, we love  one another, but we are exhibiting God's love, right, love right, from the heart of  the Father to each one, and that is our job in many ways on this earth. So I want you to hear from Dr Eric Carter and read up on these things a little bit as you  explore these resources. But just wanted to introduce you to these dimensions  of belonging, because I think it speaks a lot into each one of us and our longings to participate in anything, but especially in the body of Christ, and the fact that  families with disabilities are the ones who have named this as just a brilliant  example of how people with disabilities can inform our ministry in deeply  meaningful ways. And so we do need them, and so I'm just so thankful for you  coming along on this little journey with me and thinking through these topics as  we go into the next set of information, we're going to launch in week six into  personalized planning. So hang on for the ride. There's more to go, but we are  halfway through the course, and I'm so glad that you're coming along on this  and I am praying for you as you journey through the learning that you're doing  and how it's going to impact your community. 



Última modificación: jueves, 23 de abril de 2026, 08:45