Accessible ≠ Welcoming
I wanted to share one of my favorite blogs written by Dr. Jeff Mcnair. I have been following his blog since 2014. He’s a true advocate for people with disabilities and a good friend of mine. I remember when I first met him in Spring 2014. I have to give God all the credit for this divine appointment. God saw it was a true fit for me to learn from Dr. Jeff McNair during my two-year graduate program. He mentored me, invested in me, and equipped me to be the advocate I am today.
One of his blogs is called, “The Good Samaritan Church.” He published this in November 2018. I knew I wanted to share his thoughts on this with you because this is a good analogy of why deaf people are still looking for a church. Some experiences are somewhat different for Deaf people, but we can relate to this story of a man with a disability.
I want to thank Cassandra Roberson for translating his blog into American Sign Language.
A religious leader was asked, “What was the most important thing for a church to do?”
He responded, “What do you think it is?”
The questioner responded, “You should love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul and mind and you should love your neighbor as yourself.”
“That’s correct! A church should reflect the commands of God.”
The questioner responded “What does a church look like that loves its neighbor?”
The religious leader responded with a story.
A man with a disability went to a local church. He went to the worship service of the church. While he was there he was totally ignored. No one so much as spoke to him. It was as if he wasn’t even there. He left as he came, a person devalued, without worth.
The man then went to another different church the following week. He went in and was greeted. When he asked whether the church assisted people with disabilities, like himself, they were gracious. However, they said that ministry to people with disabilities was not a priority because they are doing so many other ministries. They did ministries to the poor, and evangelism overseas. So they couldn’t take the time to include those with disabilities as a focus of ministry. But they noted that there was another church just down the street that had made ministry to people with disabilities a focus so they felt like they didn’t need to address this group of people. They told him to just go there.
The following week the man went to the church down the street the other church alluded to. As he entered, he walked past the handicapped parking spaces and up the ramp into the building. When he used the men’s room he noted that there was a wheelchair accessible stall. There was an elevator that went to the second floor and there was a section in the worship center where people who used wheelchairs could sit. During the sermon, the pastor passionately stated, “We are not really impacted by disability, but we will love all people who come to us!”
The religious leader then ask the questioner, “Which of the churches was one that loved its neighbor?”
The man replied, “The one that had the accessible building.”
The religious leader replied. “That is not correct. None of the churches were loving their neighbor. The first church ignored people with disabilities in the community. The second church skillfully sidestepped their responsibility toward persons with disabilities. The third church made modifications to their building in response to government regulations. We must not confuse compliance with mandated, government regulations with loving your neighbor. Additionally, it is fine to say that a church will welcome only those who come, but in reality they may not be welcoming to persons with disabilities because so many do not have the ability to come. Either they have intellectual disabilities that prohibit them from getting a driver’s license or they have physical disabilities that would make it difficult or impossible to drive a car. So to say we welcome all who come is not sufficient.
“So the man in the story with the disability just kept looking…”
Reference:
McNair, Jeff. The Good Samaritan Church. November 12, 2018 https://disabledchristianity.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-good-samaritan-church.html?m=1