Jerry Lamb speaks with Pastor Adam Kerchner at Camden First United Methodist Church in Camden, Tennessee, Thursday, December 8, 2022. Jerry and those using wheelchairs, walkers, or other assistive devices can sit with the rest of the congregation. (AP Photo/John Amis)
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Jerry Lamb couldn’t get his wheelchair into the church line. it wouldn’t fit. Even sitting in the aisle couldn’t block the path awkwardly.
So he adapted. It’s a regular part of his new life with restricted mobility, requiring near-constant reckoning on how to navigate a world no longer set up for him. It included his longtime church in Camden. This is his one of many US places of worship with limited accessibility.
Instead, on Sundays, they worshiped at the Nartex behind the Camden First United Methodist Church, away from the rest of the congregation, with their families seated in folding chairs. For Lam, 66, it didn’t matter too much. “I had already finished” I have been having trouble walking since 2019 due to a deteriorating spinal condition.
But it bothered the new pastor, Pastor Adam Kerchner: “I was preaching one Sunday and was pretty upset that one of my family literally couldn’t be in the same worship space just because there was no reasonable seating arrangement. .”
So Kerchner made something that could. He secured approval from the Board of Trustees and hired a company to cut out some seats and create space for Rams and others using wheelchairs or walkers to worship with the rest of the congregation. I got
“It blew us out of the water” Ram said.
Except for employers, religious groups are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, a 32-year landmark civil rights law that includes public space access requirements. Nonetheless, most of the time they make their buildings accessible in some way.
But there is a lot of room for improvement, says Scott Tamma, professor of sociology of religion and director of the Hartford Institute for Religion.
Thumma also co-led Faith Communities Today, a research project that surveyed over 15,000 US religious groups for its 2020 report, and found that 76% are wheelchair accessible. Thirty percent provide large print worship materials and nearly as many have hearing aids.
“It’s not terrible. But when you start asking questions how are you coping with all the other challenges and obstacles? …then you almost fall.” said Toma. “They do not make perfect accommodations so that all people can actually worship to the fullest in worship.”
Reverend Kelly Colwell, who leads the digital and hybrid ministry at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church, said the pandemic and the ensuing massive increase in online worship were a catalyst for a broader understanding of what it really means to be an accessible church. It is said that it became United Church of Christ in California.
She had an eye-opening virtual coffee chat early in the pandemic. The Multiple Sclerosis congregation explained that an online event-filled calendar allowed her to participate in ways she otherwise wouldn’t have been allowed. Colwell realized that the church has always excluded people with accessibility problems.
Today, Colwell continues to assess whether churches have equal physical access to all congregations.
“We don’t provide a kind of personalized and unequal service for people who can’t come in person.” Colwell said.
Maria Towne, president and CEO of the American Association for the Disabled, is making progress. She notes that the congregation has added inclusion her events and playgrounds for all, and an activist-created translation of the Koran that is easy to read for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Did.
“I think more and more organizations are starting to realize that this is necessary, albeit slowly. I hope you will said the town.
Omer Zaman, a Muslim wheelchair user near Chicago, is one of the disability believers promoting inclusion and accessibility. He focuses on inclusion in mosques as a volunteer and board member of MUHSEN, a non-profit seeking consideration and understanding of disabilities in his community of Muslims.
“Individuals with special needs can join the board. They can contribute. They can give you perspective.” Zaman, 37, who has muscular dystrophy, said: “We are not defined by our special needs.
MUHSEN recognizes mosques making progress through phased masjid certification. To earn it, you must meet requirements such as Disability Awareness Events, Support Groups, Professional Childcare, Braille Quran, and Ramps.
“More than just lamps” Jerry Lam, who has faced accessibility issues at many types of venues, said:
Lam wants to invite policy makers on what he thinks will be a spectacular excursion in a wheelchair. He said they would experience firsthand how difficult it is to perform basic activities such as walking.
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