Disability Awareness Sunday is Feb. 2
By Melissa Lauber*
Accessibility is much more than just building a ramp or making sure that handicapped parking is available in your church parking lot. On the first Sunday in February, congregations around the Baltimore-Washington Conference will celebrate truly welcoming all of God's children during Disability Awareness Sunday, and, on March 15, training will be offered to provide churches with strategies to be accessible and empowering.
Disability Awareness Sunday, which was approved and endorsed by conference members at their annual session last May, can be celebrated Feb. 2 or on any Sunday that is convenient for churches, said the Rev. Nancy Webb, chair of the conference Commission on Disability Concerns.
The conference provides this flexibility in scheduling the observance to ensure that all churches take the opportunity to consider and celebrate ministries that are attitudinally and architecturally accessible. To assist worship planners and other church leaders, the commission has provided an extensive list of online resources for Disability Awareness Sunday at www.bwcumc.org/resources/resources_disability_awareness_sunday, said Webb.
"Addressing disabilities is a vital concern for our local churches,” said Webb. “We seek full inclusion of everyone with every sort of disability, some that are totally invisible. Having someone who is able-bodied park in a spot marked handicapped accessible is only the tip of the iceberg of accessibility. There are just so many kinds of physical, cognitive, mental health and other sorts of disabilities that go unnoticed or unsupported."
To assist churches who want to be welcoming to all, but aren't entirely sure how, the Commission on Disabilities is sponsoring a seminar March 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Mission Center in Fulton.
The seminar, which is $15, will provide an overview of disabilities, address awareness and laws about disabilities, and provide numerous resources on advocacy and serving individuals with special needs, said Leo Yates, Jr., who is coordinating the event.
"The training will help to emphasize that the body of Christ will be better represented when people with disabilities are with us. For some, instead of a myopic view of God, we hope to remind them (congregations) to see God's love and grace as being inclusive," Yates said. "This, I hope, will help us not to unintentionally overlook Christ in the margins and all those there with him. It will help us to be better able to interact with them that widens our circle instead of mistakenly leaving them there."
To register for the workshop, e-mail Yates at .
For additional resources on disability ministries, visit www.bwcumc.org/ministries/disability.
*Melissa Lauber is Director of Communications for the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
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