Online Archives

Foundry UMC's Church Council voted July 17 to become an Accessible Congregation, one of only 12 United Methodist congregations in the District of Columbia and Maryland to do so. Nation-wide, more than 2,276 congregations of all denominations have committed to becoming accessible to those with disabilities.

A program of the National Organization on Disability (www.nod.org), the Accessible Congregations Campaign, seeks to enroll congregations of all faiths that commit to identifying and removing their barriers and welcoming people with all types of disabilities. A congregation that wishes to join the campaign must commit to three principles:
? To value people with disabilities as individuals created in the image of God;
? To endeavor to remove barriers of architecture, communications and attitudes that exclude people with disabilities from full and active participation;
? To encourage all, with and without disabilities, to practice their faith and use their gifts and talents in worship, service, study and leadership.
United Methodists congregations in the District of Columbia that have joined the Accessible Congregations Campaign include Foundry, Metropolitan Memorial, Mount Vernon Place, and Wesley. 

In Maryland, they are Mill Creek Parish, Mount Oak, Mountain View in Damascus, Salem in Baltimore, Union in Aberdeen, West Liberty, Wiseburg, and Wesley Grove in Gaithersburg.