ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 7, 2006
ELCA Congregations Win Accessibility Awards
06-193-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Christ Lutheran Church, Aptos, Calif., and
Saron Lutheran Church, Ashland, Wis., are the winners of the 2006
Disability Ministries Accessibility Awards. The award is given
annually to congregations of the ELCA that display commitment to
providing care and concern among people who are living with
disabilities. This year two awards were given -- one to a church
with more than 300 members (Saron) and another to a church with
less than 300 members (Christ).
Each winner received a grant of $1,000 from the ELCA Mission
Investment Fund and the National Organization on Disability, and
a plaque from ELCA Disability Ministries through ELCA Vocation
and Education.
Members of Christ Lutheran Church removed all architectural
barriers and expanded and remodeled the existing facilities to
increase wheelchair and walker accessibility, according to the
church's application. Other building attributes include movable
pew chairs for wheelchair seating, no steps to the communion
rail, a ramp to the lower level and a "hearing-aid sound system"
for the hearing impaired.
"The redesign of our facility came from the heart of the
congregation," according to the church's application. Members of
the church "wanted a space that was truly multi-purpose for all
people, free from barriers of any kind yet accommodating and
welcoming to all people. This open and flexible/movable design
of our sanctuary has been such an asset."
Saron Lutheran Church approved a $500,000 construction
project to make the church building more "handicapped accessible
without (soliciting) a major donor," according to Saron's
application. The church has had direct wheelchair access to the
building for the past four years and scattered wheelchair seating
in the church sanctuary to allow for choice of seating and
inclusion in the worship community.
Circle of Grace is an alternate worship service at Saron
Lutheran Church. The service offers a "time of meal and
fellowship" for people with chronic mental illness and their
families. Another ELCA congregation in the area has offered to
partner with Saron to provide meals. Circle of Grace includes
playing cards or games, karaoke music, a summer picnic, a New
Year celebration and birthday parties. Invitations to
participate in Circle of Grace are also extended to members of
the community and mental health agencies.
Four congregations -- two with 300 or less members and two
with more than 300 members -- earned an "honorable mention" and
received $250. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Garland, Texas, and
Beckville Lutheran Church, Litchfield, Minn., each with a
membership of less than 300, received honorable mentions. Our
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Scotia, N.Y., and Augustana Lutheran
Church, Grand Forks, N.D., each with a membership of more than
300, received honorable mentions.
Applications are judged by a selection committee made up of
people from program and service units in the churchwide
organization. The congregations are judged in three areas:
physical accessibility, outreach in the community to people with
disabilities, and inclusion of people with disabilities in the
life and worship of the congregation, according to Jonathan
Vehar, intern for Disability Ministries, ELCA Vocation and
Education.
"The award money was given by the ELCA Mission Investment
Fund and the National Organization on Disability through their
Partnership Program sponsored by Wal-Mart," said Vehar.
- - -
Information about ELCA Disability Ministries is at
http://www.ELCA.org/disability on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
