September 2000 Call to Action News

Making a parish accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities

"The key step in inclusion is realizing that people with disabilities are not just to be ministered to, but that they have ministries of their own," says Larry Gorski, Director of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities in Chicago, and a long-time proponent of creating accessible worship space, not only in architecture but also in attitude.

On the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Gorski says that while curb cuts and ramps are great, the most important advancement since passage of the ADA is the change in people's awareness.

"Ten or fifteen years ago, people with disabilities were out of sight, out of mind. It was very unusual to see a person in a wheelchair on Michigan Avenue. Now it is far more common.

And the increase in public awareness is tremendous. There is a greater understanding that people with disabilities want to be productive, active members of society — participants, not just observers," he says.

This progress must carry over to the church, as 20 percent of Catholics live with some kind of disability. While many churches are now architecturally accessible, Gorski says there are only a handful of parishes that have gone out of their way to include and recruit people with disabilities to be lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and altar servers.

In the late 1980's, Gorski's home parish of St. Monica's was the first in the Archdiocese of Chicago to become completely structurally accessible. After the construction, he says, people with disabilities from surrounding towns began coming to St. Monica's because their local parish was not accessible.

Yet it is important to look beyond the building. "It should not just be about the building, it should be about the ministries of the people," Gorski says. "I think that's the next big step. It's a good thing to have the occasional altar server or lector with a disability. It's quite another to incorporate everybody so that it's fully integrated, it's not a sideshow, and there's nothing unique about it."

This idea created the theme for the Accessible Congregations Campaign: "Access: It Begins With the Heart," reminding people of all faiths that barriers to inclusion exist not only in the tangible structures, but in our actions, however unintentional. The Campaign was organized by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) and Initiative 2000. Its goal is to enroll 2,000 congregations by the end of the year 2000. Congregations need not be perfect to join the campaign, but need to set achievable goals and make a commitment to action.

Gorski reminds people that 54 million Americans, or 20 percent, have some type of disability. "In the next 25 years," he says, "that number will dramatically increase and people with disabilities will actually be the majority, over half the population. If you're not part of that 20 percent today you are considered a t.a.b. — temporarily abled body. Live long enough, and you will have some type of disability. The bottom line being that disability is a normal part of life. Investing in accessibility is investing in our future."

Larry Gorski became active with CTA in 1981, while a delegate to the archdiocesan Synod of the Laity. Gorski's session at CTA Conference 2000 is entitled: "Eliminating Barriers to Inclusion: Architecture, Attitudes and Apostasy."

For NOD resources for parishes and faith communities, call 202 293-5960 or visit www.nod.org