Churches enjoy their exemption from the ADA because religious leaders argued successfully before Congress that houses of worship should be considered as “private clubs” which is why you frequently see parishioners wearing “Members Only” jackets. (Yes, the Lutheran jacket is in tasteful earth tones.)

For Jesus said: We shall have no grimacers or limpers before the Lord?

He also said: Ye shall live with perfect people and lock out the droolers and moaners and those who walk with sticks?

Full entry: Disability and the Church

Years after federal law required accommodations for the disabled, separation of church and state means houses of worship remain largely beyond the law’s reach. State laws and denominational measures meant to take up the slack are tricky to enforce and face resistance from churches who call them both costly and impractical.

Full article: Disabled worshippers struggle to find home in pews

I’ve had families say to me, “I’ve fought all week to get my kid included in a school or whatever. I shouldn’t”?I don’t want to have to fight when it comes to Sunday morning or Saturday.”?

The piece profiles several inclusive faith communities, but only alludes briefly to the many church congregations and other communities that are positively unwelcoming to those with disabilities.

Tonight we rehearsed at Boulder Seventh Day Adventist Church. Inadequate parking, overly steep ramp, no flat area in front of the door, four steps up to to the chancel, no accessible restroom. Pee before you come.

I dug back into old email from when I was trying to move the choir to an accessible rehearsal location and found this:

X-Mailer: MIME::Lite 1.2 (F2.71; T1.001; A1.51; B2.12; Q2.03)
From: “Katja Stokley”
To: “Cantabile Board”
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 14:24:10 -0700
X-Sasl-Enc: xkNgEVWyIVWT1/TwLiYdwA 1071177850
Subject: Rehearsal location
Mime-Version: 1.0

As some of you know, 2 visits to 7th Day Adventist could not turn up a wheelchair accessible restroom (amid the 5 or more they have!). I’ve called the pastor to discuss it with him but haven’t made contact yet.

Lack of access makes me cranky. Having other people lift me, which risks both them and me, makes me cranky. Not remembering to pee before I come makes me cranky.

Edited 17 May to add: I toured the downstairs today. The downstairs can only be reached via a steep outside sidewalk. This church has more restrooms than God! Seven? Eight? Almost all of them have 22 inch doors. The ones that don’t were offered up to me as “accessible” – one multi-stall restroom with all narrow stalls, and one single seater. I could get the wheelchair in, might have been able to take the grab-bar-less leap to the seat, but certainly would not have been able to close the door. Not a grab bar to be seen in the joint.

Nuns open wheelchair accessible labyrinth

A few months later, the decision was made to move our regular weekly worship to a new location due to the space limits at the park rec center. A local AME Zion church in our neighborhood opened their doors to us, and we moved our worship to their facility. The meeting room they gave to us was not wheelchair accessible. In making the decision to move our worship there, we vowed to get a ramp that would allow for our members in wheelchairs to have access. We went for weeks and then months without an adequate resolution to this need (we tried these little removable rails that never worked; we raised money and worked with a designer to build something large and permanent; we ran into code issues and permission issues from the church, etc.).

For a while, we would carry Agnes up the short flight of stairs in her chair so that she could participate. Jennie was never comfortable doing this, so she would sit outside the door where she could listen to the service, and Agnes would call her from inside on her cell phone and give her the scripture reading. And one or two of us would go outside and sit with her for the duration of the service. Finally, Jennie and Agnes wrote us all a letter expressing how much they desired to be a part of our church family, but that they could not do so until we met in a place that fully accommodated them. It was not long after that that we moved back to the park for a short while before finding a local grade school that was fully accessible. And Jennie and Agnes were once again at the center of our life together. Even today, I burn with shame at this part of our history as a church. Jennie was an example of someone who lived with a love that forgives; of love that keeps no record of wrongs. And she helped us learn something about love that always protects.

Full entry: Remembering Jennie

Parking:

• on the street (metered, Albuquerque allows handicapped parking permit holders to park at meters for free)
• church lot on the northeast corner of property, no permit spaces
• commercial parking lot across the street to the north, no charge on Sundays

Building access:
The building is accessible via the northeast entrance; all other entrances have steps. There is no signage to direct visitors to an accessible route.

Sanctuary access:
The accessible route enters the sanctuary at a door to the left of the altar. An usher welcomed me and asked if I wanted communion brought to me.

Sanctuary seating:
All fixed pews. Wheelchair users can only place themselves in the central aisle (unwise, big procession & recession) or in the side aisles (views blocked by large pillars).

Restrooms:
I found 2 restrooms, both of which had one stall slightly larger with grab bars, but not large enough for even a compact manual wheelchair.

Very nice music, but forget it if being able to go to the bathroom is important to you. The ushers and others were friendly and welcoming but clueless. The Dean’s office responded to accessibility suggestions with “You will be glad to hear that both the ideas you suggested are under consideration as we look at some much needed upgrades and renovations to the Cathedral complex.”

Longtime readers may recall my frustration with this church – I am not a member, but my choir rehearses there, and will again once they are open for business. I have not had the opportunity to see the renovation yet, but the choir director assures me that Things are Accessible.

Here’s what St Andrew says they’re doing:

Improvements… St. Andrew is meeting the needs of the congregation and community with many improvements to the facilities and enhancements to its ministries. There has already been improved handicapped accessibility, seating in the sanctuary, signage, lighting and more. Construction is now underway, including major improvements to our sanctuary and Parish Hall, a new Atrium, a brand new kitchen, improved storage, and other enhancements such as an elevator which will make the entire building handicapped accessible.

So, we’ll see. The re-dedication is November 19th. I’m going to do my best to remember my manners.

Dr Sentamu turns his enthronement into a party

When it came to the Peace – which the Archbishop signed for the deaf, as he did all his key pronouncements – that, too, was made joyful by the Luo Dancers and Singers, Mothers’ Union members from Stratford. Dressed in white silk with blue sashes, and carrying stiff bouquets of flowers, they resembled a wedding party as they sang “We are marching in the light of God”. As they sang, Archbishop Sentamu whipped off his mitre and joined the line of drummers, while the Minster unbent and expanded with the informality of it all.

So, who is this guy, anyway?

“A lot of people go at the question of access and ramps as a necessary evil,” said Beyreis, who runs a one-person firm called Architectural Environments Studio. “But the church’s mission was to be open to everyone. So the ramp needed to be as up-front and as gracious as possible, a part of the landscape and a part of the church.”