Persons with disabilities figure prominently in the ongoing healing and inclusion ministry of Jesus Christ.
'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.'
Luke 7, NRSV
In the United Methodist Church, responsibility for programs on behalf of disabled persons resides primarily with the General Board of Global Ministries. Individual United Methodist congregations and conferences have primary responsibility to make facilities as "barrier free" as possible. The General Board of Church and Society advocates on behalf of persons with disabilities and in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that disability issues are addressed in legislation that comes before Congress.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had its genesis in the United Methodist Building. When George H.W. Bush took office, he undertook a major effort to write and pass the ADA. A representative was sent from the President's office to the United Methodist Building where a coalition of more than 100 different organizations met weekly. It was there that the ADA was written, edited and finalized.
Biblical and Theological Context
The United Methodist Church recognizes the full humanity and rightful place in society and the church of persons with disabilities in the Social Principles (¶162 G). The Social Principle states that the church must offer its ministry and receive the gifts of all persons. GBCS is called to advocate for programs of rehabilitation, services, employment, education, appropriate housing, and transportation; and to advocate to protect the civil rights of persons with all types and kinds of disabilities.
United Methodists are called to "stand alongside people with disabilities and to speak out on their rights in society. These rights include access to jobs, public transportation and other reliable forms of transportation, adequate housing and education." (2004 Book of Resolutions)
Through other resolutions, the United Methodist Church advocates for the use of American Sign Language at General Conference (¶105); closed captioning in videos produced by the UMC and other alternatives for hearing and visually impaired (¶106); use of assistive technologies (¶107); ministries to the deaf (¶111); and steps toward a barrier-free society (¶43-47).
Scripture references: Isaiah 35:6; Luke 4:13, 7:22; Acts 3:2
What GBCS is Doing
Providing resources through the Internet.
Advocating in response to specific issues as they arise.
Bill would protect people with disabilities from discrimination and correct rollback of civil rights since enactment of Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Downloadable Resources
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Links
National Organization on DisAbility
The mission of the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) is to expand the participation and contribution of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life.
Welcoming Special Needs People to Church
Excellent article sponsored by the Anglican Church of Canada on welcome of disabled persons at the congregational level.
The rights and privileges a society bestows upon or withholds from those who comprise it indicate the relative esteem in which that society holds particular persons and groups of persons. We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened. We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical protection. We deplore acts of hate or violence against groups or persons based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or economic status. Our respect for the inherent dignity of all persons leads us to call for the recognition, protection, and implementation of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights so that communities and individuals may claim and enjoy their universal, indivisible, and inalienable rights.
We recognize and affirm the full humanity and personhood of all individuals with mental, physical, developmental, neurological, and psychological conditions or disabilities as full members of the family of God. We also affirm their rightful place in both the church and society. We affirm the responsibility of the Church and society to be in ministry with children, youth, and adults with mental, physical, developmental, and/or psychological and neurological conditions or disabilities whose particular needs in the areas of mobility, communication, intellectual comprehension, or personal relationships might make more challenging their participation or that of their families in the life of the Church and the community. We urge the Church and society to recognize and receive the gifts of persons with disabilities to enable them to be full participants in the community of faith. We call the Church and society to be sensitive to, and advocate for, programs of rehabilitation, services, employment, education, appropriate housing, and transportation. We call on the Church and society to protect the civil rights of persons with all types and kinds of disabilities.
