Mission u Resources: The Church and People with Disabilities

Overall Study Resources

• UMW Mission u resource page, includes Spanish and Korean versions, and links to the resource center for purchasing the study book.
• Study book in Word format for people using screen reading or Braille technology .
• Order information for Kindle version of the study book
• Download the Leader's Guide for the disability study
• Download the Leader's Guide for the disability study for screen readers
• The Church and People With Disabilities Power Point
  • Black type on white background
    White type on black background
    Spanish / Espanol
    • Order the DVD
    "A Place for All"
    Disability articlesfrom May-June New World Outlook.
    • Disability Posters and Graphics for the Classroom
      Cafe Press
      Zazzle
      World Health Organization(free)
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(free)
      Smithsonian Institution EveryBody, English and Spanish (free)
      New World Outlookdisability infographics(print to 11x17)
      New World OutlookOpening Doors to Full Participation, good resource list for handout
      Graphic Artists Guild access symbols
      Accessible Icon Project's new access icon
    Archives of The Voice of the United Methodist Disability Connection
    Sign-up sheet for The Voice

    Session 1: Awareness

    Disability Awareness Skit
    Person First Language article by Kathie Snow
    Communication and Etiquette with Persons with Disabilitiesfrom DMC
    • Disability Awareness panel at CalPac 2014 annual conference: video at
    Vimeo; and transcript
    That All May Worship, an on-line interfaith guide to inclusion by Ginny Thornburgh
    "The ADA, 20 Years Later", research on church attendance and many other topics
    Hymns for disability awareness services
    Disability Awareness worship resources
    Disability Concerns Workshop materials

    Session 2: Accessibility

    Accessibility Awareness Tour
    Accessibility Awareness Tour, large print
    Annual Accessibility Audit
    Annual Accessibility Audit, large print
    Advocacy form for notifying venue of accessibility problems
    Accessibility and Technology Fairs: ideas, resources and links
    • Signed version of the song "Who is My Mother, Who is My Brother?" (The Faith we Sing #2225); follow this instead of singing the song.
      
    United Methodist Committee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries
    Breaking the Sound Barrier in Your Church
    Sources for door pressure weight gauges

    Session 3: Integration

    • Opening scripture (1 Corinthians 12.12-26) from The Message
      
      
    • Group project links:
      • Review the document
      "By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism"(also in The United Methodist Book of Resolutions, 2012, Resolution 8031, pages 922-942) as it pertains to inclusion of children and adults with disabilities.
      • Research becoming a
      Caring Congregation, offering support to persons living with mental illness . Read more about caring communities and mental illness in The United Methodist Book of Resolutions, 2012, Resolution 3303, "Ministries in Mental Illness," pages 408-416.
      Learn how to examine the reading level of materials(or use a similar site) to make sure that you aren't excluding people by writing in an inaccessible manner.
      • Start here to
      learn about and brainstorm multisensory worship ideas
      • The
      Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilitieshas extensive information on faith and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities
      • United Nations,
      The State of the World's Children 2013: Children with Disabilities
    • Optional activities:
      • View online information on respite ministries, for example
      St. James United Methodist Churchin Tampa
      • Read
      this articleon developing a comprehensive congregational dementia ministry
      • Research other faith-based resources for churches to address mental health needs at
      Mental Health Ministriesand Pathways to Promise

    Session 4: Advocacy

    Putting it All Together Group Activity worksheet
    Putting it All Together Group Activity worksheet, large print
    • Different ideas for The Body of Christ activity:
      • Use of multi-cultural body cut outs and body parts, one for each table/ small group
      • A generic body (not the body of Christ) that can be taken apart and put back together with Velcro™ attachments
      • Obtain a life size pop-up poster of Jesus (such as
      this one from All Posters.com) and have people write their commitment on a post-it paper. Have everyone make the body part they identified with and then put them together on the table, knowing that we'd have a strange looking "body" in the end with multiple organs and some vital things missing. This leads to the closing point that "we are not complete yet."
    • Other Resources:
      United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities
      Disability Compendium of Statisticsincluding disability and employment, health, poverty
    • Optional Follow-up Activities:
      • Read the
      "Statement in Solidarity"for employment of people with disabilities
      • Read
      Resolution 3002, United Methodist Implementation of the United Nations' Standard Rules of the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Actin the Book of Resolutionspages 180-181

    Addressing the Practicalities

    Creating accessible events
    Creating accessible events (no images)
    • Contact local interpreter registry or
    national registryfor ASL interpreters
    • Find a
    CART providerto provide live captioning
    • Inquire at regional agency or
    National Federation of the Blindfor Braille transcribers
    Gluten free bread recipefor communion bread
    Equal Access Guide for Meetings, Conferences, Large Assemblies, and Worship(includes overnight events) from NCC Committee on Disabilities
    Accessibility Audits
    Presentation Accessibility
    Accessible meetings
    United States Access Board, Buildings & Sites
    ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities