United Church of Canada and AccessWe are not alone,
we live in God's world.As the United Church is diverse in it's practises and beliefs, there are no central policies dealing with access that governs local churches. The United Church of Canada General Council is setting up a process to encourage local congregations to provide access to church for all.As well all local Churches are also required to follow provincial laws concerning accessibility. In Ontario two of these laws are the AODA and the ODA. This document prepared by the UCC explains your local church requirements in Ontario Your Church Needs a Policy on Access and People Need to Know about It and Be Involved in Its Development. Large or Small An Accessibility Audit is the Place to Begin. This is a link to very modest Church accessibility audits. The Ontario government provides resources to cover a much broader range of barriers facing many other people with different kind of disabilities. A church policy published on your Church web site addressing access issues is helpful to people who face barriers.People need to find out in advance if your building, organization or events are accessibility or they may not come if they do not know if they can get into the building, use the washroom or hear the service. Does your congregation welcome people in the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender community? If so, and your church is in a city or large town, you need to state your policy on the web and on signs or they may not come. Many would also benefit to know who to contact if they need assistance when first coming to church. Parking for the disabled, no fragrance policies, the availability of large print programs and hymns, or policies regarding allergies, like a no peanut, or a no nut policy in the church. Also parents of children with disabilities need to know if your Sunday school is ready for their child, or if your church is willing to work with them to do so. Many churches already have broken down barriers, but fail to tell people outside the church, and even those who are long term members, are often unaware. The church web site is a good place to start telling people. The web site, or the page dealing with the issues of access or inclusiveness can be posted as a link on the web sites of groups and their community resource guides that the disabled or those who are different, like the GLBT community. These marginalized groups tend to depend on the web to find out what churches, organizations, and business are welcoming and accessible to these groups. Also list your church's programs in the different sections of community listings. For example, consider if your church is accessible to those who use wheelchairs to also list your Youth Group in the youth section of a disabilities groups resource directory. The same can be done for GLBT youth, and others. List your youth program in the section of gay community web sites, along with the listing in the church section. The same can be done for programming for seniors. On some community directories you can be listed in the church section, the youth section, and the senior section. There are local and national web sites and Community directories with listing of interests to different groups. Get on these lists. Accessibility Resources for United Church of Canada Congregations.This document addresses barriers facing those with physical disabilities, specifically those who use adaptive technologies like wheelchairs. Church and the AODAIn interpreting the Act for the purposes of this document, “customer service” is understood as how we interact with those who come through our doors—parishioners, community ministry participants, campers, students, seniors, and so on. It may also include those who are seeking religious services—weddings, funerals, baptisms—and how we are able to provide those services. It does not pertain to the physical accessibility of the property, which is addressed through the “built environment” standards yet to be released. What does this have to do with ministries of The United Church of Canada? While the Act only applies to those ministries within Ontario, many of the things supported in the principles of the Act can be translated into what any congregation or ministry might look like as a church welcoming people with disabilities. The Customer Service standards address how we provide our services to those who require them. These standards require taking the time to develop policies and practices and to provide training in this area to staff and volunteers. Every designated public sector organization and all other providers of goods or services in Ontario who have at least one employee in Ontario need to comply with the identified standards. For the purposes of the Act,churches fall under the area of “other providers.” Most of our congregations and many of our other ministries will be required to do the following: 1. Establish policies, practices, and procedures. 2. Establish a training program and train staff and volunteers. 3. Establish a feedback process. Copyright Law exception regarding the disabled or differently abledAccessible Order of Services and Hymnals include large print versions, for those with vision impairments. However many more people with other diverse disabilities can benefit from other kinds of Order of Service and Hymns that you can customize to help people with disabilities, besides vision impairments. You can make copies of songs including the music from More Voices, and Voices United in accessible formats (print, electronic) without paying fees, under Canadian law.From the Copyright Act Section 2 of the Copyright Act (definitions) “perceptual disability” means a disability that prevents or inhibits a person from reading or hearing a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work in its original format, and includes such a disability resulting from(a) severe or total impairment of sight or hearing or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes,(b) the inability to hold or manipulate a book, or(c) an impairment relating to comprehensionC includes Learning disabilities like Attention Deficit Disorder, and neurological disorders affecting concentration
Reduce barriers to participation during Worship Services for those with disabilities like Attention Deficit Disorder, other neurological disorders affecting concentration, those with mobility problems, or those living with other illnesses, or the side effects of certain medications by using customized accessible versions of the Order of Service.The Canadian Copyright law provides for for people with disabilities, and allows churches to print and photocopy Order of Services that includes the copyrighted music printed as part of your Order of Service. Those with learning disabilities, ADD, Autism, mobility restrictions, and those various illnesses related to aging and medication related side effects from other conditions could benefit. While long time members with disabilities already know the usual hymns used, this would be of most help to newer members, and for older members when new music is introduced. This would make it easier for many to sing unfamiliar music in the service. It can also help those who lose track when switching between hymnals, and the Order of Service. It also helps those who have physical impairments that make it diffcult to use heavey hymnals. Print it on paper, or use different electronic formats (free PDF or ePub converters) to make the order of service format adaptable to the person's technology. Many people with disabilities use adaptive devices, like the Ipad and other e-readers. So it would help them if the the church e-mail or provide the Order of Service containing the music in a format they can use. Usually Word, PDF or ePub formats will do. A church can scan the music from the books and insert the graphic file of the music into the correct position in the order of service, or for those who do not need the music notations, a version with the lyrics only. Deaf Ministries of the United ChurchResources To make Your church accessible to the deaf, hard of hearing and deafenedHIV and AIDS Resources of the United ChurchWorship Resources for Local UCC Congregations Associated with HIV/AIDS. People living with AIDS face many barriers with attitudes being one of the largest. Your church can help by marking Worlds AIDS Day on December 1st, or Presbyterian AIDS Sunday in October. United Church of Canada on the InternetUnited Church of Canada The Grace of Being a Minority By Thierry Delay, Reflections from the United Church of Canada General Council on French Speaking Communities within the UCC. The United Church Observer A little know resource that is very useful. Wondercafe.ca A Forum for Open Minded Discussion, where many meet including people of all faiths or none. Many people who are disabled, differently abled or living with  Affirm United deals with helping congregations and other groups inside the United Church in removing barriers to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans-gender (GLBT) communities. Gordon Miller wrote Never doubt for the 2007 Affirm Conference Web Sites of Congregations Should provide information on Accessibility Issues and ResourcesIntroduction to Web AccessibilityThe document "How People with Disabilities Use the Web" describes how different disabilities affect Web use and includes scenarios of people with disabilities using the Web. |
