UCC Disabilities Ministries » david
Dear friends,
During this season of Advent, I’ve been thinking a lot about “hope.” What is hope anyway? What does it look like? What color is it?
I posed this question to a group of folks and received this response.
What is hope? The past few weeks have been very difficult for me. Just as my MS has caused my legs to be nonfunctional, it is also threatening to do the same with my large intestine. Without “too much information” let me just say that I have been in a lot of pain and have had to go into the hospital to be “cleaned out” twice. For some reason, this inside pain also seems to mess with my mind. I find it hard to concentrate on other activities, and frankly I’m learning about hope through its scarcity. That’s not all that bad. Sometimes the best way to appreciate something is to notice it when it’s gone (didn’t Joni Mitchell sing a song “don’t it always go to show? You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone).
For me, Hope is directing our thoughts to a future more attuned to the will of God. A funny thing happened while I was typing the last sentence. a few hours ago, when I was feeling especially blue, I called a friend that I haven’t talked to for over a year. Although I knew she was a nurse,I had forgotten that she had worked for years with a gastroenterologist. She just called back, and listened to my symptoms and my recent problems, and offered some great suggestions for how to proceed. It’s a funny thing: my pain is still there, but it no longer is dictating my future….
I had a dream the other night that gave me hope. good friends and family, both living and dead surrounded me. I was laying back on a large blue blanket and they were all holding the edge of the blanket. They told me to lean back and let them carry me.
hope is a pregnant woman with new life growing inside of her.
Hope is a flower bulb buried in frozen soil beneath the snow silent and still, yet waiting and ready
Hope is Jesus Christ who unfailingly and unflinchingly and unconditionally keeps on loving us.
What is hope to you? [dt]
Photo: New UCC DM Executive Director, the Reverend Denise Thompson, and her Leader Dog Penny visit the Amistad Chapel at the Church House in Cleveland.
On April 1, 2007, the Reverend Denise Thompson will assume her call as the first Executive Director of the United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries.
Thompson said in a recent interview that she was heartened to learn that the United Church of Christ is ready to take this step. “As part of our United Church of Christ identity, we say that ‘No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.’ The church is lessened, not whole, until persons with disabilities are accepted along with other marginalized parts of society.”
“Formerly from Michigan, Denise comes to us from Phoenix with a deep background in advocacy and the disability rights movement,” said the Rev. Jo Clare Hartsig, Chair of the United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries board.
“Along the way,” Thompson said, ” I have encountered people with a variety of approaches and cultural experiences. Part of the creativity of this position is getting in touch with folks and talking with them and learning what’s going on at a local level to better be able to speak to people in their own language and respectfully.
She said also that she looks forward to the challenge of more fully understanding the structure and workings of the national level of the denomination. “I want to learn where the UCC DM fits in the process and to determine key players with whom we need to connect, what they can bring to the table and how we can be helpful to each other.”
“I feel that all of my work with people with disabilities has been a part of ministry,” Thompson said. As an advocacy specialist, she brings a history of developing and facilitating innovative training and educational opportunities in areas of adjustment counseling and disability civil rights. Her work has included the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Fair Housing, Accessible Information Technology and Emergency Preparedness for people.
She worked for more than 25 years in the Independent Living Movement. More than half of those years were as manager of the community integration unit of the largest Independent Living Center in Arizona. She also brings extensive experience in fund-raising, media, grant-writing opportunities and searching out grant resources for non-profit organizations. Her responsibilities as Executive Director of the Arizona Office for Americans with Disabilities Act included building coalitions and passing related local legislation. She manages her own non-profit, Creating Community Inclusion.
Thompson reflected that originally she was reluctant to become involved in any disabilities work lest she be type cast. Her resistance faded, however, when her minister observed that she might note her expertise as a career person and as a person with a disability.
“My disability is blindness,” she said. “I now am totally blind without light perception. Although the blindness community is important, most of my adult life experience has been interaction with the spectrum of people with disabilities. I try to bridge gaps among the wide variety of visible and hidden disabilities and bring all people together as a whole community.”
“I feel this calling in part,” she said, “because of my own struggles and concerns over the years of walking into a potential church home without having anyone walk up to me. I had to listen for a group of people talking then slide myself over in that direction, literally interrupt a conversation to ask if someone might help me locate a seat.”
“When I found Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix,” she said, “I felt in a way that I had come home. I felt included in a faith community for the first time in many years.”
Thompson has helped to make inclusion top priority for Shadow Rock. As staff liaison to the Growth and Hospitality Team responsible for marketing the church to the wider community, she wrote the proposal that won a recent Media with a Mission marketing grant.
Echoing the commendation of the Congregational Vitality Initiative Team in Cleveland as well as from her Phoenix church, Hartsig said, “Denise will be an amazing asset to us and to the whole church as we step together into a future of greater inclusion.”
Hartsig, who created “Any Body, Everybody, Christ’s Body,” the ministry’s new congregational study guide, said the quarter time position is part of the UCC DM strategic plan designed to complete the denomination’s vision to be a church that is multiracial, multi-cultural, open and affirming, and accessible to all. “We want to bring about full integration of the “Accessible to All” mandate in every aspect of the church’s work and ministry — national, international, conferences, seminaries, local churches, and outdoor ministries.”
Thompson has a bachelor in Social Work from Michigan State University and a Master of Divinity from Western Theological Seminary. Ordained in the Reformed Church, she transferred her ministerial standing to the United Church of Christ, Southwest Conference, upon finding the inclusive denomination several years ago.
“I affirm the UCC’s statement to “work for justice, healing, and wholeness of life.” To include people with disabilities requires our full attention,” she said. “Everybody must be included in the work and witness of God’s people on earth. We are all people of value and worth. We need to be sharing that and communicating that.”
With the leadership of the Rev. Virginia Kreyer and the Rev. Dr. Harold Wilke, the United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries was established by General Synod in 1977.
This article was written by Dee Brauninger, Secretary, UCC Disabilities Ministries Board
December 2, 2006: The search committee is no longer receiving letters of interest. Thank you for your interest. Please join us at General Synod - Hartford for our Saturday afternoon Getting-To-Know-You time for persons interested in Disabilities Ministries.
The UCC DM is looking for a person to become the first Executive Director of this 29-year-old ministry. Relocation is not necessary, some travel is involved. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Job Title: UCC Disabilities Ministries (UCC DM) Executive Director
General Description: To provide high level leadership and vision to UCC DM, to cultivate and manage resources, implement, monitor and refine strategic plan that has full backing of Board of Directors.
Responsibilities: Job responsibilities include but are not limited to
- Develop collaborative partnership with UCC DM Board to work on UCC DM strategic plan.
- Develop financial resources to sustain and expand ministry.
- Manage A2A (Accessible to All) program and network, incorporating feedback from congregations already participating in the A2A program.
- Identify Conference level structure/function/taskforce/Inclusion team for UCC Disabilities Ministries in each conference. Develop plan of engagement, support and evaluation of congregations who participate in the A2A program with each of the conferences.
- Work with communications and other, web-based resources with accessible formatting, to support UCC DM website as DM’s main communication, resource and marketing tool. Do so in close coordination with UCC website people Dan Hazard, Michelle May, and Bob Chase.
- Support and supervise project staff and contracted work.
- Advocate for a strong sense of disabilities ministries presence at all levels, particularly at the conference and national levels.
- Be a clear advocate in the development of a collaborative DM presence and partnership with Denomination’s Ministries and coordinate information sharing and presence using a common, clearly defined and articulated DM theology, philosophy and mission image in all aspects of the National Church Ministries. This will include the following and their successors:
- Ministries
- Proclamation and Identity
- UCC News
- Web Director
- Human Resources
- Conference Relations
- Proclamation and Identity
- Local Church Ministries
- Parish Life and Leadership
- Publications
- Wider Church
- Justice and Witness
- Ministries
Accountability/Evaluation: The UCCDM Executive Director shall be supervised by and accountable to the Executive Committee of the UCC DM and the Board Chairperson. This description will be reviewed annually by the Executive Committee of the UCC DM and the Board Chairperson as the UCC DM and the position evolve.
Status: Start up phase (to begin January 1 - February 1, 2007): Quarter Time Stipend Staff with Personnel Committee support and goal setting on annual basis.
Approved By: UCCDM Board of Directors (September 12, 2006)
Basic Skills, Characteristics, and Competencies:
- A keen interest, genuine passion for and orientation to disability ministry and advocacy.
- A personal philosophy that sees persons with disabilities from the viewpoint of what they can contribute, not what they need.
- Commitment to and understanding of disabilities from theological perspective in keeping with 2005 Synod resolution, “Called to Wholeness in Christ: Becoming a Church Accessible to All.”
- The capacity to lead by articulating — in word and writing — a clear, collective vision that will motivate and inspire Board, staff and constituents throughout the wider church.
- Working knowledge and history of involvement with the wider mission of the UCC.
- Works successfully as an independent contractor which includes initiation, collaboration, communication and conflict resolution skills, team building and facilitation and an ability to recognize success at many levels in many different settings.
- Financial management skills that include experience in budget development and fiscal reporting.
- Demonstrated ability to develop financial resources necessary to grow the UCC DM and implement strategic plan.
- Energetic, self-directed, and well-organized to effectively nurture and manage a growing ministry within the church, handle multiple tasks, select priorities and maintain focus on strategic plan goals.
- Personal qualities of commitment, integrity and sensitivity.
- Willingness to travel for meetings and work from home.
Desired Experience
- Five years experience in previous organizing role in non-profit setting, preferably within or related to the UCC.
- Measurable results in hiring and developing staff and in engaging and supporting a non-profit governing board.
- Experiential knowledge of disabilities ministries or equivalent experience with other marginalized groups. Persons with disabilities are actively encouraged to apply.
- Theological or other Graduate Degree with a sound theological base compatible with that of the United Church of Christ
- Leadership role in United Church of Christ church or related organization as ordained or lay staff or senior-level volunteer.
Compensation
Initial phase is quarter time position at $15,000 a year.
To Apply
Email applications are preferred. Letters of interest and supporting documentation should be sent to slaterm@ucc.org. Or, materials can be mailed to:
Rev. Margaret (Peg) Slater
Minister of Inclusion
The United Church of Christ
700 Prospect Avenue E
Cleveland OH 44115-1100
Applications due by December 1
from old site
Resources for Guide and Support Dogs in Emergency
The care and safety of Guide and Support Dogs in an emergency situation is more demanding than for a pet.
These special servants maintain the safety and independence of their master and are trained to be vigilant and faithful regardless of their own physical danger. Special considerations must be given to the Disaster Preparedness and Recovery of Guide and Support Dogs.
Missouri Support Dogs & K-9 Services
Rebecca Fiero, Director
American Veterinary Medical Association AVMA
Sad news was hearing that Kathleen Miller, who came to the Wider Church Ministries board last November as the representative from the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference, died on August 2. She was just 54. Bob Molsberry, Steve Ito and I had the privilege of getting to know her and rejoice in having another strong disability ally on the board.
Kathleen grew up in Michigan; she had contracted polio at a young age. At the time of her death, Kathleen was working for the Dept. of Commerce in Oklahoma, but she had spent years working in the disability field and was part of the group that met in Singapore back in the 1970’s to form Disabled Peoples International. We will miss her elegant, fun, astute presence at WCM. - Carolyn Thompson, UCC DM Board Member and Representative to WCM
How did you fund your chuch accessibility project?
Luxemburg (MA) Church Adjusts Church School Program to Meet Student Read article at http://www.macucc.org/spotlight/5-03-06.htm
First Congregational Church in Dudley Offers Worship Service in Sign Language - SHARED IN SPOTLIGHT, THE E-NEWSLETTER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS CONFERENCE UCC
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Hearing impairment is no longer a reason to miss the spoken Word at worship – at least not at First Congregational Church in Dudley. Once a month, the Dudley church offers a sign language interpretation at its Sunday service.
“I am so happy that my church is able to offer this wonderful service,” says Kenny Laferriere. “As a child, I would always attend church with my grandmother because my parents were unable to hear the service. It is such a wonderful feeling to be able to attend church with my whole family and know that my parents are enjoying the service just as much as I am.”
The Rev. John White, pastor at the church, explains that several years ago, Laferriere was facing some serious health issues. His parents were profoundly deaf, so White had limited conversations with them. However, when White visited the family at the hospital, there was a sign language interpreter on duty who could help in the conversation. Through that exchange, White discovered that the parents had wanted to attend worship in the past, but the language barrier had discouraged them.
After contacting a service for the deaf, White hired a certified sign language interpreter/transliterator to interpret one worship service per month. The $100 cost is paid anonymously by two generous members of the church. “I have found that people, with or without hearing impairments, love the sign language service,” says White.
“I will often incorporate the work of Jennifer, the interpreter, into the service itself,” says White. For example, on Pentecost – a day believed to be a time when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages – White’s sermon addressed foreign languages and other methods of communication, including sign language. “We had people come forward who spoke French, Polish, German, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and English. In addition, we also included both music and signing as languages. Then everyone said ‘God loves you’ in his/her own language.” It was a great way to show that the church was made up of many different languages but was still one, he explained.
Kenny’s father Raymond believes he is blessed to be a part of a church that provides signing. “I always look forward to attending church service on these ‘special’ Sundays because I know on this day I will be able to understand what Pastor John has to say,” Raymond wrote. “I can only wish that this service was offered on more Sundays throughout the year.” Kenny’s mother, Robin agrees. “I think that the Sign Language Interpreter services that are offered can be described with one word,” she wrote. “Magnificent! I am able to enjoy church now because I can understand what is going on throughout the service. It is a wonderful thing that the church can offer to their parishioners.”
Jennifer publishes her own newsletter and includes her schedule. As a result, two or three additional visitors attend the service. “And Jennifer herself has fallen in love with the church,” says White. “She now occasionally attends our church even when she’s not interpreting.”
“We have grown so well because we are finding more ways to broaden our welcome,” says White, noting the increase in membership from 40 to 150 in less than a decade. “Whether it’s inviting people to communion, having an Open and Affirming conversation, using the New Century hymnal with its inclusive language, sending out enewsletters, or even using sign language during service: we do whatever we can to widen the welcome and have worship speak the message — in any language.”
“I am so proud to be a part of such a wonderful congregation because we chose to fund this excellent service before other very important church needs,” says Kenny.
The Massachusetts Conference has incorporated sign language into its Annual Meeting for many years. For additional information and resources, visit the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing website at www.mass.gov/mcdhh/
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Editor’s note: The last SPOTLIGHT issue featured the United Parish of Lunenburg and how it is meeting the unique needs of its youth by applying the Workshop Rotation Model in its Church School program. The Workshop Rotation Model is a program which explicitly takes into account that there are multiple kinds of intelligences and learning styles, and thus promotes the teaching of major Bible stories and concepts through child-friendly multimedia workshops.
Teaching different children with different learning styles is a challenge; but the challenge is even greater at Lunenburg. It seems to Ruth Ann White, the Education Coordinator, that in their membership there is an unusually high number of children with learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, autism, and Asperger’s syndrome. White took the Rotation Model a step further, recognizing its potential to accommodate children with special needs; she then implemented the Model in a more effective way for all children.
White sat down with her volunteer teachers, who were supportive and willing to accommodate the unique needs of these children. Instead of running from the challenge, they came up with ways to involve those children who normally would be left in the pews with their parents or whose parents wouldn’t attend church at all out of fear of being stared at or rebuked.
The pastor, Andy Burr, recruited a member of the church who worked with the disabled to “shadow” a sixteen year old autistic boy in the high school class. She offered direction and tips to the teachers and students. White adds, “This student’s mom, a new member, spoke up during a membership meeting. She said that this program was wonderful for her son. He was nervous at first, but having a mentor beside him gave him the strength he needed and he felt he was accepted by the group. In fact, the mother said that this is the only place he feels completely accepted, besides his special school. He genuinely trusts the two teachers and that’s a huge step for him.”
As a result of this success, White assigned volunteer mentors to shadow other children to ensure their needs were being met and to help alert the teachers if there was an issue. One mom of an autistic teen shadowed a younger autistic child for a few weeks, and then helped train new mentors. That small gesture helped put to ease the mind of the parent of the younger student. According to White, the mentor’s support and the teachers’ openness and willingness to learn was a ‘magic’ combination.
“We have a treasure chest of parents with expertise in the special needs area,” says White. “These parents are informed and have experience with some of the issues that might crop up, and they are more than willing to help others understand. We have discovered through the parents’ guidance that hand chimes that sound so sweet to most members might bring tears of pain to a child with sensory issues. Hyperactive children who cannot sit still are more involved and less disruptive to the rest of the class if they don’t have to fight their impulses and can get up and move around during the lesson. Deviating from a schedule might upset an autistic child so much that they become disruptive in class, but can be calmed as soon as the scheduling issue is addressed.
“We are very open about the different needs of others,” says White. “Rev. Burr involves all the children in the service and we encourage those with special needs to do the readings or get involved in special events. We have seen the smiles and looks of pride on the faces of those children who may otherwise be ignored, or worse, reprimanded. Andy models for us acceptance and gratitude for the presence of all the children. The congregation has ‘caught’ this spirit of inclusiveness.”
The mother of a middle school student with sensory and social issues says, “My son has found a hospitable and friendly environment at the United Parish. His strong verbal skills are brought out in this place even more than at school. The church has nurtured some of his gifts that we wouldn’t have been aware of. He really shines at church! Although it’s years away, ideas have been sparked for college scholarship opportunities that wouldn’t have been realized before. That wasn’t the reason we started going to church, but it has been a wonderful by-product. God sometimes does work in mysterious ways.”
Sandra Osborne, Lunenburg member, parent of an autistic child, and special needs advocate, cannot speak more highly of the program. “I knew I wanted my son to be included but he is in a special school for autism. And I thought ‘how am I going to do this?’ I wanted my son to be a part of this creative and fun class but with his limitations I was worried and concerned he would be disruptive to the classroom, or couldn’t keep up. But my fears were soon put to rest.”
“There are people within the parish who are committed to our children,” says Osborne. “Ruth Ann found two generous souls to give up Sunday mornings and be with my son one on one in his Church School class. Now, he likes coming to church. He loves going up at Children’s Time in worship and sitting at the front with the pastor. It was one of my proudest moments when my son raised his hand, Andy called on him and he answered the question of ‘how can we show Jesus we love him?’ He answered ‘friendship.’ I know his sister probably prompted him, but I was still proud he answered and was part of the service. I had tears in my eyes. It was such a wonderful feeling. As a parent of a child with special needs, you wonder if they are ever going to be part of and enjoy some of life’s most simple events.”
“And I know that I wasn’t the only one with a wonderful feeling at that moment. When he raised his hand and answered, I know that others were just as surprised and pleased as I was. It was a big thing and I felt the people knew. At my church, I feel everyone cares about him, even when the moments are not so glorious. My son is a very endearing child, but can also be difficult at times. I have had to take him out of church kicking and screaming, but he’s growing up with the parish. When a child is baptized, the whole parish stands up and promises to help that child and I really feel that is what has happened with our children — not only my special needs son but my daughter as well. Ruth Ann is committed to educating our kids, whether it’s a challenging child or not. We are truly grateful we found this church.”
“It’s not smooth all the time, but we’re open and talk about how things can be done differently,” says White. “We find it a challenge and an opportunity, not something to be frightened about. We have something to learn from every child. Those parents who were afraid that their child’s Church School class would be a ‘special needs class,’ have realized that their own children can learn patience and understanding from their classmates. There is a value to those children being part of the group because God is Still Speaking to them.”
This Spotlight issue is Part 2 of a two-part story about how the United Parish of Lunenburg, UCC meets the unique needs of its youth. The full story is reprinted in the June/July issue of the Mass. Conference edition of the UCC Newspaper. For a free subscription to the bi-monthly printed paper, you can call 800-363-0575 or subscribe online at www.ucc.org/ucnews/subscribe.
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