As a church we are always striving to make a good first impression. In fact statistics show us that the newcomers first 10 to 15 minutes is the most crucial time of their visit. It is during that time most people make the decision to return to our churches or not. Along the same lines of thinking, for the disabled community that first 10 to 15 minutes are the most crucial time of their visits as well. As a church leader we need to ask ourselves, How accessible is our church for the disabled community? For instance, if there are no designated handicap places in the parking lot or no low curb access to walkways their first impression can be shattered. If we look at our church with the first 15 minutes being a priority to disabled individuals we may be surprised to find more than a few barriers disabled people navigate through in order to just get into our churches.
I believe there are 4 key areas a church can focus on that will help with there first impression. These things will not cost the church financially, but greatly affect your churches ability to retain disabled people. Why should we consider these changes? Jesus in Luke 14 shares the parable of the Banquet, which specifically asks us to compel the "disabled" to come to the table. (Note v 21) "16 But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' 19 Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' 20 Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' 21 And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' 22 And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' 23 And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" {NASB} This plainly says that God asks us to "compel" the disabled to come to Him. You may ask, who is the disabled? The disabled can be a broad term for people with physical limitations (blind, deaf, cerebral palsy, amputees and even people who require wheelchairs). You can add to this disabled group people those who have a mental disability (adhd, autism, brain trauma, bipolar and schizophrenia). These people can be young or old and may need a little more asistance than a regular church attender, but need Christ as much as as everyone.
The first key is simple, see if you have enough handicap spaces available. These are mandated and current ADA guidelines and they state that 1 in 6 handicap parking spaces should be van accessible.The current regulations show that for the first 100 spots 1 handicap spot is needed per 25 spots in your lot ater the first 25 spots (3 spots per 100 cars). From 100-200 spots, 1 spot additional per 50 parking spaces. After that it is 1 spot per 100 parking spaces up to 500 spaces. From 500 spaces to 1,000 you need 2% of your parking spaces. See the guidelines at https://adata.org/fact sheet/parking. You should also check the curb transition from those handicap spots. Keep in mind, disabled individuals may not even attempt to try your church if there are no spots available or it is hard for them to walk or roll up to your church entrance.
The second key lies with your greeters (ushers). Let's just focus on what it takes for a disabled person to make it from the entrance to their seats. Some greeters or ushers are nervous when it comes to addressing people with disabilities or special needs. You should have a training session to alleviate these fears. Training from how to approach a person that may require more attention because of request for a hearing device, to know who can help in a case where a distraction may be caused by someone with a disability. It should also include using "people first language" and getting eye level with people in wheelchairs or assisting visibly impaired people by directing them where they need to go.
Greeters and ushers should recognize if they are "talking over" wheelchairs or talking to its occupant. They also must realize that the wheelchair should be considered a personal space and should not be touched unless the occupant gives them permission. They should offer to help them to a seat cordially. Move seats around to accommodate not only the wheelchair but anyone with person. Upon entering the sanctuary the lights should not be fully off before a service. Instead, the individual should be able to see, so they don't stumble and worry about any obstructions that have to be navigated around. Some churches address this issue by having of low of light level to the disabled navigate safely through. Stumbling and obstructions not seen can be a serious obstacle to visually impaired and those that have unstable gait. Recently, I became aware of seating for those who cannot stand for worship or prayers.Often times people can't see through people standing in front of them. IF you can save a few seats in the center aisle or move them slightly into the aisle, it allows these individuals a direct sight line to stage or ministry platform. A courtesy that that allows the the person who is sitting the inconvience of asking the person in front of them to move out of their sight line. Check with local fire codes to see if room in the aisle can be used for this purpose or think of another solution.
The third key can be addressed by your churches A/V team. During services, they need to use graphics that are visual handicap friendly. You ask what is visually handicap friendly? It would be graphics that are sharp in contrast and vibrant colors. For instance if you use clouds, make sure they don't blur the object you are focusing on in the visual. Likewise, when choosing fonts avoid small fonts and cursive because they are hard to see from the seating area. Even color choices can blur or fade a visual slide. I guess what I am trying to get across is that anyone responsible for visuals should try to think of how a visual can be viewed by a visually impaired visitor or church member. With the audio part, the church needs to be cognizant of the music being to loud for the audibly sensitive to not loud enough for the hearing impaired. For the hearing impaired captions can be used or there are hearing apparatus that can be obtained through any sound or microphone suppliers.Some churches have adopted a "dark and loud" model for their services. What is being said here is that some disabilities may have diffuclty dealing with their model. Keep this in mind while you work within yopur lighting and sound models.
The fourth and final key for the church should be aware of it's the walkways, hallways and high congestion traffic areas. It is a difficult thing to maneuver a wheelchair around people who stop to chat and don't recognize someone is waiting to get past them in a high traffic hall or vestibule. Similarly, it is hard to go around a person chatting with an usher near the doors. Think about how difficult this proccess is if you have a special needs child ready to explode or a disabled individual in a wheelchair who has to wait for the aisle to clear before going anywhere.There are some ways a church can address thjis issue. Maybe have a different exit for wheelchairs or disabled individuals. Maybe have an usher help them navigate their way through by trying to clear a path. If it is a weekly problem maybe someone can announce it from the pulpit and provide information on exiting in a direct manner and having "fellowshipping" in a designated area to reduce congestion. People usually don't purposefully clog the main aisles and when they recoginze that is happening are more than willing to help. Churches just need to realize there are difficulties in coming and going to services and need to attempt to offer different ways to go around the major areas of congestion.
These are but a few keys that churches need to consider to help make their church a "disabled" friendly churches. Conquer or address these four keys, then you will be on the way to ministering to a new mission field.The disabled who need God in their lives just like everyone else. A people who may need a little bit of assistance, but well worth the effort!
