Creating Access and Inclusion in Worship

BULLETIN ITEMS

MEETING THE CHALLENGE
On Inclusion Awareness Day we are challenged. Assumptions that our faith community is a place where "all are welcome", are challenged. Our past efforts to be inclusive are challenged. The realities have been laid out. Where, then, do we go from here? How will we get to the point where an Inclusion Awareness Day Mass and an Inclusion Committee become unnecessary because inclusion is the work of the entire congregation? How do we sustain this challenge throughout the year so we don't wait until the next Inclusion Awareness Day to make changes? This is hard work. It is everybody's work. We need to be challenged continually and be grateful to those who have the courage to speak the truth even when it makes us uncomfortable. First, we need to listen, with open minds and hearts. Second we need to act. Already as a faith community, we are working to take steps toward being more inclusive. We are moving several meetings to accessible places, re-arranging schedules and trying to see things from a different perspective. However, this is not something we as a staff can do alone. We need help. It is the responsibility of the entire congregation to make inclusion of all people a reality. Committee chairs and planners need to explore all options when planning meetings, rather than just finding the easiest, most convenient meeting spaces and times. Creative careful planning will be necessary if all meeting spaces are not accessible. We need to make serious efforts to remedy barriers to participation. That may take time and patience. While we all work through what it means to be an inclusive faith community and our attitudes begin to change, everyone must contribute to our mission of being a place where all are truly welcome.

Contributed by Rev. Robert Oldershaw, Pastor, St. Nicholas parish, Evanston, IL. Note: Father Oldershaw wrote this message to his congregation in September of 2002. Events were moved to accessible meeting spaces and fund raising began for an elevator to the social hall. Plans for the elevator are now complete and construction is expected to begin in September of this year.

BEATITUDES OF ACCEPTANCE

Author Unknown
Blessed are you…
who take time to listen to difficult speech,
for you help me to know that if I persevere I can be understood.
Blessed are you…
who never bid me to "hurry up" or take my tasks and do them for me,
for often I need time rather than help.
Blessed are you…
who stand beside me as I enter new and untried ventures, for my failures will be outweighed by the times I surprise myself and you.
Blessed are you…
who ask for my help,
for my greatest need is to be needed.
Blessed are you…
who understand that, sometimes, it is difficult for me to put my thoughts into words.
Blessed are you…
who with a smile encourage me to try once more.
Blessed are you…
who never remind me that today I asked the same question twice.
Blessed are you…
who RESPECT ME and LOVE ME "JUST AS I AM",
and not as you wish I were.
Contributed by Andrew, Joy and Jay Zainey, St. Joseph parish, New Orleans, LA