Congregational Ministries

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Disability Concerns Task Force | The Next 50 Project
On congregations' size, strength: 'Beyond the Ordinary'

Minutes o f Past Meetings

May 2007 Minutes

Disability Concerns Task Force

Stories and Articles on Inclusion

• Lost and Found: An Integration Story
• Inclusion: A Church's Quest

Articles on Making Congregations Accessible

• Assistive Listen Devices
• Communion Elements for People with Allergies
• Guide Dogs in Church
• Preparing a Church Bulletin in Braille
• Selecting Christian Education Curriculum for Persons with Disabilities

Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Guide

The goal of the Disability Concerns Task Force is to encourage awareness and acceptance of individuals and families living with disabilities and to encourage congregations to value the gifts of persons with disabilities. We will make available Disability Concerns Community Resources.

All Christians are members of the Body of Christ and deserve access to the worship, opportunities, and fellowship of the church. When barriers of any kind exist and make it impossible for persons with disabilities to participate fully in the life of the church, we are not being faithful to our calling or to our mission of the church.

It is not enough to enable persons with disabilities to enter the buildings. The Body of Christ is not whole when we are not able to embrace the gifts of all members. Like all Christians, persons with disabilities have been given gifts to use in the service of God. In addition, persons with disabilities may have gifts of patience, creativity, and perseverance they have learned through their living with disabilities. The Disability Concerns Task Force will assist Presbytery and congregations in recognizing and using the gifts of persons of disabilities.

Community resources - Advocate, service, and supplier information (Word format with links to other websites).

Accessibility information - Summary information on church accessibility and types of programs aimed at welcoming persons with disabilities and including them in the life of the church. This information was obtained from respondents of a 2005 survey conducted by the Disability Concerns Task Force. (Word format with links to other websites.)

Presbyterian for Disability Concerns website, PC (U.S.A.)

Website accessibility information from the National Health Ministries, PC (U.S.A.)

'Next 50 Project' covenant

"As a congregation, we choose to actively participate in the Next 50 Project sponsored by the Congregational Ministries Work Group . . . This covenant means as a Session we commit to this project by . . . In return, the Presbytery will offer . . ."

Here in PDF format is the one-page Next 50 Project Covenant.

'Beyond the Ordinary' reports that congregations' strengths vary by size and across denominational lines

from March 11, 2004, release by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies

Small and mid-size congregations--of which the Synod and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have many--will find some encouragement and counsel in the just-published "Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations," by Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce. The book explores the distribution of 10 congregational strengths, as perceived by members of a variety of U.S. church bodies, including mainline Protestants, conservative Protestants, Catholics, and historically black congregations.

Beyond the Ordinary is the second book by Woolever and Bruce based on the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. Their earlier book, A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why, examined the practices and activities of some 300,000 worshipers in more than 2,000 U.S. congregations.

In their new book, which further explores the survey data, the researchers write that worshipers in small (fewer than 100) churches reported more of the 10 strengths than those in mid-size (100-350) churches, and that small and mid-size churches got higher marks for those qualities than did large churches. Small and mid-size congregations got higher scores for such strengths as growing spiritually and caring for children and youth, while the only strength for which large congregations got the highest average score was welcoming new people.

The 10 strengths are

Apart from differences by congregation size, the authors report significant differences across other types of churches. Historically black and conservative Protestant churches scored higher on most of the 10 qualities than Catholics or mainline Protestants. Conservative Protestants scored highest on welcoming new people. Mainline Protestants led only in focusing on the community. And across denominations, most worshipers didn't perceive caring for children or youth as a high priority in their congregations.

The U.S. Congregational Life Survey, with offices in the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Ky., gets major funding from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and additional support from the Louisville Institute, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the Pulpit & Pew Project of Duke University. Woolever is director of the project and professor of sociology of religious organizations in the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford (Conn.) Seminary. Bruce is project manager and associate research manager in the PC (U.S.A.)'s Research Services Office.

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