In Depth:  disability & accessibility

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How to make festivities accessible - for all

How to make festivities accessible - for all
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Christmas is coming, and it’s looming fast! It’s also a time when those with disabilities and additional needs struggle with accessibility.

We love everything glittery, and twinkly. We cram everyone into whatever space we have. The noise is much greater. And we insist on colour combinations and fonts that should never get past the editing stage of our Christmas invites, slides on screens and our social media.

Disability: What do you see?

Disability: What do you see?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

I recently saw a social media post from a well-known disabled person. He’d been out for a meal with friends, one of whom was also disabled. They’d sat outside the restaurant for their meal - possibly because that was more accessible for them.

One of the restaurant workers came out and asked them to leave. They’d done nothing wrong; they were just a group of friends enjoying each other's company.

Is your church 'toxic' to a child's faith?

Is your church 'toxic' to a child's faith?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Is church "toxic" to a child's faith?

In answer to my own question, I believe "the church" can sometimes be toxic to a child's faith.

Disability Pride Month: Will your church celebrate?

Disability Pride Month: Will your church celebrate?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

July is Disability Pride month - it has absolutely nothing to do with LGBTQ+, although some do try to hijack it a little!

This month is a celebration of what disabled people bring to the world and who we are. It started in America, way before LGBTQ+ had one. It also had a different name, but "pride" was in its descriptors.

Not all prayer looks the same - and that's okay
disability & accessibility

Not all prayer looks the same - and that's okay
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

We’ve all been told stories of the great saints of prayer. You know, those worthy people who got up early in the morning and prayed for hours, without a cup of coffee and before breakfast.

We’ve all, at some point, probably felt guilty that we can’t pray that way. But dig a little deeper into those stories and we will also find lives just like ours - fragile and flawed.

A quiet revival - for all?
disability & accessibility

A quiet revival - for all?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

You've most likely read or heard about the quiet UK revival, namely the rising interest in Christianity among younger generations as explored in the Bible Society's latest report.

I remember when my husband and I ran Whizz Kids groups for kids at large events. We prayed that if children became Christians, it would be an obvious work of the Spirit. As a result, we have heard many stories of children saying they felt they were woken by Jesus, or He spoke to them in the shower. One even felt God's call when on a funfair ride! A call to faith that only God could take the glory for.

Smiling, serving, and disabled: Why that shouldn’t be surprising

Smiling, serving, and disabled: Why that shouldn’t be surprising
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

I smile a lot. I’m known for it.

I wear bright clothes, wacky glasses and glam up my wheelchair. I also receive a lot of comments about being smiley and bright, and living my life ‘out there’. I love life!

'Devastating' disability cuts: what you need to know

'Devastating' disability cuts: what you need to know
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

The Government has now released its Green Paper on disability benefits.

You may have been aware of the discussions around this, both from the government and in the press.

'Disabled people feel under attack'

'Disabled people feel under attack'
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

There’s a large pastoral issue arising that we all need to be aware of.

It’s a hidden pastoral issue that may be flying under the radar in many churches. The people these issues will affect will also often be under the radar too, and often unseen. The issue is this: the anxiety and potential acute depression that disabled people face in light of government plans.

Who dares steal your dignity?

Who dares steal your dignity?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Dignity. The dictionary definition of this word is 'The state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect.'

However, as Christians we use the word dignity in many different ways, and as a result its real meaning has been eroded over the years.

Do you let suffering become a competition?

Do you let suffering become a competition?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

'It’s not a competition!' This is a common phrase for me, especially when surrounded by competitive men.

When I ran camps, 'competitiveness' was often an issue with male leaders - often to the point of having to write this into my risk assessment. The desire to win a game often clouded out the need to keep children, and themselves, safe from injury! The risk assessment then became a competition - the win being to be named as a risk in it.

Disability History Month: The dark and hidden past of disability

Disability History Month: The dark and hidden past of disability
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

It’s Disability History Month. This has happened every year from 16th November to 16th December since 2010.

Has your church ever done events around this, in the same way many do events around Black History Month?

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?
disability & accessibility

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

We often joke about women being the better multitaskers. It’s a sweeping statement, but not without a nugget of truth. So how is the church at multitasking?

When it comes to patterns of looking at who is missing from our churches, in our leadership and in the mission and ministry we do, we often look at one thing at a time. And then, having looked at some other things, we have to revisit what we’ve done before. Again, this is a sweeping statement, but not without a nugget of truth.

Letter

Inclusion of people with special needs
Date posted: 24 Oct 2024

Dear Editor,

I was heartened to read Kay Morgan-Gurr’s recent article on inclusion on the en website (‘Churches and accessibility: time to change’). How the church welcomes, cares for, and disciples those with additional needs is, in my view, one of the great challenges of this generation. It’s personal for me as a parent of three children, two of whom are neurodiverse. But it’s also a pastoral concern.

A duty to ask to die? Disability and assisted dying

A duty to ask to die? Disability and assisted dying
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Have you ever had anyone come up to you and say, ‘I’d rather be dead than be like you’?

I have, numerous times! Apparently, people would rather be dead because they can’t see why anyone could want to be alive if they use a wheelchair. And it’s not just physical disability - there are many people who have the same view of autism.

Churches and accessibility: time to change

Churches and accessibility: time to change
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Someone I follow on X posted a picture of a tin opener. The caption read: 'If you're right handed you'll see a tin opener. If you're left handed you'll see an obstacle.'

A very true statement, especially if you’re left handed. The literal thinkers among us would say: 'just go out and buy a left handed one!' But do they even make left handed tin openers?! When I was a nurse we used to send trainee doctors to find the left handed blood pressure machine - insisting they existed. So, I wasn’t sure if this was one of those sort of jokes.

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Karé Adenegan

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Karé Adenegan
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

After winning two silver medals, wheelchair racer Karé Adenegan is one of several professing Christians publicly giving God the glory at the Paralympics.

Karé came second in the Women's T34 100m final, while GB’s Hannah Cockroft powered forward to take gold by 1.19 seconds. Karé began her post-race interview on Channel 4 by saying: ‘I have to give all glory to God. It’s been a tough season, and I’m happy to have got another silver.’

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: William Stedman

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: William Stedman
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

For para-athlete William Stedman, this year's Paralympics was a 'rollercoaster' - but he finished as he started: giving praise to God.

Stedman entered three separate events. Suffering disappointment in the Men’s Long Jump T36, just 16 hours later he sprinted to silver in the Men’s 400m T36 - setting a national record of 52.92m.

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Trenten Merrill

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Trenten Merrill
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

Trenten Merrill, competing with an injury to his hamstring, finished the final of the Men’s Long Jump T64 by declaring 'Christ is King'.

Merrill came into this years' Paralympics having won the bronze medal for the USA three years ago in Tokyo, but having sustained a 2cm tear in his hamstring the day before he arrived in the Olympic Village. Deciding to compete anyway, he finished 9th, with a distance of 6.41m.

Paralympian or dead? Lessons from Paris for your church

Paralympian or dead? Lessons from Paris for your church
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

The 2024 Paralympics has been compulsive viewing for many - myself included. It hasn’t been without controversy in various areas and some of those issues continue to rumble on.

Those of us who use wheelchairs have experienced wheelchair envy as we’ve seen not just the sports wheelchairs, but the everyday wheelchairs that some of the athletes have - that probably cost the same as a family car.

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Kadeena Cox

Giving glory to God at the Paralympics: Kadeena Cox
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

Looking back on a Paralympics that was filled with personal highs and lows, Kadeena Cox has publicly declared that 'God's plan is always better'.

Cox had a difficult start to the Paralympics, slipping off her bike during the women’s C4-5 500m time trial and finishing sixth. Following her fall, she posted on social media saying: ‘You can't have a testimony without a test… It's not the plan I had, but God's plan is always better.’

Are people with disabilities excluded from ministry?

Are people with disabilities excluded from ministry?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Did you know there are different models of disability?

The two main ones are the ‘medical’ and ‘social’ models. I asked AI (artificial intelligence) to sum them up for me and it did a reasonable job of describing what they are:

‘I was born with no eyes and my husband is blind too’

‘I was born with no eyes and my husband is blind too’
Philippa Lomas

Philippa Lomas shares her journey of faith and discipleship:

I was born without any eyes and am completely blind. As you can probably imagine, this was a great shock to my parents, who had other, fully sighted, children. My parents are both Christians, but they really wondered what good God could bring out of the situation.

First full dyslexia-friendly Bible now finished

First full dyslexia-friendly Bible now finished
Milla Ling-Davies
Milla Ling-Davies

The Bible Society has finished producing the Bible in a dyslexia-friendly format.

Beginning in 2015 with the publication of the book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark, the resources were designed to enable those with the learning disorder to engage with Scripture ‘comfortably and confidently’. Now, following the publication of Deuteronomy and Joshua, all 66 books have been finished, and the project is complete.

All Scripture to be signed

All Scripture to be signed
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

A mammoth project to translate the Bible into British Sign Language (BSL) is underway. So far, the team at the BSL Bible Translation Project has translated ten chapters of Mark’s Gospel, while another team has started work on parts of Genesis.

More than 400 sign languages are in use around the world, but just one has a full Bible in its own language: the Bible in American Sign Language was completed in 2020 by Wycliffe Bible Translators – after 39 years in the making.

Do we have a theology of disability?

Do we have a theology of disability?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Kay Morgan-Gurr

We love theology in the evangelical church. We want to know what God says about all sorts of things in the Bible. We soak in what those who have studied theology say, and sometimes we study it ourselves with the books that we read and the podcasts we listen to.

But do we, as evangelicals, have a theology of disability?

Disability, diversity, Frodo Baggins and Aslan

Disability, diversity, Frodo Baggins and Aslan
Cassie Martin
Cassie Martin

September is one of my favourite times of year. Keats called it the season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’.

It marks the start of the academic year – new school shoes and lots of enthusiasm from both teachers and students. If we’re lucky, there’s an Indian Summer beautifully balanced by that crispness in the air in the early mornings. Closer to home, it is the month of our wedding anniversary and my youngest son’s birthday; he has the distinction of being born on Hobbit Day. Hobbit Day is the 22nd September, a date chosen because it is Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ joint birthday. In the last few decades, it has become an opportunity for Tolkien fans across the globe to share their appreciation and enjoyment of Tolkien’s work.

Disabled access: Covid has shown we can be accessible

Disabled access: Covid has shown we can be accessible
Duncan Forbes

I looked nervously from my wheelchair at the two loose planks of wood running up the steep church steps.

Two helpers happily offered to push me up this obstacle-course item. When I explained the danger of falling off, they offered to physically lift me out of the chair and carry me up the stairs. They had big grins on their faces, presumably pleased that they were able to get me to church – but I was sinking inside, and I now just wanted to go home.

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