No matter what role you fulfill, you can be a part of creating a community of belonging in your congregation for persons of all abilities. To get started, look up your role in the congregation. As you read through the various roles, consider how the suggestions might benefit everyone in your community, regardless of ability, age, or stage of life. The list of ideas and tools is not intended to be exhaustive rather to start you thinking of additional ideas for your congregation and setting.
These examples will include the terms universal design and responsive design. Here is a brief explanation of each term:
- Universal design is a way of designing buildings, products, and environments that make them accessible to all people, with and without disabilities.
- Responsive design is the process of getting to know an individual and then responding to that person’s strengths and challenges by putting together a personalized plan for use within the activities of the church.