Video Transcript: Universal Design in Worship Part 1

We're going to spend the first two segments thinking about, again, those very practical tools and encouraging you to think about what are the two or five great ideas that I'm going to try to put in place right away, but we're also going to then take a look at something that's part of the book you've been reading, the book that I wrote, called Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship, where we really look at this concept called vertical habits. I'm so excited to introduce you to vertical habits. So hang in there as we again, talk about universal design for worship, those ideas that we could - options we just plant in, as we're thinking about preparing a worship service where people of all abilities can participate and belong. 

So first of all, just a thought about the physical pieces, we're talking a broad spectrum, and often in universal design this is the total of what people think about; are just the the physical aspects. Clearly, this would be a unique church to access. And I had the chance to do a consultation with someone from South America and their church was set in the middle of a city. And they're like, We have no idea how we could make this accessible to a person who's a wheelchair user. And I looked at them, and I'm like, Yeah, I get it. So we had to brainstorm what options could we build in that would that would work within that setting. So one of the things I would encourage you to do is something called an accessibility audit; and I’m providing some links here. We'll also put some links in the homework section, so that you can look some of these over. It lets you go through your own place of worship, the setting where you are, and then take note of some things. 

What do you what do you need? And often it's not just physical pieces, but it's also attitudes. Are your greeters trained? Are those people who people meet at the door, is that a place again, where you've got individuals who are trained to know how to greet a person who may have a vision impairment or whatever that could be? So accessibility audits are about the physical environment, but also often about attitudes and those sorts of things. So check those out. Those might be helpful. 

I had a great conversation with a church that is has a lot of house church plants as part of their community. And we talked about that; how do you signify that there are some house churches where they’ve actually thought about this? They tend to meet in people's homes. People's homes aren't always accessible. So how can we think and provide some options within house groups so that people could be part of that community and have the physical pieces in place that support who they are as an individual? So again, that's another one.

Another sort of physical piece to think about is just that idea that we talked about before; serving those gluten free options for the Lord's Supper. Even we work with some Catholic communities, and we know that there's a certain amount of wheat that needs to be part of that wafer, but also, a wafer that the Celiac Society suggests that can be used in that place that wouldn’t alter the body chemistry enough to do any damage. So there are options within a variety of faith communities that can be really helpful. 

Then, I think another physical piece to think about as we think about universal design for worship, again, goes back to that movement option. I've highlighted this in several different ways. And I just would like to encourage you to think about this, even about your own ability. It's better for our bodies if we have some movement, right? We all know that. 

Does everybody have to sit to listen? Or are there options for people to stand? Is there a standing area? Could people move around enough so that they don't have to feel like the only place to listen or participate is in one of those pews. So can we create ate some options around even positions that are acceptable within this worship service? I've talked about that in other places too. But having those, you know, just some fidgets that are available within a congregation. Talked about very specific ones in children's ministry, you'd be surprised. I was talking with a church the other day, and they just made them available, again, in the seating area. They said, everybody, the people just love them. So this isn't a child's thing in many communities. It’s a need that can be met. And again, do we need some of those kinds of questions in the worship area, so that people can have that movement?

I would also like to point out this item, there's a band that's wrapped around the legs of that chair, and if I can find mine, I'll pull it out. But that's okay. This particular band is similar to an exercise band, and you can tie it very tightly around the front legs of a chair. People can slip their feet back behind it and sort of push against it. Again, could use it in a youth setting but also, if you have chairs in your worship area that can be helpful, people can wrap the chair themselves and unwrap it at the end if they find it helpful. 

Again, before you provide tools like this, you need to teach the congregation how to use them and that you're delighted and God's knitting pattern in each one of us and that for some of us to be part of worship service, it helps to provide some different options. So you're going to make these things available; those kinds of things so that people have an understanding of what you're doing. To just put the stuff in place, it's not going to help without an explanation or a teaching tool. So just a heads up there in terms of preparation. 

I want to focus a little bit on the beauty of technology. And this may be more available to some than others. I'm not exactly sure. But I wanted to focus on this because technology has sort of become the great equalizer in many respects. So again, I talked about this some but let's apply this hotel Preview from children's ministry to some things we could do in the worship area.

I visit a lot of different congregations. I always hope they have something on there about the worship service. I can tell what people are wearing. I can tell are people all carrying a Bible in? Is this a church where I can do this? Or shouldn’t I do that? You know, so you're gauging my ability to sort of move into this congregation, be part of this congregation, by seeing what's acceptable and not acceptable. So again, advanced information on a website is powerful. You can tour the worship area; you can see people that are engaged in worship, frequently asked questions. And again, as I pointed out in that one picture, if you have a picture on your website of at least one person, part of the group, who has some sort of a, an area of disability that is visible, it really does communicate a lot to people who are looking for that place. And so I would encourage you to think about what's on your website and what can you put in place. Again, don't be discouraged if you don't have a website. You can create some great pamphlets with pictures or words that describe what people will experience. So those can be really helpful. 

I think it's also helpful in the building on the walls, as well as on a website, to advertise what you already have in place. I had a great conversation at church where I had attended. All of the bread for the Lord's Supper was gluten free. They just didn't happen to mention that anywhere. So I said, Well, what good is it if it's all gluten free community bread, but nobody knows? 

So, again, do you have large print things? Does anybody know about it? Do you have a hearing loop? Do you have a fragrance free zone for people that really react strongly to certain scents? A hearing loop? What do you already have? An accessible bathroom? Do people know? So again, and I think it's also creates a priority in your church. If people walk in and they see some of these signs that are related to accessibility that are hanging up, it communicates a lot about the priorities within your own church. So advertise what you already have, and closely link to that advertise what can be requested. Some of us again, aren't able to have a sign language interpreter there. We don't have anybody who may need that service, but if somebody gave you a two week notice or a week notice, could you accommodate that? What if you were having a potluck? Could you have certain requests for food items or whatever that could be that could be accommodated with a week's time? So think about that. Are there items you'd be willing to provide or accommodations you'd be willing to provide with some lead time?

And another thing that I think is so helpful is to make written materials available ahead of time. And let me tell you why. So if you know that you have an order of worship, you've got sermon notes, you've got different items that are part of your service, if you can put them on your website ahead of time, there are so many individuals now who have their own device. So in one church, this particular person happens to read in Braille. They send her the PowerPoints that are available on their church's website ahead of time. She prints them out on her braille printer. So she comes to worship with the PowerPoints in Braille. They let her know what scripture passage is going to be read, because her Braille Bible is huge. So she can select the portions that they're going to be using in the worship service on that day, and doesn't have to lug all of that along with her. So, again, that's helpful for that individual. 

It's helpful for people who may have some vision differences. And if they can make the print larger, or if they can change the contrast with colors, it can make a huge difference. So by the community itself, the church, just providing some information ahead of time, people can take that information and download it, put it on their devices, print things off in such a way that can match with who they are as a participant. So that can be super, super helpful. 

The “You” version of the Bible actually has opportunity for congregations. It's a great app for Bible reading because, Number one, you can load up a lot of different translations. You can also load up a lot of different languages. So if you're having, let's say, an adult bible study with persons who, for whom English is not their first language, but they can download that scripture passage and have it read to them or read it in their first language. So it's creates a really wonderful option, the YouVersion. It's free. The  YouVersion Bible app. 

But one of the other things they have are these meeting places so that congregation can create an event that people can then go there for sermon notes, order of worship, etc. So it's sort of a neat opportunity, place to gather on this particular app. So those are some things that can be super helpful is to just give people information ahead of time. 

Also, there will be some people who love that schedule. And if they can see the order of worship ahead of time, they will come in much more calm. So if your congregation that sort of stopped printing that order of worship, even to make it available ahead of time, if somebody wanted to print it off and take it along, they could do that. So that's just a thought, again. I think too, if you think for what people might need, sometimes we miss the idea of printer copier, of just making larger print color contrasts. 

And also thinking beyond what we normally do. I thought of this at Thanksgiving. How often we pass a microphone for people who want to say what they're thankful for. But boy, just creating the option of saying, you could say it into a microphone, or you're welcome to text what you're thankful for to this number and it will be read. How many more people would choose that instead of having to say something into the microphone? So, again, can we use some tools to create options within our order of worship that allow for more participation? That's the P we're on, right? Participation. So do we get more prayer requests with that second option involved, or things that we're thankful for, or whatever it may be? 

Some people, really the barrier of attending a particular meeting in person is huge. So live streaming, those things are helpful, but also, to have a meeting, using phone or Skype might allow a person to participate without having to go through the social jungle that that setting may create. Closed captioning, again, it even if you're going to show a video clip as part of a service, can you find a video clip that has closed captioning so people can enjoy it on that level as well? Make sure you turn it on. Many of them have that option. We don't always remember to click it.

And then also just to think a little bit about attitudinal aspects of that universal design. I think we have to get ready to allow people to be in the same space. Remember, I talked about that with children and youth setting. We need to be ready to prepare peers and volunteers. But how do we prepare a congregation? So just a couple of ideas.

So often in that place of “disability,” boy, is it a trick to understand that we are here and we can receive from this individual. So we have gifts that we can get from one another. And so to highlight those gifts in a service, to allow a person to maybe read from the Braille Bible, to allow a person with phenomenal memory to recite some memorized scripture who clearly also may happen to have autism spectrum disorder, so you're putting people in roles where people are receiving from that individual as well. And I think that's really important as we prepare our congregations. 

The other thing that I would just like to highlight, there's a really great free resource that's available from Friendship Ministry and I'm sorry, I'm part of this video clip as well. But what it lets you do is it lets you look through in both a worship and adult small group setting and say, Look, if you are including a person who may have a hearing difference, or a person who may have a significant intellectual disability, or a person who may have some social differences, or whatever that may be, here are some ideas, and they have it in print, but they also have a short video that goes with it. So in an effort to learn a little bit more about that magical thing called sensory processing, we've pulled the video from this resource.  Again, it's free to you, you just have to sign up. And again, it will be clear to you in the homework area of what needs to happen in order to get to this place. But I would love for you to enjoy this brief video that talks about okay, how do you think about persons with sensory differences if they're part of worship. Remember, it's one of nine or 10 videos and segments on here that really will help you prepare a worship or adult small group area thinking for a variety of abilities.

Video: Adapting the Sessions to the Needs of Your Group:  Sensory Processing

You are in church and you choose a seat behind someone who has used a large dose of perfume before entering the area. Then the worship band decides to start off with a song that is set at a volume guaranteed to have neighbors ten houses down the street aware that church is beginning. The decorating team put strings of lights around the stage area that come on as the room gets dark, and they start to blink in a rhythm all their own. For some people, they may notice these things. For others, they may head for the door hoping they can escape this onslaught of violence to their sensory system. The person left in the worship area wonders what the deal is with the person who left so upset. The person who left wonders how anyone can function at all in the chaos they left behind. The truth is, both of those individuals are correct. Sensations are interpreted by your brain. So there is bound to be great variation in how each person hears, sees smells, feels, tastes, and more. 

It is however important to be understanding of each other. If you discover one of the members of your small group or congregation has a significant sensory difference, try to learn more about it. If that person will be able to attend your group if people choose to come fragrance free, then consider making that a group rule or providing an area in the worship center that is fragrance free. If an individual benefits from wearing sound protectors during your worship time, welcome that equipment or turn your sound to an acceptable level for each group member. Also, understand that some individuals may have a sensory difference for a season of time. 

For a person receiving chemotherapy, certain smells may be repulsive. For an individual sporting a new hearing aid, the world may be turned on extra high volume for a while. When a cast is removed, a person may receive touch in a different way. As we become students of one another in our group, each person will find a place of respect and care for the unique wiring God has placed in each one. Enjoy being small group electricians.   

Now that you weren't tired enough of seeing me, now you had to listen to me one more time. But hopefully that was helpful information. And I often say who would benefit from that information? Your volunteers with the community as a whole? Could you make a learning opportunity out of this in some kind of an adult education setting? Think about that. How could you use some of these totally free resources to help bring that equipping to your community? 

Again, I think, too, just stocking some resources. This is a book you're familiar with; you've been reading this throughout the course, but there are other tools and books that you can have available for people. And I think offering ways to equip leaders, groups can be really, really helpful. So again, if you go on the All Belong website, you'll find a variety of those tools, some for children, some for adults, but think Do we have… do we have tools available that people could do some learning? Can we supply some links to some online learning that's helpful for people, whatever that may be? But enjoy looking through some of those resources at the All Belong store that we have online. 

I think the other thing, again, we also need to think in congregations, how are we equipping the congregation as a whole? I've given several examples that are pastor initiated, those few seconds from the pulpit that can make a huge difference in just casting that vision. But how can we hand out those eyeglasses as a whole, and that, again, will depend on your congregation. We've had some communities decide they're doing the puzzle piece lesson with everybody. And they've got this giant puzzle piece display on their wall, when you come in, it's great. So they decided to do it with a whole community. They might have a pastor choose very specific texts to preach from those to allow people, again, to have those puzzle piece glasses through which to view one another within the congregation. 

You can equip peers, like I said, by putting people into places of leadership or into roles in the church where it really, it becomes clear to the congregation just in that interaction, how, everyone has gifts to share in this community, everyone is important in our community. So whether that's a story that shared, an article in the newsletter that you have, whatever that may be, a strong encouragement to say how can we equip everybody so that they, too, are ready to be part of this community, this community where each person people of all abilities can belong? 

So that's part one. We're getting ready soon to do part two. But once more, I would suggest we covered a lot of information and I know this is coming at you in a fast way, but also, this format is a gift isn't it? It will allow you to click that button called Pause and think through what were those ideas that I want to put in place? What makes sense in our congregation? What is God bringing to mind right now, highlighting to you as you think about what you've heard, and something that you can get started with. So, imagine that and then look forward to continuing this discussion in the next segment.