[Magdalen] Religion Without God?

[Jay Weigel]

Some churches are just *so* afraid their precious building will be "marred"
if they have to make accommodations for the handicapped. Others just go
ahead and do it. Some of the smallest do the best. I recall a small and
ancient historic ELCA church out in East Nowhere, TN, that had built an
elevator into the bell tower so their elderly and less-than fully mobile
could circumvent the many steps to the front entrance. Likewise, in some
churches, the "handicapped" pew is in the back. In Oak Ridge, TN, the
wheelchair pew is in the front row.

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 10:54 AM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is something where the diocese should lead, IMO....and the national
> > church ought to be behind it, gently or maybe not so gently mandating
> > upgrades and supporting with cash as needed. But withTEC's record on
> > evangelism, it's not surprising that we don't evangelize among our own.
> > /snark
>
> We've got a little ramp that can be put in place to bridge the last
> gap for wheelchair users to get into the nave. But this still means
> they need assistance to get doors open, and they have to enter via the
> garden, have doors opened into the fellowship hall and then into the
> sacristy and then the ramp put down and a door opened into the nave.
> Anything upstairs is no-go, as there's no lift. We do have a coach
> house behind the convent and rectory; it can be used for first-floor
> classes and meetings, and I think there's a plan to make sure this is
> accessible.
>
> At my previous parish in East Cupcake, the church had five levels
> (although not five storeys) and a high-quality, full-size lift was
> installed and door-opening devices put in connected to big buttons
> reachable from most wheelchairs. A man with cerebral palsy who lived
> in an apartment next to the church was ecstatic to make his first
> unassisted (but well watched by happy friends) trip from home all the
> way to his accustomed place in the nave.
>
>
> --
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>