Community United Church of Christ (CUCC) has a long history of striving towards full inclusion of people as they are.
Among the most recent projects to make CUCC even more inclusive is making our sanctuary wheelchair accessible. Through our Property Ministry, this space has become more welcoming for persons who use wheelchairs. What is great about making this worship space more accessible is that it offers a degree of choice for worshipers who use wheelchairs to position themselves. To make this possible, two pews were moved to the back of the sanctuary and replaced by padded chairs. A space was left at the end of both rows for a wheelchair. If more people in wheelchairs wish to sit in this area, we’ll simply remove more chairs. This creates a comfortable space for wheelchair users to worship.
BEFORE
FLEXIBLE ROW
NOW
By making our sanctuary accessible in this way our church is sending a clear message – all of God’s people are welcome. What is more, CUCC is sending a moral message that is even beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Along with this, we as members and friends of this church have an opportunity to reach out to friends of ours who use wheelchairs and “truly” invite them to worship with us.
CUCC is working to remove as many barriers as possible, to welcome everyone into our community. Yes, this is yet another part of what heaven should look like.
-submitted by Robert Parrish, chair of the Deacons Ministry robertcparrish7@gmail.com