Faithfully Disabled: ADA Laws Do Not Apply to Churches

posted on Jan 19 by in the Disability News category

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Photo by Joe Woodruff on Flickr

Shawana Bulloch said it best. “The one place you should be able to go is in the church without assistance, you should be able to walk in—or roll in.” Yet years after passage of the ADA, separation of church and state means that houses of worship remain beyond the law’s reach. State laws meant to tackle this problem face many problems. Not only are they tricky to enforce, but Churches say that they are costly and impractical.

The definition of what is “reasonable accommodation” for one, may not apply to another. Enforcement is left up to local officials. As the disabled community expands, there is a growing demand for a more prominent place in the pews. “Even congregations that have a decent level of awareness, many of them have stopped at basic accommodations,” said Mark Crenshaw, of the consulting group Interfaith Disability Connection.

Have you or a loved one had trouble accessing a house of worship? If so, has anyone offered to help make the space more accessible, or has it been difficult?

Disabled worshippers struggle as many churches lack access – From USA Today.

One Comment

Geoffrey Helms, posted this comment on Mar 23rd, 2011

When I became disabled after breaking my back in an auto accident not only did the church not attempt to make any accommodations for me to continue attending, it completely abandoned me. I attended and worked at that church for many years and even had keys to the entire facility and regularly stood at the pulpit and as soon as word got around that I was injured there were no prayer chains, no phone calls, no visitation, nothing at all but silence and being told that they no longer needed my services. After receiving similar reactions from other churches as well I have come to the conclusion that the church honestly doesn’t care about the disabled at all.

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