wfn.org | Virginia Lutheran Church Wins ELCA Accessibility Award

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 20, 2001

VIRGINIA LUTHERAN CHURCH WINS ELCA ACCESSIBILITY AWARD
01-168-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hampton, Va., has won
the Annual Accessibility Award of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA).  The award includes a $1,000 prize, a certificate and
prominence on the Web site of the ELCA Division for Church in Society.
     The Rev. Lisa Thogmartin-Cleaver, director for disability
ministries and deaf ministry, ELCA Division for Church in Society, said
the National Organization on Disability and Aetna U.S. Healthcare
provided the cash prize.  The money is meant to help the congregation
support its disability ministries.
     The Rev. Christine L. Farrow, pastor at St. Paul, told Thogmartin-
Cleaver the money would be used to change the water fountains in the
church so they can be raised or lowered to accommodate people in
wheelchairs.
     St. Paul was selected for the accessibility of its buildings and
for the extent to which the congregation includes people with
disabilities in worship, leadership and other activities of the
congregation, said Thogmartin-Cleaver.
     "The first step is getting people in the building," said
Thogmartin-Cleaver.  "We are not meant just to go to worship and sit
there passively and not participate.  If the gifts of people in
wheelchairs or with disabilities are not being used, then certainly we
are not utilizing the talents that God has given them.  We are not
answering God's call to mission completely either."
     The congregation's health committee installed ramps throughout the
church.  Then it joined forces with the congregation's social ministries
committee to build ramps at appropriate places around town, said
Thogmartin-Cleaver.
     St. Paul has about 280 baptized members, and about 150 attend
worship there each Sunday, said Thogmartin-Cleaver.  "They are a
relatively small congregation, and yet they are really putting a lot of
resources into this project," she said.
     The health committee provides resources, such as braille materials
and hearing devices, for people in the congregation who have
disabilities.  "If someone needs a wheelchair and can't afford it, they
provide them with a wheelchair, so  they are really doing a lot of
outreach," said Thogmartin-Cleaver.
     "This emphasis is apparently something that has existed since the
beginning of this congregation, and it certainly seems to be a real
mission for the pastor, too," said Thogmartin-Cleaver.
     Three congregations each received "honorable mention" certificates
this year and  $100 certificates of deposit from the ELCA Mission
Investment Fund:
 + Zion Lutheran Church, Staten Island, N.Y.;
 + Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Cheney, Wash.; and
 + Ascension Lutheran Church, Waukesha, Wis.
     Ascension Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, Minn., won the ELCA
Accessibility Award in 2000.
     The ELCA disability ministries and deaf ministry assists
congregations and other church institutions in inclusive ministry with
people with disabilities.  Four networks serve as the ministries' core:
the ELCA Braille and Tape Ministry, the Lutheran Network on Mental
Illness/Brain Disorders, the Lutheran Services in America-Disability
Network and the youth-led Definitely Abled Advisory Committee.
     The ELCA Mission Investment Fund provides loans to new Lutheran
mission congregations to purchase land and construct new church
buildings.  Fund investors earn competitive interest rates while
furthering the mission and ministry of the church.
-- -- --
     The ELCA Division for Church in Society maintains information
about the church's disability ministries and deaf ministry, including
resources on accessibility, at http://www.elca.org/dcs/disability.html
on the Web.

     St. Paul Lutheran Church has its home page at
http://www.unidial.com/~spelc/index.html on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html