wfn.org | Illinois Lutheran Church Wins ELCA Accessibility Award

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 25, 2002

ILLINOIS LUTHERAN CHURCH WINS ELCA ACCESSIBILITY AWARD
02-174-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- First Lutheran Church, Princeton, Ill., has won
the Annual Accessibility Award of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) for its current building accessibility projects and its
inclusion of persons with disabilities in worship, leadership and other
activities.  The award includes a $1,000 prize, a certificate and
prominence on the Web site of the ELCA Division for Church in Society.
     "What stood out for us about First Lutheran was that they had gone
'above and beyond' in accessibility outreach and inclusion," said the
Rev. Lisa Thogmartin-Cleaver, director for disability ministries and
deaf ministry, ELCA Division for Church in Society.
     Almost 600 Lutherans are members of the congregation, with almost
200 worshiping in the church each Sunday.  Princeton is a town of about
7,500 residents in central northern Illinois.
     The congregation has "a great outreach program to people who are
developmentally disabled, and it has included many people with
disabilities in the life of the congregation," said Thogmartin-Cleaver.
     Lynne Swanson, administrative supervisor, First Lutheran Church,
Princeton, said the area is served by the Gateway Center, which helps
people with disabilities build skills to live independently or with a
care provider.  Since the church installed an elevator and ramps, many
people from the center began to worship with the congregation, she said.
     Several members of First Lutheran have disabilities and have taken
leadership in adapting the congregation's programs and worship services,
rather than creating special programs, said Swanson.
     The Rev. Jerome A. Diers is the congregation's pastor.  During
worship services, he invites younger members to come into the altar area
for a children's sermon.  One boy uses an electric wheelchair to come
forward, and members of the congregation built a carpeted ramp so he
could join the other children at the altar, said Swanson.
     The Rev. Barbara Ollila, a pastor of the United Church of Christ,
serves the congregation as a "care pastor."  The care pastor visits
nursing homes, hospitals and the homes of those who are ill or disabled,
said Swanson.  Ollila "has been a blessing to our congregation" and has
reached out to people with disabilities in the community, she said.
     Ollila is legally blind, said Swanson, and the $1,000 grant will
be used to purchase an embosser -- a machine that "prints" computer
files in braille.  The congregation plans to make the embosser available
to Ollila and others in the Princeton area who may need it.
     The National Organization on Disability and Aetna U.S. Healthcare
provided the cash prize, said Thogmartin-Cleaver.  The money is meant to
help the congregation support its disability ministries.
     Five congregations each received an "honorable mention"
certificate this year and a $100 MissionTerm investment certificate of
deposit from the ELCA Mission Investment Fund:
 + First Trinity Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C.
 + Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Ypsilanti, Mich.
 + Rejoice! Lutheran Church, Omaha, Neb.
 + Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hickory, N.C.
 + Bonnet Prairie Lutheran Church, Rio, Wis.
     St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hampton, Va., won the ELCA Accessibility
Award in 2001; Ascension Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, Minn., won the
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 Definitely Abled Advisory Committee of the Lutheran
Youth Organization.
     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.

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