wfn.org | Ohio Congregation Wins ELCA Accessibility Award

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 24, 2003

OHIO CONGREGATION WINS ELCA ACCESSIBILITY AWARD
03-136-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Peace Lutheran Church, Gahanna, Ohio, won the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Accessibility Award for
2003.  Announcing the honor, the Rev. Lisa T. Cleaver, director for
disability ministries and deaf ministry, ELCA Division for Church in
Society, said Peace Lutheran went well beyond ramps and elevators.
     The Accessibility Award is given each year to recognize one ELCA
congregation for the accessibility of its building and the extent to
which it includes people with disabilities in its worship, leadership
and activities.  The National Organization on Disability and Aetna U.S.
Healthcare provide a cash prize of $1,000.  The money is meant to help
the congregation support its disability ministries, said Cleaver.
     "Peace is committed to continuing to expand the ways in which it
is welcoming and accessible to persons with disabilities.  At this point
a list of possible ways in which to spend the money for expanded
programs has been generated, but no final decision has been made," said
Patricia Tietz, adult education assistant, Peace Lutheran Church.
     Peace Lutheran is a congregation of the ELCA Southern Ohio Synod
and has more than 3,000 baptized members.  Gahanna is a city of about
34,000 residents located in central Ohio, next to the Port Columbus
International Airport and about eight miles northeast of Columbus, Ohio.
     "The thing that really made us sit up and take notice of this
congregation was its outreach program -- the things it's doing in the
community," said Cleaver.  "It has a committee called Friendship
Connection Ministries that is specifically for persons with
disabilities," she said.
     Friendship Connections Ministries welcomes neighbors with
developmental disabilities and provides a weekly Friendship Bible Study
and monthly Respite Saturdays.	The respite program offers "a
much-needed day off" for families, friends and anyone who is a caregiver
for individuals who have disabilities, Cleaver said.
     Camp Friendship Connections gives adults with developmental
disabilities a one-week residential Christian camping experience.  Young
and adult members of Peace Lutheran serve as camp companions.
     Peace Lutheran is also a host location for an organization called
Courage Incorporated, which is an organization for people with
disabilities in the Central Ohio area, Cleaver said.
     "Peace Lutheran Church was honored to receive recognition from the
ELCA through the Accessibility Award.  The leadership and encouragement
that congregations receive from the ELCA Division for Church in Society
is very supportive of improving accessibility for persons with physical
and mental challenges," Tietz added.
     Three ELCA congregations each received an "honorable mention"
certificate this year and a $100 MissionTermSelect investment from the
ELCA Mission Investment Fund:
 + Atonement Lutheran Church, Jamestown, N.D.
 + Easter Lutheran Church, Eagan, Minn.
 + Faith Lutheran Church, Seattle, Wash.
     First Lutheran Church, Princeton, Ill., won the ELCA Accessibility
Award last year; St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hampton, Va., won it in 2001;
and Ascension Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, Minn., won the 2000 award.
     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.
-- -- --
     An audio report of this story is available at
http://media.elca.org/ramgen/audionews/030619.rm on the ELCA Web site.

     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.

     Peace Lutheran Church has a home page at
http://www.peacegahanna.org on the Internet.

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