wfn.org | ELCA Leaders Appear in ABC-TV Program on Faith and Disabilities

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: ELCA Leaders Appear in ABC-TV Program on Faith and Disabilities
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>December 2, 2009  

ELCA Leaders Appear in ABC-TV Program on Faith and Disabilities
09-268-JB

CHICAGO (ELCA) --Youth ministry participants and pastors of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are among several faith
community leaders featured in a documentary on disabilities set to air
nationwide on ABC-TV affiliates beginning Dec. 6.

The program focuses on making faith communities more accessible to
people with disabilities, according to a National Council of Churches USA
news release.

"A Place for All: Faith and Community for Persons with Disabilities"
was produced through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission (IBC), the
release said. IBC is a coalition of Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant
and Orthodox faith groups, including the ELCA.

Participants, staff and volunteers from this past summer's
Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) at the ELCA Youth
Gathering in New Orleans are featured in the documentary.  DAYLE aims to
inspire and give hope to young Lutherans living with physical and
cognitive disabilities.  The Rev. Beth D. Lockard, an ELCA pastor at
Christ the King Lutheran Church of the Deaf, West Chester, Pa., is also
featured, as is an accessibility initiative at Hope Lutheran Church,
Fargo, N.D.

The 2009 DAYLE drew 31 high school youth and young adults, plus
parents, staff and volunteers.  In the documentary the Rev. Bill Bixby,
director for youth ministry, ELCA Vocation and Education, explained why
participants use the term "definitely abled."

"(The) term ... is one coined by young people, about seven years
ago, who have participated in this ministry, as a distinction from
different ability or disability," Bixby said.  "They have thought that a
better way to talk about their lives, and their lives of faith and their
powers, is to describe themselves as 'definitely abled.'"

A 2009 DAYLE participant in the documentary is Amanda Gipson, Christ
Lutheran Church, Cunningham, Pa. Gipson uses a wheelchair.  "We all have
our disabilities of course.  That's part of the reason why we're here,"
she said.

"But we all have abilities too.  To see these kids put together the
abilities they have to overcome their disabilities is one of the most
moving things I think I have ever seen in my life.  I don't think I will
ever forget that.  I think that is a very profound lesson -- that just
because we have disabilities doesn't mean we don't have abilities that we
can put together to use for the church," she said.

The Rev. Walter Hermanns, a member of Emmaus Lutheran Church,
Racine, Wis., was a DAYLE volunteer leader.  He has multiple
sclerosis. Hermanns described frustration with God following his
diagnosis, but said he realized that it was God who opened up Scripture
to him, inviting him to a deeper relationship and surrounding him with
friends.

"That was the turning point for me -- that I understood God was a
God of compassion who was struggling, and suffering and also growing
along with me," Hermanns said.

Lockard used sign language in her documentary interview. "I think a
community of faith empowers us -- disabled people -- to take leadership
roles in our church, and that definitely says something.  It means that
they trust us, that they understand and see us as skilled and equal --
and oftentimes that we can do a better job," she said.

ELCA Disabilities Ministry, through the Vocation and Education
program unit, contributed a grant to help fund the program.

Other stories about people living with disabilities representing
Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities are told in the documentary.

The documentary is part of ABC-TV's "Vision and Values Series," in
cooperation with the IBC.  Debra Gonsher Vinik, Diva Communication Inc.,
New York, is producer.

>---

Information about "A Place for All," including local broadcast dates
and times, is at http://www.elca.org/aplaceforall on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog