wfn.org | Life Worth Living Teleconference

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (334
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Note 332 by UMNS on Sept. 18, 1997 at 16:34 Eastern (5250 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom
520(10-21-71B){332}
         New York  (212) 870-3803

Sept. 18, 1997 

Teleconference to focus on better
quality of life for disabled

			by United Methodist News Service

	Supporting a better quality of life for people with disabilities will be the
focus of a Nov. 13 teleconference.
	"Life Worth Living" will air live from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time and will
include call-in participation from audience members.
	 Program sponsors are Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology, United Methodist
Communications, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' Health and
Relief Unit, the National Council of Churches and the LIV (Living
Independently in the Valley) Center in Altadena, Calif.
	A seven-member panel will help explore the roles of individuals,
organizations and the religious community to facilitate and support the rights
of disabled people.
	Shirley Struchen, executive producer and a United Methodist Communications
staff member, said the program was being offered as "a service to the
community." Cecelia Ann Dailey, also from United Methodist Communications,
will serve as moderator.
	As of Sept. 17, 25 teleconference downlink sites had been established in 15
states, with more to be added. Information on registration or setting up a
site is available by calling (212) 870-3802.
	The Rev. Kathy Reeves, a panelist and Board of Global Ministries executive,
pointed out that physical or mental disabilities do not prevent people "from
functioning as authentic and creative beings.
	"We want the church to recognize the abilities and competencies that people
with disabilities have to share in the larger society," she said.
	The biggest barrier is what Reeves calls "attitudinal access." For example,
"for centuries, the church has had an ideal perception of perfection in terms
of its leaders," she noted.
	By denying the disabled a chance at leadership -- as women were once denied
on account of their sex -- "the church in some ways is losing its ability to
be a fully functioning entity," she said.
	Reeves, who is legally blind, considers herself "extremely blessed." For the
things she can't realistically do, such as driving a car, alternative
solutions exist.
	"As people we all have limitations, but we all have gifts," she declared.
	Reeves and the other panelists will identify case experiences that model
positive attitudes and action programs; listen to views of individual disabled
people on how they want to be treated; identify ways to change public
attitudes toward the disabled; explore advocacy opportunities; look at the
American Disabilities Act; consider life and death decisions; demonstrate
architectural innovations for better livng and provide a forum for sharing
experiences, strength and hope.
	Other panelists are Martha Griswold, director of LIV Center; the Rev. Kathy
Black, assistant professor of Homiletics and Liturgics at Claremont School of
Theology and author of The Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability;
Fernando Torres-Gil, assistant secretary for aging, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services; Mary Jane Owen, executive director of the Catholic Office
for Persons with Disabilities, Washington, D.C.; Paul Longmore, a professor
and editor of a special issue on disability history for Disability Studies
Quarterly; and David Rogers, M.D., a pediatric geneticist.
	Reeves has responsibility for congregational health ministries, deaf and
disabilities advocacy and HIV/AIDS education within the United Methodist
Church. A member of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, she currently
serves on the Task Force on Persons with Disabilities for President Clinton's
Committee on Disabilities.
	As Liv Center director for the past 12 years, Griswold has advocated for
access and justice for those with disabilities through community organizing,
public education and networking. She is co-producer and co-host of "Access
Unlimited," a weekly radio program.
	Black, who has been at Claremont since 1992, was founding pastor of Magothy
United Methodist Church of the Deaf and has served as chaplain at Galludet
University. She has been an instructor in deaf ministry and ministry with
people with disabilities.
	Torres-Gil, who joined the Department of Health and Human Services in May,
1993, is on leave from UCLA, where he has a joint position with the
Departments of Social Welfare and Policy Studies at the School of Public
Policy and Social Research.
	Owen, who has a doctorate in social work, also is executive director of
Disability Focus, Inc., in Washington, D.C. She is blind, has partial hearing
and uses a wheelchair and has published more than 700 articles interpreting
disability issues.
	Longmore, an associate professor of history at San Francisco State
University, has written a number of articles on the topics of disabilities and
assisted suicide.
	Rogers is a clinical geneticist with Genzyme Genetics Prenatal Diagnosis
Center in Long Beach, Calif., and a member of the Liv Center board of
directors. From 1990-91, he was co-producer and co-host of "Able, Not
Disabled," a public access program on cable television.

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