What's Happening in Our UU Congregations

To encourage and inspire you, we will share some of the accessibility activities that UU congregations have been involved in.

• July 2010 - Results of First Equual Access Election The results of the first Equual Access Election are in. Here are the elected officers:
  President: Arthur Tackman
  Secretary: Caron Wells
  Chair of Right Relations Committee: Linda Wright

  They join the remaining Equual Access Board members who were not up for reelection this year:
  Vice President: Carolyn Cartland
  Treasurer: Carol Agate
  Chair of Policy Committee: Barbara Meyers

• March 2010 - Interfaith Mental Health Coalition Conference Bob Skrocki is helping develop the newly formed Suburban Chicago Interfaith Mental Health Coalition to put on its first annual conference on Tuesday November 9, 2010 in Elgin, IL. See http://scimc.wikispaces.com/ for more information on the coalition's work.

• Spring 2010 - UU Fellowship for Full Inclusion of Individuals with Developmental Challenges The Full Inclusion Living and Learning Unitarian Universalist Society is a lay-led congregation that seeks to nurture the spiritual needs of all individuals, without regard to developmental abilities and challenges. Many, although not all, members of FILL UUS are individuals or family members of individuals diagnosed with social, language-based, or cognitive challenges. We seek to provide services where families will feel comfortable, and to gear religious exploration to the strengths and abilities of the youth who attend. The first organizational service will be on the evening of May 7. It will meet at the South Nassau, New York UU church. Learn more at http://www.filluus.org/

• July 2009 - The UUA is joining the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition by The Rev. Devorah Greenstein
  The UUA is joining the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition (IDAC), a new initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities, a coalition of religious and religiously-affiliated organizations 'whose core spiritual values affirm the rights and dignity of people with disabilities.' IDAC will use its collective strength 'to speak out and take action on disability policy issues with Congress, the President and Administration, and society at large.' (Ginny Thornburgh, writing on the AAPD blog on July 30, 2009.)

  On July 27, 2009 Kat Liu, Assistant Director of the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy, represented the UUA at the first IDAC Membership Information Meeting, where AAPD President Andy Imparato explained that the Community Choice Act and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will be the two policy issues at the forefront of IDAC's agenda.

  Our faith community is ALWAYS on the Side of Love, and working with IDAC will be our way of showing that we understand that disability IS a social justice issue that deserves our fullest attention.

• The Rev. Mary Harrington Gives Sermon at the Service of the Living Tradition at GA

  The Rev. Mary Harrington gave a powerful sermon at the Service of the Living Tradition at General Assembly. Mary is living with ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease and uses a wheel chair. For the sermon, she was sitting in a beautiful chair and had a special microphone.

  The title of her sermon - A Lifetime Isn't Long Enough - is from the poem Flare by Mary Oliver: "Even a lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world."

  Here is one of the main messages from the sermon: You are a part of the beauty of this world which no one will ever enjoy, not even you if your treasures stay locked inside. So, sharing your treasures with others is holy work. She goes on to suggest how to share our treasures.

  To read her sermon see: Lifetime Not Enough Sermon. The entire service can be viewed at: Service of the Living Tradition 2009.

• Equual Access at General Assembly 2009 by Carol Agate
  At General Assembly, the Equual Access meeting included a discussion of the situation at GA and problems in our congregations. We are interested in ideas for creating accessibility consultants to advise congregations. We discussed the issue of the campaign name: "Standing on the Side of Love," which excludes people who can't 'stand.'

  As a representative of Equual Access I was invited to attend a dinner meeting with the UUA board's Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, Multiculturalism Team and members of various affinity groups. They asked what accountability of the UUA Board would look like. After that question the comments were far-ranging. People agreed that a lot more needs to be done, and asked that the UUA board let us know what they want us to do. Part of the need is district trainings, but some board members have been unable to get their district boards to agree to it. I used "Standing on the Side of Love" as an example of things that are done through lack of awareness, and suggested that the way to prevent it is to keep people informed of plans as projects are in the works instead of rolling them out when they are finished.

  For more GA coverage, see Carol Agate's complete report on GA 2009 happenings.

• April 2009 - UU World Audio Recordings Available
  Audiorecordings of the articles in the latest UU World are now available. Award-winning audiobook actor Dick Hill reads articles from the Spring 2009 issue. The recordings can be listened to in most browsers or downloaded to your computer for playback using an .mp3 player. The audio version of UU World is produced in cooperation with the UUA Office of Accessibility Concerns. You can hear the recordings at: Audio Recordings Spring 2009

• March 2009 - Expanding Access: A Florida District Council
  Florida District Assembly offered an opportunity for planning to begin for a District Council on Expanding Access. For more information, click here to email Suzanne Fast, click here to email Linda Wright, or click here to email District Executive Rev. Kenneth G. Hurto.



Suzanne Fast and Linda Wright at the Florida District Assembly

• Accessibility Programming at General Assembly
  General Assembly often sees the gathering of people passionate about activism in the intersection between disability and religion.

  Left to Right: The Rev. Devorah Greenstein, Program Coordinator for the UUA Office of Accessibility Concerns; Simona Munson, administrator for the UUA's Identity Based Ministries; Jacqui Williams, an anti-oppression trainer who does anti-ableism and anti-racism work; The Rev. Laurie Thomas author of a curriculum called Perspectives on Disability; Eli Clare, an anti-ableism activist and trainer. See GA 2009 for information about the next General Assembly.

• September 21, 2008 - Accessible Restroom at Monte Vista UU Congregation
  Click here to open a PDF file titled 'Fairness in Flushing' A Reality at MVUUC
  Monte Vista UU Congregation creates a wheelchair accessible, ADA compliant, family-friendly restroom. Contact the minister The Rev. Ann Schranz for information.

  Click here to email The Rev. Ann Schranz.