麻豆社

Good morning

Later today members of the Church of England鈥檚 General Synod meeting in York will seek to remove all remaining barriers to full participation facing disabled people in the life and ministry of the church.

Like many other organisations, the church realises that there is more that can be done in its day-to-day operations to ensure greater inclusion.

Across the UK, we have made significant progress in terms of disabled access and equality. But there is more work to be done. The 麻豆社鈥檚 Frank Gardner again recently highlighted how frustrating it can be to be a disabled passenger travelling by air. 鈥淭his is nothing short of discriminatory,鈥� he told reporters a few days ago. At theatres, on buses, in railway stations and in hotels there have been improvements but, let鈥檚 be honest, there鈥檚 still a long way to go.

What might be called disability theology cuts across all faith groups and many different disciplines. Indeed, the theologian John Swinton helpfully points out that when we think of God, there is no distinction because human beings are simply varied and loved equally.

In the Synod debate this afternoon there will be a range of practical recommendations for churches to adopt. Most obvious will be to make worship more inclusive 鈥� starting perhaps with something as basic as worship leaders not saying, as they do all too readily: will you all please stand? But there will also be a call to ensure that the voices and experiences of disabled people are heard through proper representation at every stage of planning and decision making.

Hearing such experiences and voices was the theme of a recent Telling Encounters conference which gave a platform to disabled and neurodivergent people to openly share their experiences about their faith and the church. Many delegates acknowledged that they had in the past been reluctant to do so. But after additional challenges posed by COVID and the consequent lockdowns being together and sharing stories had been invigorating for those taking part.

What鈥檚 key, of course, is the listening to of those stories more widely as we seek to break down remaining barriers to inclusion. For as one delegate, Naomi Lawson Jacob underlined, the gathering was 鈥渇ull of prophets whose voices need to be heard.鈥�

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