So clearly if you read a post of mine from a couple of days ago you know that I'm not a big fan of places of worship going overboard on crap. This past Saturday I returned with my 2 clients to go to worship to find that they were having their yearly celebration of summer. They rented inflatables, large grills for cook for the community. There was a petting zoo and all of the carnival stuff you could want. Celebrating the summer is great. Feeding the community (it was free and advertised as all are welcome - I'll give them points for that outreach to the community) is great. But there was a crucial thing that forgot - accessibility. In order to do this, this church blocked off a large part of their parking lot. They decided to use their church buses and rent large golf carts to transport people to and from parking spots they were using away from their property so people wouldn't have to walk so far. This was a very nice thought. But yet none of these carts or buses were equipped to accommodate a wheelchair. I spent a good 30 minutes circling the parking lots, trying to 1) find a place that I could park and 2) even find a place to unload my clients. Yes I could park in a handicapped spot if one were open, however, the van I was using has a ramp that is on the passenger side. I need to have space on that side to set the ramp out and to be able to get my clients out without them hitting another object. The other issue is that since my clients are vulnerable adults they cannot be left alone - I can't just say let me sit you down inside and come back in a few. I must know and see where they are at all times. So after trying all of the tricks I could think of I had to tell my clients that we couldn't stay because I couldn't get them out of the van safely. Do you know how hard it is to tell someone they can't stay at their place of worship because it's not accessible for them? Do you know how hard it is to tell someone who is excited and is "happy" about being in a place of worship that they have to go home because of poor planning decisions? They cried, I cried and I know God cried at that. Have your fun - don't get me wrong. Please let there fun in church - we take ourselves too seriously often times in my opinion. But don't have your fun at the expense of others who can't act just like you. Don't say "everyone is welcome" when it means that you have to 100% able bodied to be welcomed.
For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions. What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim...
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