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from the Book of Resolutions (2004)
Resolutions 43 - 47
Accessibility/Equal Access
43. Annual Accessibility Audit
WHEREAS, our Social Principles state, "We affirm the
responsibility of the Church and society to be in ministry with children,
youth, and adults with mental, physical, developmental, and/or
psychological and neurological conditions or disabilities" (¶ 162G); and
WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act calls for
all public buildings to be made accessible to people with disabilities,
Therefore, be it resolved, that all United Methodist churches shall
conduct an annual audit of their facilities to discover what barriers
impede full participation of people with disabilities. Plans shall be made
and priorities determined for the elimination of all barriers, including
architectural, communication, and attitudinal barriers. The Accessibility
Audit for Churches, available from the Service Center, General Board of
Global Ministries, 7820 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45222, (800)
305-9857, shall be used in filling out the annual church/charge conference
reports.
ADOPTED 1992, AMENDED AND READOPTED 2004
See Social Principles, ¶ 162G.
44. Accessibility Grants for Churches
WHEREAS, it is essential that The United Methodist
Church as a denomination find a way to assist individual churches in the
annual conferences to find grant money to assist them in becoming more
accessible by removing architectural barriers; and
WHEREAS, our denomination establishes many programs
around specific groups of people, whether they be ethnic groups or
age-targeted groups; and
WHEREAS, each of the groups that the church claims an
interest in and sets priorities for includes persons with disabilities.
There are more than 54 million in the United States alone. The United
Nations recently focused on the issue of disability by calling for
institutions to become more accessible; and
WHEREAS, several years ago, $500 grants were awarded to
churches that were qualified, to help them increase their accessibility;
Therefore, be it resolved, that it would be appropriate to set aside
monies to again provide accessibility grants or loans to churches in each
of the annual conferences. The program could be administered from within
the General Board of Global Ministries.
ADOPTED 2000
See Social Principles, ¶ 162G.
45. Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act for Employers
WHEREAS, the General Board of Global Ministries, on
October 16, 1979, called "United Methodists to a new birth of awareness of
the need to include, assimilate, receive the gifts, and respond to the
needs, of those persons with mental, physical, and/or psychologically
handicapping conditions, including their families"; and
WHEREAS, the General Conference resolved in 1980 to
take major steps in adapting facilities, new and existing, such as "church
sanctuaries, educational buildings, parsonages, camps, colleges, or other
church-related agencies or facilities" so that they meet minimum
guidelines for "barrier-free construction" (see "Barrier-Free Construction
for People with Disabilities"); and
WHEREAS, President Bush signed into law the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA); and
WHEREAS, love without justice is empty and meaningless,
and it is unjust to deny anyone employment based solely on human-created
obstacles; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting that Christians be a "cloud of
witnesses" for the secular world;
Therefore, be it resolved, that all United Methodist churches investigate
and attempt to comply with Title I of the ADA, which states that employers
"may not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities" and
will "reasonably accommodate the disabilities of qualified applicants or
employees unless undue hardship would result."
ADOPTED 1992, AMENDED AND READOPTED 1996, READOPTED 2004
See Social Principles, ¶ 162G.
46. United Methodist Implementation of Americans with Disabilities Act
WHEREAS, our human rights as stated by the United
States of America Constitution are God given, and we can set priorities
unto ourselves apart from the rest of His creation, and
WHEREAS, these priorities are applied to our life and
what it means to us, how we live it, who we are and to become, and anyone
can have an attainable priority to direct their life, and
WHEREAS, by applying the use of our love with all our
heart, soul, mind, and strength in our time, money, and attitudes we can
perceive our priorities within ourselves and others, and
WHEREAS, God's grace is with us throughout our lives:
birth, disease, accident, crime, and aging, yet, not realizing it till
it's been revealed, and
WHEREAS, we all are instruments of God's grace in other
people's lives when we are open to His grace, and
WHEREAS, we are all priests—the whole church is the
holy priesthood, those called to be a mediator between God and a needful
world representing Jesus Christ—where all are to share God's love and
salvation with other people, and
WHEREAS, God's love for us is unconditional; God loves
us for who we are—not what we are or how we look; Christ died for us while
we were yet sinners, and this great love moves us to accept this gift in
our hearts of a living relationship with God as a priority for all our
lives, and
WHEREAS, we are consciously living our lives in
relationship with God that can be nurtured through the spiritual
discipline of living in God's presence, and these lives are courageous and
joyful—not tragic or brave, and
WHEREAS, study brings our minds to Christ like lives,
equips us to fulfill the highest calling of all of us, and
WHEREAS, Christian study brings all to a knowledge of
God and knowledge of the world to serve God, and
WHEREAS, sacred moments and practices (through services
and discipline) bring us to know, experience, and live in the presence of
Christ through the church (meaning everyone), including the serving and
receiving of the sacraments, and
WHEREAS, baptism and Holy Communion are upheld by all
Christian traditions and have been given to us so we may live on growing
as disciples in every part of our life, and
WHEREAS, showing Christ as being real and important for
others, we all must live authentically as our serving Christ gives our
hands to Christ by making a friend, being a friend, and introducing our
new friend to the friend of all friends—Jesus Christ, and
WHEREAS, through the Resolution of the "Annual
Accessibility Audit" (#43, adopted in 1992), Social Principles, ¶ 162G
"Rights of Persons with Disabilities," and the section in the Book of
Discipline on inclusiveness (¶ 138) gives the opportunity for each person,
and congregation to make a plan for serving Christ, and
WHEREAS, even with God's gift of grace and a new life
in Christ, we can still sin in many forms, yet there is still forgiveness,
realizing and admitting our sin (physically and spiritually) in our lives
as the first step to overcome them, and
WHEREAS, through prayer, repentance, surrendering anew,
counseling, and creating a new plan to reevaluate and prioritize to God's
direction in all our lives, and
WHEREAS, by becoming disciples, we can reply to the
call of Christ with all our hearts, minds, souls, strengths, hands, and
feet as we are able to walk with Jesus and grow into His likeness as our
highest priority; to share Christ and to learn to love as Jesus loved, and
WHEREAS, people all around us, including the church,
are in need of God's transforming love for living in this world and can be
changed whenever we bring Christ's love and truth working within our
church, family, work, social environments, and our private times, and
WHEREAS, we are edified by God's grace for growth in
our relationships as we live in obedience to His call, the Holy Spirit
teaches and empowers us to love as Jesus loved and to mature in the
likeness of Christ as children imitate their parents, to be focused upon
our call in humble service, and
WHEREAS, the body of Christ is the gathering of all
disciples who offer their lives to proclaim Christ in the world, and every
member of the body of Christ has been given special gifts for ministry
that need to be sought and exercised to build up the church, to form
healthy, living communities, and to show Christ's life of love in concrete
ways "that the world may believe," and
WHEREAS, we are called to persevere in grace for the
rest of our lives by weekly attendance, commitment to share support,
accountability, and guidance, and
WHEREAS, all are sent out by Christ's Great Commission,
to be Christ's apostles in today's world in the midst of obstacles that
can be overcome through Christ and other Christians, and
WHEREAS, there are 56 million disabled citizens at any
one time in the United States, and
WHEREAS, disabled persons are real people, with real
voices and real choices whose lives have been stolen within ALL cultures
within America comprised of young, middle-aged, seniors, veterans,
parents, husbands, wives, children from all races and all ethnic
backgrounds, and
WHEREAS, people with disabilities constitute a discrete
and insular minority, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal
treatment and placed in a position of political powerlessness in American
society and within the church, and
WHEREAS, prejudice and discrimination against people
with disabilities based on unjustified stereotypes continues, with
disparate treatment and disenfranchisement, and
WHEREAS, such discrimination and prejudice denies
people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue opportunities in
society and within the Church on an equal basis, to live in their own
homes so as to be close to family, friends, work, school, church,
recreation, social stimulation, libraries, theaters, community centers,
museums, and medical facilities, and
WHEREAS, accommodation for our disabled people
(parishioners and visitors alike) are part of our reaching out through the
provisions of The Book of Discipline through Church and Society empowers
and frees us to advocate for personal assistants, accessibility in public
and private areas, housing, transportation, and technology to do so, and
WHEREAS, through Church and Society we have a duty to
bring justice and fairness in our civil responsibilities (like voting or
serving in civil government) for our people with disabilities for
Medicaid, Medicare, vocational rehabilitation, housing, education, job
training, in-home services, and transportation—all of which are everyone's
civil right, and
WHEREAS, this inability to participate fully in
American society and within the church robs people with disabilities of
the opportunity to claim any degree of independence and costs the United
States (including the church) billions of dollars annually in unnecessary
expenses from enforced dependency and non-productivity, and
WHEREAS, the body of Christ, the church, need to be
vigilant as consumers, advocates, and legislators to reserve funding and
accountability to promote choice for persons with disabilities, and
WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was
signed into law by George Bush in 1990 to, in his words, "in the
unjustified segregation and exclusion of persons with disabilities from
the mainstream of American life," and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court promoted
community living through its OLMSTEAD decision, which urges all 50 states
to plan for people living in the community over institutional placement,
and
WHEREAS, the ADA's primary goal is to promote access to
all aspects of social interaction including education, employment,
commerce, recreation, government, and transportation, and
WHEREAS, the ADA provides the means for full
implementation of the Act and legal recourse to redress discrimination on
the basis of physical disability, and
WHEREAS, The United Methodist Church has brought
closely within itself to help people as taught by our Lord Jesus Christ
those who are hungry, thirsty, sick or in prison,
Therefore, be it resolved, that the assembled delegates to this General
Conference of The United Methodist Church 2004 affirm our support of the
full implementation of the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, and
Be it further resolved, the General Conference of The United Methodist
Church urge all our congregations to implement and enforce the provisions
of the ADA and all disability-related programs within every area that
members of The United Methodist Church reside with the same vigor and
interest as they would any other law affecting their able-bodied
constituency.
ADOPTED 2004
See Social Principles, ¶ 162G.
47. Assisting Personal Mobility
WHEREAS, the International Organization of Mobility
Providers estimates that some 22,000,000 persons worldwide lack personal
mobility because of land mines, polio, wartime injuries, and a host of
other causes, and
WHEREAS, these persons usually live in dire poverty,
are marginalized from society, hidden away in back rooms, and are often
seen as embarrassments, and
WHEREAS, these persons of God's creation often live
lives of misery and discomfort, "scuttling around on the ground like
crabs" (the description of a missionary in Congo), eating the dust and mud
of streets and trails, looking at people's feet, and
WHEREAS, such persons seldom have an adequate social
life, being unable to attend school, go to church, visit relatives, or
attend community events, and
WHEREAS, they long to be productive members of society,
but must depend on others for mobility, and
WHEREAS, mobility devices are available that can
provide for these persons a degree of mobility giving to them the fullness
of human dignity, comfort, hope and productivity they deserve, and
WHEREAS, personal mobility should be a human right for
all of God's people,
Therefore, be it resolved, that the next quadrennium shall be declared a
time to focus on the need for providing personal mobility as an act of
justice and compassion; and
Be it further resolved, that every entity of The United Methodist Church
respond generously with time and resources: to analyze the mobility needs
in their community and other parts of the world; to collaborate with
people in need of enhanced mobility and with organizations involved with
them; and to seek appropriate ways to address needs that have been
identified.
ADOPTED 2004
See Social Principles, ¶ 162G.
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