St. John is working toward becoming Accessible to All!

In the coming days, we will be examining ourselves, our church, our building, and our practices to see how we can become more inclusive of people with differing abilities. Part of this process will include working toward the United Church of Christ's "Accessible to All" Designation. Join us on this journey!

Here's what we've done so far:

Recognizing and Affirming the Need

Church Council recognized and affirmed the need to pursue "Accessible to All" Status. The Church Council will act as the accessibility committee, with Wanda Gatewood as chair, and Pastor Jacob as liaison.

Diving Deeper

We spent the fall of 2021 learning together not just about the "technicalities" of disability and accessibility, but also the theological implications of differing ability and our role in breaking down barriers for all people. We examined our biases, our facility, and our attitudes.

Examining the Building

In October of 2021, we did a full walkthrough of our facility with a local architect and the UCC Disability Ministries checklist to explore what changes we could make to the building. We now have a prioritized list of modifications in the pipleine.

Here's what is coming next:

Re-formatting the Website

We love our website, and it's not that old. But it still needs some improvements to be more accessible. Rev. Jacob is working on this.

Recognition in Worship

In 2022, we will honor our first Accessibility Sunday together, taking special time in Sunday worship to publicly recommit ourselves to this process of learning, changing, and welcoming.

Continuing our Modifications

In addition to a list of building modifications, we continue to examine and modify our processes, worship, education, and attitude to create a space that is accessible to all.