For as rain and snow fall from the heavens and return not again, but water the earth,
Bringing forth life and giving growth, seed for sowing and bread for eating,
So is my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not return to me empty;
But it will accomplish that which I have purposed, and prosper in that for which I sent it.– BCP, Canticle 10, The Second Song of Isaiah, Isaiah 55:10-11
Among the questions we ask within our Access for All God’s Children group is, “Does our ministry and efforts make any difference within the life of the diocese and greater church?”
It is hard to know what we may have accomplished. It is easy for us to go to a place where we feel what we do at least allows the church to be “more inclusive and accepting” at least on paper and in cyberspace. The DEI box is “checked” for the disabled! At the very least we hope that our website presence, accessibility posters, and programs inspire, seed, and nurture acceptance and equitable accommodation of the disabled among us.
Accessibility for all has been a priority in ministry for me since having a stroke in 2016. But, before that life-changing moment, the accessibility seed had already been sown. It began its slow genesis when I took the General Ordination Exam (GOE) in 1986! One essay question asked for a plan to make a clunky, multi-leveled church building physically accessible for the “handicapped.” I remember having fun with that one.
Describing a church building full of obstacles, laying out a plan to get the congregation onboard to help identify, approve and fund the building changes, all with sound theology, would later pay rich dividends I hardly anticipated at the time. During my first call at Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, an architecture professor in the congregation and I organized an “Urban Church Development Plan” seminar involving 18 second year architecture students at Drury College (Drury University).
Each student developed a dynamic plan for the church to expand its facility and integrate into the Walnut Street Historic District. Looking back, those plans were prescient in terms of welcoming people and providing access for the disabled. When I served on the staff of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in the 1990’s, those budding architects’ ideas prepared me for taking part in the planning charrettes for what would lay the groundwork for Founders’ Hall. That building project included better access to key gathering spaces.
Later, when I moved on to serve as rector of a parish in Seattle, the seed of that GOE question bore more fruit. Through a capital campaign called Building Spiritual Connections and an amazing string of God moments, we were able to install an elevator and make a multi-level facility that housed what I dubbed at the time, the “Steepest Staircase in the West,” to be a living accessible building both inside and outside.
What I hope and pray that our work through Access for All God’s Children in The Diocese of West Missouri accomplishes is awareness and openness to the needs of the disabled in our communities. As a disabled person, I realize this involves more than buildings and physical access—it’s all-encompassing and deeply spiritual. The ideas we share are intended to accomplish good things among disabled and abled people, all in God’s good time.
As we pray together, listening for and discerning what those around us need to be full participants, is at the heart of our common mission. Seeds are sown. God gives the growth.
This article was submitted by the Very Rev. Canon Peter DeVeau, chair of the Access for All God’s Children Committee.
