When you’re at the point of “thinking about design” – in launching a new outreach or planting a church – think about what’s important to know and perceive, and about how that can be clear to EVERYONE.
Category: Discipleship
“Simple and intuitive use” and the Church | Universal Design and Christian ministry
The gospel of Jesus is itself a message of universal access. The Great Commission is a call to make that gospel universally accessible. Whether consciously or not, we in gospel ministry “design” spaces, environments, interactions that proclaim and enact that gospel. The Principles of Universal Design have proven helpful in making buildings and environments more…
“Flexible Use” and the Church – Universal Design and Christian ministry
Universally accessible worship or bible study or outreach would not be thrown off-track when some people engage or respond in ways that “normal” folks might perceive as “unconventional or unanticipated”… because universal design takes that into account ahead of time.
How to design a house of prayer for all people? Universal Design and the Church: 3
Don’t look at the way you do things now as “normal.” Because there is no “standard format” for Jesus-followers, normal in the Body may be a lot different than “normal for us.”
Designing “to the norm” doesn’t feel like design at all. Universal Design and the Church: 2
This is where “ableism” originates: “we” establish “ourselves” as “normal” – and having done so, what works (for “us”) works. Period. “Others” are not in view, because they are, by definition, “exceptions.”
Overcoming Suffering
“How do WE overcome anything?” We fight it, kill it, avoid it, escape it, buy it off, trick it, destroy it, zap it…
A Prayer for Today, after Yesterday in #Charlottesville
Eternal God, As we lift our hearts to you on behalf of those who have suffered at the hands of the demonic distortion of white supremacy, either at the hands or by words of others, or by their own degradation by this sin which so easily entangles, we acknowledge our own need for your forgiveness….
Getting everybody to the table so we all can eat. Jesus’ story of the Banquet
There is a HUGE difference between putting up a sign reading “Everyone welcome” and actually extending “compelling welcome” to individuals with disabilities.
Leaders with disabilities? Removing obstacles, opening doors
The dissonance raised by the nonacceptance of persons with disabilities and the acceptance of grace through Christ’s broken body necessitates that the church find new ways of interpreting disability. – Nancy Eiesland
Oh say can you see? Questions Jesus Asked – 17
Could it be that I actually need others to help me identify and work on my own imperfections so that I can see more clearly?
Mill Pond Monday – The emergent beauty of a hardwood floor
The beauty we see in this floor as it comes together is distinct from any beauty that might be found in the boards out of which it’s composed. But every single board makes this thing beautiful.
But I didn’t do anything! | Thinking about Justice, Part 2
The integrity of the Gospel through which we have been saved places us in dynamic relationship to the triune God and His body, making us complicit with Him as we follow Him into the world.
