Christian Council on Persons with Disabilities

Did you know that one out of every five people in the U.S. has some type of disability (hearing, vision, physical, mental, developmental, or environmental)? And many of us at some time in our life will be temporarily disabled due to injury, illness, surgery, etc. If you think about all the family members who are impacted by a relative’s disability, it becomes obvious that church accessibility (both attitudinal and architectural) is an important factor in reaching people who do not know Christ. What to do? A result of the 1988 meeting at Wheaton College by over 700 disability ministry workers, the Christian Council on Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) was formally organized in 1989 with 12 board members. Joni Eareckson Tada, head of JAF Ministries, was its first president. The CCPD is a consortium of Christian organizations working in disability ministry. Their Statement of Faith notes it has the implication that “We must remove any architectural, attitudinal or communication barriers that impede the message of salvation or hinder the participation of any person in the life of the church.” Don’t have many handicapped in your congregation? Maybe they can’t get in! Even if they can get in, are they accepted and involved in the life of the congregation? Take the quiz “How accessible is your church?” to check out your church. CCPD can provide resources to help. You can nominate a church or camp for an award for accessibility. CCPD also publishes CCPD News, covering what is going on in the field of Christian disability ministry, and CCPD Journal, which provides a Biblical and theological framework for in-depth exploration of disability ministry issues and practices. There will be an Annual Conference in Colorado Springs, May 5-7, 2000, whose theme is “2000 and Beyond: Disability Ministry in a New Millennium”. The site is not fancy but does provide the basic information you need to learn about the organization. A disability links page would be useful; there are links to other sites within the text on various pages. You can contact the Christian Council on Persons with Disabilities at info@ccpd.org.

http://www.ccpd.org/