December 2, 2009

CHICAGO – Youth ministry participants and pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are among several faith community leaders featured in a documentary on disabilities set to air nationwide on ABC-TV affiliates beginning Dec. 6.

The program focuses on making faith communities more accessible to people with disabilities, according to a National Council of Churches USA news release.

"A Place for All: Faith and Community for Persons with Disabilities" was produced through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission (IBC), the release said. IBC is a coalition of Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox faith groups, including the ELCA.

Participants, staff and volunteers from this past summer's Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) at the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans are featured in the documentary. DAYLE aims to inspire and give hope to young Lutherans living with physical and cognitive disabilities. The Rev. Beth D. Lockard, an ELCA pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church of the Deaf, West Chester, Pa., is also featured, as is an accessibility initiative at Hope Lutheran Church, Fargo, N.D.

The 2009 DAYLE drew 31 high school youth and young adults, plus parents, staff and volunteers. In the documentary the Rev. Bill Bixby, director for youth ministry, ELCA Vocation and Education, explained why participants use the term "definitely abled."

"(The) term ... is one coined by young people, about seven years ago, who have participated in this ministry, as a distinction from different ability or disability," Bixby said. "They have thought that a better way to talk about their lives, and their lives of faith and their powers, is to describe themselves as ‘definitely abled.'"

A 2009 DAYLE participant in the documentary is Amanda Gipson, Christ Lutheran Church, Cunningham, Pa. Gipson uses a wheelchair. "We all have our disabilities of course. That's part of the reason why we're here," she said.

"But we all have abilities too. To see these kids put together the abilities they have to overcome their disabilities is one of the most moving things I think I have ever seen in my life. I don't think I will ever forget that. I think that is a very profound lesson – that just because we have disabilities doesn't mean we don't have abilities that we can put together to use for the church," she said.

The Rev. Walter Hermanns, a member of Emmaus Lutheran Church, Racine, Wis., was a DAYLE volunteer leader. He has multiple sclerosis. Hermanns described frustration with God following his diagnosis, but said he realized that it was God who opened up Scripture to him, inviting him to a deeper relationship and surrounding him with friends.

"That was the turning point for me – that I understood God was a God of compassion who was struggling, and suffering and also growing along with me," Hermanns said.

Lockard used sign language in her documentary interview. "I think a community of faith empowers us – disabled people – to take leadership roles in our church, and that definitely says something. It means that they trust us, that they understand and see us as skilled and equal – and oftentimes that we can do a better job," she said.

ELCA Disabilities Ministry, through the Vocation and Education program unit, contributed a grant to help fund the program.

Other stories about people living with disabilities representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities are told in the documentary.

The documentary is part of ABC-TV's "Vision and Values Series," in cooperation with the IBC. Debra Gonsher Vinik, Diva Communication Inc., New York, is producer.

Information about "A Place for All," including local broadcast dates and times, is at http://www.elca.org/aplaceforall/, on the ELCA Web site.

ELCA News Service