written by Kathryn Andrews, Desert Palm UCC Inclusion Team
This summer, the UCC Disabilities Ministries certified Desert Palm UCC as an “Accessible to All” (A2A) church. Our church is the first church in the Southwest Conference to attain this milestone. The achievement followed seven years of sustained work, two internal audits of our campus, educational outreach, and numerous meetings.
The UCC’s anthem is that whoever you are, and no matter where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. To help UCC churches implement that welcome, the UCC Disabilities Ministries Committee provides a checklist and audit form specifying the attributes of a congregation welcoming persons with and without disabilities. With the approval of our Church Council, Desert Palm formed a committee to audit our campus in 2017. This group intentionally included persons with disabilities as well as persons knowledgeable about the physical layout and maintenance of the church. The audit committee soon discovered problems we did not know we had, as Desert Palm members began approaching us with suggestions. For example, the arrangement of chairs in the sanctuary did not allow for easy entry of persons with wheelchairs. Without meaning to obstruct, visitors would pull stacked chairs from the rear of the church, sit on them, and sometimes hem in persons with wheelchairs. By removing the stacked chairs and reconfiguring the ones remaining, the church eliminated the issue.
Another challenge was identifying which of our existing bathrooms could be converted to an ADA-compliant restroom. After conducting an initial survey, we found that a restroom near the church sanctuary could meet the ADA standard at a lower-than-expected cost. In researching the issue, we were happy to learn that undertaking City-permitted work, including the restroom modification, would not require us to bring the entire campus into ADA compliance. As a condition of work approval, the City may require a church to bring some of the more public areas into ADA compliance, but not the whole campus. In our case, Tempe made no such demands. Most of our access improvements, however, did not require a permit or City oversight. Over time, the church added more accommodations, including new lever-type door handles, wheel-chair accessible water fountains, improved signage, a hand railing for the altar, audio-assistance devices, a Braille hymnbook, and a Braille Bible.
Equally important was our work to combat stigma and reach out to persons with mental disabilities. We held book studies on Alice Wong’s “Disability Visibility” and Sarah Lund’s “Blessed Youth” and “Blessed are the Crazy,” provided training materials to ushers, greeters, and Sunday School teachers, and produced articles on hidden disabilities, including bipolar disorder. Some of this work dovetailed with our efforts to become a Welcoming Inclusive Supportive Engaged (“W.I.S.E.”) congregation. We hosted several speakers on topics such as addiction and childhood trauma, and the Rev. Dr. Tom Martinez delivered sermons on mental health and disabilities. Meanwhile, trained psychologists in the congregation hosted support groups for caregivers. These supports took on new urgency with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After conducting a second campus audit in 2023, our church completed the UCCDM checklist and audit report and submitted our application to the national A2A Committee. After receiving feedback, we added new goals and amended our application. On August 8, 2024, the A2A Committee unanimously approved our application and designated Desert Palm as an A2A church. Desert Palm celebrated during a service and afterwards with a cake and ice cream reception.
Although the A2A certification is an important milestone, Desert Palm remains committed to achieving additional goals. Our Church Council recently adopted a 5-year goal to improve access to the altar. Other goals include providing additional materials for the Sunday School. In addition, we are taking annual offerings to support the UCC Disabilities Ministries.
