‘And You Will Be Blessed’: Disability-Inclusive Communities

Friday, 19 July 2024 | Stevie Wills

“Come over here. This is where wheelchairs go.”

Upon visiting a church, Jim Stallard was greeted by these words. Jim responded, ‘Oh?’ The man continued, ‘Yep. You’ve gotta come here. This is where we gotta put you… out of the way. We can’t go moving pews to make room for wheelchairs. You’ve got to sit back here’.

Jim Stallard lived his life with love, courage and laughter. He was one of Australia’s best-known speakers. Living with quadriplegia after an accident, Jim dedicated himself to advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities. Writing about this experience, Jim said, ‘…that’s where wheelchairs went. Not me. Wheelchairs… at the back. At the rear. In the corner. Totally distant from the rest of the congregation. Totally separate from the whole worship service’.

Jim compared this experience with a church he and his wife visited for a wedding. He wrote, ‘We noticed how accessible the parking was. We noticed the easy ramp to get inside and then we noticed that the church was on three levels, and we thought, “Oh, this is going to be problematic”. But as we looked around, we noticed there were ramps everywhere. We were greeted by someone at the door who just very, very quietly pointed out that there were ramps everywhere up to the mezzanine floor and up to the top floor, and as I looked around I noticed that there was quite a discreet ramp, even leading up to the platform of the church. There were ramps everywhere. The whole place was accessible.’

In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus said: ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous’.

Jesus instructed his audience to invite people with disabilities to their banquets. This passage reveals to us his desire for communities to be welcoming and inclusive of all people with disabilities.

The audience Jesus was speaking to would have been familiar with banquets. They were a means of gaining and maintaining social status. Hosts invited guests who were esteemed in society. Banquets could be seen from the streets, so people noticed who was attending whose banquet. Where attendees were seated at a banquet signified which guests were more important and esteemed in the eyes of the host. And guests were expected to invite hosts to their own banquet in return.

People with disabilities were stigmatised. People did not want to associate with them. As a source of entertainment and comedy, they were often brought to banquets to be inspected and ridiculed.

When Jesus told his audience to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to their banquets, it was scandalous. He turned banquets from being about social status to being about relationships and generosity towards those who were marginalised.

Today, we can approach community as a means of gaining social status and popularity. We can measure our worth by how many ‘friends’ we have on Facebook or how many social media followers we have. However, Jesus desires our communities to be about relationships and generosity to those who are marginalised. As a woman who lives with cerebral palsy, I value friends who know me for who I am, with whom I share mutual honesty, compassion and encouragement. These friends do not define me by my disability, yet they take practical steps to enable me to fully engage with them and with others.

What is disability?

4.4 million Australians live with disability… that’s 17.7 percent of the population. Disability can be defined as the interaction between a person's impairment and the barriers that society constructs. Impairments are long-term condition that affects a person’s physical, sensory, psychosocial or intellectual functioning.

There are four types of impairments

Physical impairments

Difficulty in the performance of body functions, such as walking, moving one’s arms and legs, using one’s hands, a spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, amputation etc.

Sensory Impairments

Difficulty in seeing, hearing or communicating and includes people who are hard of hearing or have low vision.

Psychosocial impairments

Chronic severe mental disorders or psycho-social distress, such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, etc.

Intellectual impairments

Difficulty with language, reasoning and memory..

There are four types of barriers

Physical barriers

E.g., uneven terrain, steps, narrow doorways, inaccessible toilets, inaccessible transport.

Communicational barriers

E.g., information only in written format or only spoken, lack of sign language interpreters or hearing loop, lack of Braille or large print.

Institutional barriers

E.g., discriminatory laws, policies, practices, inclusive policies and measures not being implemented or funded, inaccessible procedures.

Attitudinal barriers

E.g., stigma, negative assumptions about people with disabilities and their capabilities.

This definition names the barriers that society constructs, rather than a person’s impairments, as the sources of exclusion for people with disabilities. Therefore, the way to incorporate inclusion into communities is to remove barriers.

And you will be blessed

People with disabilities are often seen as recipients of care and service. But in Luke 14:12-14, Jesus focuses on the fact that people would be blessed when they welcome and include people with disabilities.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul likens the church to a human body. God has given each person unique gifts, each essential for the functioning and wellbeing of the whole community. If people with disabilities face barriers to full participation, the whole community is missing out… lacking gifts God intended for it.

If a person with a disability visited your church, what would be the story they had to tell about it? Take some time to consider the four types of barriers listed above. What barriers exist in your church and your community? How can they be removed? Ensuring inclusion and welcome of all people with disabilities will enrich your church and community.

Stevie Wills is a performance poet, public speaker and writer. She is an associate of CBM Australia and advocates for the inclusion and empowerment of people with disabilities. Luke14 is an initiative of CBM Australia, resourcing Christian communities to welcome and include people with disabilities. Check out our resources here.

Image credit: A woman sitting on a bench next to a woman on a scooter by Rollz International at Unsplash.