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Disability Advocates Busy in West Michigan

February 19, 2020

Chris Meehan

Lorenzo wore a Roman centurion’s helmet representing Cornelius the Gentile, while Mario, with a large scarf wrapped around his head and shoulders, played the role of Christ’s disciple Peter.

Along with their mentors, each sat on one side of the sanctuary of Trinity Christian Reformed Church in Grandville, Mich., to represent how the Jews and Gentiles were separate in the early days of the Christian church.

As a part of Classis Georgetown, Trinity CRC is among a growing number of churches in this region that are finding ways to welcome persons with intellectual and physical disabilities — such as those meeting in the sanctuary that Wednesday evening — into the weekly life of the church, including worship services on Sundays.

Holding up her Bible, Laura Koning told the people sitting in the pews that the bulk of Scripture tells the story of God’s relationship with the people of Israel. But then in the book of Acts, picking up on God’s promises from the past, the Spirit of Jesus sends believers out to spread the good news of salvation everywhere, and the focus shifts more and more to include Gentiles.

“Stand up, Lorenzo,” said Koning, who has been leading a Bible study for more than 15 years with persons who have physical and intellectual disabilities.

The study on this chilly night in February was part of Friendship Ministries, an inclusive adult Bible study that provides learners of all abilities with tools that help participants grow in relationship with God and with one another.

Playing the role of Cornelius in Acts 10, Lorenzo stood at his seat, and Koning asked him to fold his hands to portray prayer and thanks to God for caring about him, a Gentile.

“Even though he wasn’t a Jew, Cornelius prayed to God anyway,” said Koning. “And one day an angel came to visit him and told him God was going to honor him and that he needed to send men to a town named Joppa to find Peter.”

From building ramps to cutting pews in the sanctuary for persons using wheelchairs, and from setting aside special rooms for people to use if they get overwhelmed during a service to offering large-print bulletins and Bibles, churches in this West Michigan classis are working to ensure that their ministries are inclusive and available to everyone, regardless of their challenges.

“Some great things are happening in Classis Georgetown, which has a Risky Compassion Committee for looking at ways to extend compassion outside the box,” said Mark Stephenson, director of the CRC’s Office of Disability Concerns.

For instance, he said, all the church disability advocates — who work with people who have various disabilities — are invited to attend the classis meetings.

“They come and are introduced by the classis chair, and then they meet on their own till dinnertime, eat dinner with the delegates of classis, and then meet on their own again. It all sounds exciting and amazing to me,” said Stephenson.

Here is a look at what churches across the classis are doing:

Baldwin Street CRC

As the membership of Baldwin Street CRC ages, the church in Jenison, Mich., is finding the need to make its building more accessible, said Marianne DeBruine who, along with her husband, Dick, are disability advocates for the congregation.

To make the restrooms easier to use, the church plans to install higher toilets and more stalls. Already they have set up signs throughout the church to make the location of the elevator more noticeable to everyone, said Marianne DeBruine. “And we are thinking about putting a railing up the steps leading to the pulpit. This is just in the early stages,” she added.

Meanwhile, they have noticed that when it snows, you cannot see where the accessible parking spaces are. So the advocates would like to have some accessible parking signs installed.

At some point, she said, they would also like to have some pews cut and an area set aside for people who use wheelchairs or walkers. Right now, these people must use a spot in the back of the sanctuary, but, she added, “we feel that if they could sit further toward the middle, they could feel like they were more part of the service.”

One autistic young man attends Baldwin Street, and they communicate with his parents and grandmother to make sure they are doing what they can to help out. “Our main goal is to educate our congregation on different types of disabilities,” she said.

Evergreen Ministries

Tiffany Louzon, special needs ministry coordinator at Evergreen Ministries in Hudsonville, Mich., said they try to assist each individual with diverse abilities and to meet their needs.

“We have students [in the children’s ministry] who are in our typical Sunday-morning program with support from one-on-one or two-on-one buddies,” she said.

They also have sensory spaces available, offering supplies such as headphones, ipads, and wiggle seats during worship for individuals who need to take a break.

Young Life Capernaum, a program for young people with intellectual and physical disabilities, meets at Evergreen every other Thursday evening. “We provide respite when needed and are introducing a national respite program called Buddy Break this spring,” said Louzon.

Messiah CRC

Don Veltman, a disability advocate at Messiah CRC in Hudsonville, said they have offered respite for caregivers of persons with dementia. But they would like to do more. They are currently trying to assess who in the congregation might be helped by providing respite care for them.

“Friends can help in situations such as this, but the church needs to be there too,” he said. “You can’t be the Lone Ranger.”

Alive Ministries

Alive Ministries in Jenison has installed a hearing loop, a device to accommodate people with hearing loss, said Susan LaClear, one of the pastors there.

“We also have a special area with a little more space and some tables and chairs in our worship center that we reserve for persons with disabilities,” she said.

Residents from Harbor House, a nearby group home for adults with severe multiple disabilities, like to sit there because it has easy access for their wheelchairs, and one person with mobility and balance issues also likes that spot because he's close to the social action (coffee area) but can remain seated during the fellowship time.

At one point, said LaClear, Alive Ministries sent some of their team to Harbor House to learn from their staff and to build relationships with residents who attend Alive services. “That was in response to having heard that they didn't always feel included or welcomed by us,” said LaClear.

The efforts in Classis Georgetown, LaClear added, are being led mostly by Regional Disability Advocate Laura Koning, “who is passionate and committed to the work of including, nurturing, and caring for those in our community with disabilities. She has networked with all the churches to encourage them to find a disability advocate so that the needs of their members with disabilities can always be considered and addressed.”

Finishing the Bible Study

Back at Trinity CRC on that Wednesday night, Koning led the group through the Acts 10 story of Peter’s vision in which God explained to him that he could engage in ministry with Gentiles.

So when the men from Cornelius arrived in Joppa, said Laura, and knocked at his door, Peter was ready to go with them to meet Cornelius in the town of Caesarea. “So they got on their horses and rode all the way back. . . . Mario, can you get up and pretend to be riding?”

Clad in the blanket, Mario rose and did as he was asked, moving back and forth as if he were on a horse.

Koning finished up by filling in how Peter met with Cornelius and the Holy Spirit appeared, breaking down barriers that had kept the Gentiles and Jews apart.

“This story shows that God loves everyone,” said Koning. “The beautiful thing is we can love everyone because Jesus loves them.” With the help of her husband, Jerry, who became pastor there several years ago, Trinity CRC too has helped to make the church more open and accessible — for people who have a range of disabilities and challenges.

After the lesson time that evening, everyone gathered in the church lobby for refreshments and a time of discussion.

Then, when the meeting had finished and people were starting to head home, Laura Koning returned to the sanctuary to pack up the items she had used while telling the Bible story.

As she did, she spoke of one girl who had attended the gathering that evening for the first time without her mother. Normally her mom was right there by her side. But this time, entrusting her daughter to the group for an hour or so, the mother went to a nearby gym to work out.

“That was huge,” said Koning. “It’s the first time in her daughter’s life that she was left alone. She wanted to be here with her mentor and was OK without her mom being right there.”

Later, as Koning walked out to the parking lot to her car, tagging along was Dionne, a member of the Friendship group. Before climbing into the car to get a ride home, Dionne reflected for a moment on being part of the group.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s for disabled people, and I enjoy how [Laura] uses theater and drama to tell us the story.”