By the Disability, Spirituality and Faith Network Aotearoa/New Zealand Inc.  Available from www.dsfnetwork.org. Reviewed by Mike Noonan 

In the early 1980s as part of l’Arche, I was at a parish social event with some friends who have an intellectual disability. The priest approached and explained to us that he had been told to ask us to leave. The reason was that “people do not want to look at you while they are enjoying themselves.”

Five years later, l’Arche opened a new house which welcomed people with multiple and profound disabilities. We were anxious as we attended our new parish about whether we would again be made to feel unwelcome. We were greatly reassured when after mass a taxi driver came up with tears in his eyes and encouraged us to keep coming. He told us that mass had made so much more sense to him because of the presence of people with disabilities.

In the book, Creating Welcoming Churches, I found the assertion that: 

“The Church itself is disabled in its mission if it does not include people with a disability. People with a disability offer the church the opportunity to understand what it is to be the Body of Christ.” 

I think both the experiences described above point to the truth of this.

This book will help Christian communities think about the way they welcome their congregations. It is a book which provides information, gentle challenges to embrace inclusive attitudes and a firm basis for practical actions which will assist in establishing your community as accessible and inclusive.

Insightful cartoons quirkily capture some of the key issues, and the book helpfully provides a broad overview of further resources which can be engaged with. Voices of experience are placed pertinently alongside the text and illustrate, often movingly, how a person has experienced inclusion or, conversely, barriers to inclusion and to their full participation in the Body of Christ.

Tools for assessing building accessibility are based on New Zealand Building Standards and there is a helpful community self-reflection tool based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I believe this book is essential for church architects and parish leadership teams — particularly as their communities age. It is good reading for anyone who wishes that their church could be more inclusive, welcoming and accessible.

Published in Tui Motu magazine, July 2015.