Churches for All

Access to Understanding: General Considerations

How accessible, generally, are your church activities for people with learning disabilities?

Attitudes of the people welcoming the newcomers are key in ensuring that people with disabilities feel welcomed. Remember to treat individuals as individuals – not according to any preconceived ideas. If in doubt, ask: what requirements do people have to be able to participate fully? Don’t assume things.

If we see worship as encountering God, then it is paramount that whatever our expression of worship may be, we are creating an environment that everyone is able to encounter God.

A welcoming church is one where people are made to feel welcome and included.
Who are the key people you would want to introduce the person with learning disabilities to?
Always look to use the individual giftings of every member of the church in order to ensure you reach all people!
How can people with learning disabilities contribute to Church life? - be creative.

A Church that fails to include disabled people is itself disabled.

This page is a starting point. You will find questions to ask yourself when thinking about how easy to access, how welcoming your church is to disabled people. The partners of Churches for All are there to assist you with the answers.