by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service
Disability Ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) is taking applications
through May 31, 2008, for its Annual Accessibility
Awards. Two congregations -- one with more than
300 members and another with fewer than 300 members
-- will be honored this summer for their commitment
to provide care and concern among people who are
living with disabilities. Each winner receives a
grant of $1,000 from the ELCA Mission Investment
Fund and the National Organization on Disability,
and a plaque from ELCA Disability Ministries through
ELCA Vocation and Education.
"Disability ministries helps congregations to be
accessible," said the Rev. Lisa Thogmartin Cleaver,
director for disability ministries, ELCA Vocation and
Education. "The accessibility award is given one time
a year to the congregations that are most physically
accessible, have the most programs and resources and
serve the whole population of the physically, mentally
and developmentally delayed," she said.
Applications for the ELCA Accessibility Award are judged
according to the physical accessibility of the congregation's
church building, the congregation's outreach into the
community to people who have disabilities, and the
inclusion of people with disabilities in the worship and
daily life of the congregation.
- - -
About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
