Lincoln, Nebraska’s Northeast Community Church views things differently because of Scott Pigsley and Diana Coberly. Scott, 13-year-old son of Gina and Jerry Pigsley, knows God sees the person inside his body with spina bifida. “When God looks at me, God looks over that I’m in a wheelchair and sees a normal person.”

Scott says of Diana, “Not everybody has a minister who gets around in a wheelchair. The first time I met Diana, I felt happy. We both have a person who knows what we go through. It (her ministry) says people can do whatever they want to do.”

Northeast’s first chancel ramp had allowed Scott to light candles with his friends, but he needed a push from his dad. The present ramp, built after the minister’s arrival, follows proper incline code. “It’s a pretty caring church,” he said. “Now Diane and I are thinking about getting downstairs. Things like this tell people in wheelchairs that we won’t banish you from our church if you come in.”

“Diana is a role model,” Jerry Pigsley said of the woman whose interim ends in July, “a godsend in that this was my son’s confirmation year, so their relationship is even more embellished. Clergy with disabilities have much to share on a spiritual basis. Diana has broken many disability stereotypes.”

As access committee member, Pigsley has seen his church “expand in spirit to look beyond chair and disability.” However, he said, resolving the puzzles of making a church fully welcoming takes time.

Joe Geist, moderator when the interim began, said his church is more in tune now that Northeast must continue to increase accessibility, “not by law but from the human aspect. People like Diana have so much to offer that to overlook that gift because you are not ready to provide the necessary things….”

Necessary things include chancel ramp, accessible main floor bathrooms, minimal close-in parking, and removal of the front door offset. Trustees are checking into expanded parking, electric door openers, and lower level accessibility. All members will benefit.

Resources, such as statewide Barrier Removal and Information Centers (800-742-7338) or Lincoln architect Lynne Jones, from the UCC group of Fellowship of Architects committed to accessibility (402-476-9700) are available for free onsite consultation.

Stewardship Committee Chair Nancy Harms said the church set aside a fund for accessibility issues. She said she has grown in tolerance and awareness of things she once took for granted. “I hope people in this church have learned that we would want for others what you would want for yourself.”

Diana Coberly said that several individuals at Northeast have changed forever because of her presence. “They may even speak up down the road and translate that into changes we will see in this church. Changing attitudinal habits takes time. I once took repeated insensitivity personally. Now I understand that the change which allows persons with disabilities to participate fully in the life of the church only happens once it is in people’s hearts.”

In what ways does a person with a disability in your church, sometimes a clergy person with a disability, mentor to others in your church who live with a disability?

This Reading the Signs column is printed with the permission of the Nebraska Conference. Please share the news in your conference or local church newsletter.