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Category: Articles Shared

Articles for general use, resources for church newsletters

Surviving Unexpected Challenges – Doris Powell

The Rev. Doris Powell has been the Director of Finance and Treasurer of the United Church of Christ since 1990. In the current structure, she is one of three officers of the Church, along with the President and the Secretary. This is not a position she ever expected to hold. But then, a lot of things in her life have not been as she expected. Until she was in her early 30s, Doris was a physically active person. She loved backpacking, canoeing, camping – any noncompetitive outdoor sport that got her into nature. She looked forward to living some day in Colorado where she planned on hiking to her heart’s content. All of that changed when she was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis. For the first six months, she had constant acute pain. Then, medication and an exercise regimen began to help, and she felt very thankful not to be in as much pain.

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Structural Accessibility – When a Door Becomes a Wall

You open your church’s front door and enter without a thought. If advancing years or a temporary, progressive, or permanent disability has diminished your strength, you may still open the door enough for a foot or shoulder wedge. Then, thrusting your body against the door, you are in. That is, if you could grasp the handle while managing a walker or cane. Or, you pound on the door and wait because you are a child or your wheelchair reach does not afford the leverage necessary to budge the door.

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UCC President, John H. Thomas, Asks “What Song Can We Offer?”

The Methodist hymn writer Jane Marshall poses a question every Christian ought to have the privilege of asking: What gift can we bring, what present, what token? What words can convey it, the joy of this day? When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing, what song can we offer in honor and praise? (The New Century Hymnal, # 370)

A church that is accessible to all is a church in which everyone is affirmed as a steward of the abundance of God’s joy. We all have a gift to bring, a song to offer God in honor and praise.

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