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<span class="appTitle1">I'm enclosing some information on NOD's
Accessible Congregations Program, for discussion at tomorrow evening's
meeting. <br>
<br>
Unfortunately I'm not able to copy and paste the application form
(which is in PDF format) for you to read, Jeanne-Marie and Mary, but
it's a simple form. <br>
<br>
As of February 2008 NOD had 2,292 congregations that had joined, 25 of
which are UU. Six churches in Oregon have joined, the only one in
Eugene being St. Mary's Episcopal.<br>
<br>
Cindy<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<big><big>Ten Things You Should Know About the Accessible Congregations
Campaign</big></big> </span>
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<ol>
<li>The Accessible Congregations Campaign (ACC) seeks to gain the
commitment of congregations of all faiths to include people with all
types of disabilities as full and active participants. It is sponsored
by the Religion and Disability Program of the National Organization on
Disability.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>The theme of the Accessible Congregations Campaign is "<strong>Access:
It Begins in the Heart</strong>."<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>The campaign seeks to enlist congregations of all faiths and
is based on the scriptural understanding that all people, with and
without disabilities, are created in the image of God.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>The campaign seeks to identify and certify the full range of
congregations - from those newly alert to disability issues to those
which are architecturally and programmatically accessible. Our goal is
to open hearts, minds and doors.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>An Accessible Congregation acknowledges that it has barriers
(both physical and attitudinal) to the full participation of people
with disabilities and <strong>makes a commitment</strong> to removing
them.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li><strong>Congregations need not be perfect.</strong> They do need
to make the commitment to action.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>To join the campaign, a congregation must commit to using the
gifts and talents of people with disabilities in worship, service,
study and leadership. A congregation then completes and returns the <a
class="" href="http://www.nod.org/resources/PDFs/commitment_form06.pdf"
target="_Blank">Commitment Form</a> to Rik Opstelten, Accessible
Congregations Campaign at N.O.D., 910 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC
20006.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Once enrolled, a congregation posts the ACC logo, as above, on
its web site.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>Joining the ACC costs nothing. Even the commitment certificate is
<strong>free</strong>.<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>The N.O.D. web site lists <a class=""
href="http://www.nod.org/ACC/interactive_map.html" target="_Blank">committed
congregations by state and by faith group</a>.</li>
</ol>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span>
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