What is a Parish Disability Advocate?
The Parish Disability Advocate is a parishioner, approved by the pastor, who assists him in working with parishioners with disabilities. In consultation with the pastor, the advocate reaches out to the parish to identify needs and barriers and works with parish staff and volunteers to minimize or eliminate those barriers. By responding to the identified needs and gifts, the parish advocate works to promote the full participation of children and adults with disabilities and elders in the life of the parish.
Designating a single person to serve as point for disability ministry communicates the importance of persons with disabilities to the complete Body of Christ. Though many persons will be responsible for different tasks and areas of disability ministry, a single person can coordinate efforts, keeping disability ministry as a focus of their total work. This person might be called Parish Disability Advocate, Parish Contact, or some other creative name.
Top Responsibilities of a Parish Disability Advocate:
Be a Visible and Approachable Presence in the Parish
It is important to be as approachable as possible so that parishioners know that they can contact your parish for assistance regarding accessibility. Many individuals with disabilities can advocate fully for themselves and may not need assistance. In order to ensure that parishioners do contact you if they need help, make sure there are various opportunities for members of the parish to reach out to you. Here are some ideas:
Weekly presence in parish bulletin and on website
- Example: Our parish desires the active participation of all members of our faith community. If you or your family member could benefit from an accommodation to facilitate your participation, please contact [Insert name of Parish Access Contact]. We are eager to assist you or your family member in any way that we can. [Email, Phone number]
Invite discussion with persons with disabilities and their families
- Invite parishioners to request accommodations that could offer them or their loved ones the ability to fully participate in the life of the parish.
- Create an online and paper survey that people can fill out and include questions about accommodations on parish registration forms.
Marketing for events, leadership roles, service opportunities, etc.
- In your marketing materials include a statement such as "Please contact us if you could benefit from an accommodation such as screen reader access, wheelchair access, sign language interpretation, sensory adaptions, etc."
- Make requirements for service opportunities and groups clear. Examples include:
- All women over 21 welcome!
- Possible tasks include: stacking cans, filling bags, directing traffic, and reading to children.
- Be aware: The retreat center is not fully accessible. Contact [name, contact information] for more information.
- Remember that personal invitation is more powerful than any marketing. Encourage all parishioners to invite the persons in the pews next to them.
Catechetical Registration Forms
- Include a question such as:
- Could your child benefit from an accommodation during their catechetical formation? If so, please describe.
- See sample forms and general advice for Catechetical Registration Forms.
Advocate and Serve as a Resource
Raise Awareness
We all have different experiences and background knowledge that shape how we interact with other people. Lacking personal experience, we may make assumptions about what a person can do or is like and assumptions are often wrong. Use NCPD resources to raise awareness and limit assumptions about disability.
Be a Resource for Parish Staff
Ideally every person making decisions at the parish will make decisions based on universal design--limiting barriers so that all have access. However, experience shows us that if there is not a designated person at the table reminding decision-makers to think about all populations, there will be barriers that could have been prevented.
Creative Outreach
Plan events that accommodate persons with disabilities. Publicize these events at parish picnics, parish bazaars, as well as at local disability organizations and schools. Consider participation in ecumenical events.
- Offer a prayer service or faith formation opportunity at a local hospital.
- Offer a sensory-friendly Mass or prayer service.
- Offer a monthly movie night or community building event and include captions, a sign language interpreter, etc.
Be Aware of Best Practices and Resources
Learn about current resources and network with other parish disability advocates and your diocesan director for support.
Assessment
Though a parish can wait until a person expresses a need before making adjustments to be more accessible and welcoming, it is better to proactively work to identify and remove barriers so that persons who come to your parish do not experience those barriers at all instead of having to advocate for their removal. NCPD has created two tools that are useful in assessing the current accessibility of a parish.
LAMB is a brief, bilingual checklist used to evaluate the following areas: Language, Accessibility, Meaningful Participation, Belonging.
Universal Design for Parishes (UDP) is a more extensive evaluation of barriers to belonging across four areas of parish life: Access, Hospitality, Sacraments and Faith Formation, and Gifts. NCPD is in the process of publishing this tool. To get a preview and learn more about the framework, view the recording of Universal Design for Parishes: A framework for making parishes everyone's home.
Catholic Organizations
- National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD.org)
- National Catholic Office for the Deaf (NCOD.org)
- National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA.org)
- Xavier Society for the Blind (Xaviersocietyfortheblind.org)
- Catholic Celiac Society (www.Catholicceliacs.org)
Catholic Publishers (visit NCPD.org/publishers)
- Loyola Press
- Our Sunday Visitor
- Pflaum
- RCL Benziger
- Sadlier
- Twenty Third Publishers
- University of Dayton
Helpful Documents
- Pastoral Statement on U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities(NCPD.org/Pastoralstatement)
- Welcome and Justice (Available on the USCCB website)
- Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities, revised 2017. Available USCCB.org for purchase, in English, or pdf download in English or Spanish).
- Remarks of Pope Francis during a Papal audience with the participants of the October 2017 conference, “Catechesis and Persons with Disabilities” organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Available on Vatican website)
- Pastoral Response to Mental Illness (https://www.ncpd.org/resources_and_toolkits/pastoral-response-persons-me...)
Accompany
Remember to consult with and listen to the person who has reached out to you; there is no “one size fits all.” It is important to remember that every disability is different and every person with a disability is unique. It is often said, if you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism. This is true for every disability. The best way one can effectively support a person with a disability is to get to know them individually. Pay attention to the specific requests, gifts, and needs of the person who has reached out to you.
Parish Access Contact To-do List
Arrange a Meeting with your Pastor
- Keep in mind that you work directly for your pastor, assisting him in this ministry.
- Ask for guidance on his priorities and areas on which you could focus.
- Offer insights and suggestions for his approval.
- Create some shared objectives with timelines for completion.
- Set up periodic meetings to discuss updates on objectives and new information. Try to avoid a “once then done” mentality; maintain ongoing and friendly communication.
Explain Your Role and Offer Support to all Parish Staff and Councils (Youth Ministry, Faith Formation, Pastoral Council, Music Ministry, etc.)
As an advocate, you are the link between best practices and implementation in each area of ministry.
Establish Communications with Fellow Disability Advocates
Utilize the (arch)diocesan network of Parish Disability Advocates to assist you in answering questions, learning best practices, and determining what is working and what is not working in neighboring parishes. Consider yourself not as an individual support person, but more as a member of an (arch)diocesan-wide network of peers doing similar work while sharing similar challenges and successes.
*Note: In some parishes, a team of Parish Disability Advocates is identified and works together to accomplish the goals described in this resource.
