1. Contact your bishop, suggesting to him or her that disability ministry
needs to be a part of diocesan programming.
2. Gather a group of interested people to assist you in carrying out
this ministry. Make sure that at least half of the members of your committee are people with disabilities.
Try to include a variety of disabilities as well as a range of ages and interests.
3. Create a vision statement setting out your purposes for this ministry.
Include goals, objectives and action plans as well as a timeline for accomplishing your goals.
4. Choose a focus to begin your work. We suggest that you may
want to survey the congregations in your diocese to ascertain how many of them are architecturally accessible, and how many
more of them wish to become so. You may want to send out a survey which helps churchs determine their level of
accessibility.
5. Make site visits to the congregations. Offer your help to them
in becoming accessible, and talking about the need for not only architectural accessibility, but also attitudinal accessibility.
6. Approach the diocese for funding. "Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also." Their level of involvement is indicated by their willingness to give you such funding.
If your members are doing a lot of traveling, you may want to reimburse them for mileage. You will also need money for
mailings to congregations and for buying resources to use in raising disability awareness.
7. Almost 60% of the dioceses in the Episcopal Church have committees
like the one we hope you will establish. Don't try to invent the wheel; ask other dioceses in your province
for guidance, or call on The Episcopal Disability Network to assist you in your ministry.
