Diethono Nakhro
The Baptist Church of Nagaland has designated the third Sunday of November every year as PwD (Persons with Disability) Sunday, a day for churches and fellowships to focus on celebrating the abilities and involvement of disabled people. This year it falls on the coming Sunday – November 20.
The Nagaland Baptist Church Council has taken a very important step towards building an inclusive church by setting up a Disability Commission to guide its churches. I believe this is a watershed moment in the Nagaland Christian disability movement.
The church is an integral part of the social order and thus it has a huge social responsibility. In our Naga context especially, the church plays such a central role in the lives of the people and so it has a much bigger responsibility to lead the way for our society in standing up against social injustices and to show what a human community ought to be and then to expect a better society to come. And for this to happen, the church must be socially involved through practical social action, not only words.
According to Census 2011, there are 29,631 people with various disabilities in Nagaland. This figure is underreported, in my opinion, and the actual number would be much higher. In any case, this is the official number – 29,631 people with disability in Nagaland. Here’s a question I always ask - how many of these people with disabilities do you encounter in your everyday life – in the streets, markets, schools, playgrounds, offices, churches, public events or in family celebrations?
I think your answer would be ‘rarely’ or even ‘never’. This is because they are Nagaland’s forgotten people. This large group of people in our State continues to live on the fringes of our society completely deprived of their rights and dignity and facing exclusion and discrimination from society as a whole.
We need look at the aspect of physical accessibility alone and the scenario in the State becomes clear. People with disability find themselves shut out - shut out of buildings, offices, homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, CHURCHES, sports and community groups and activities. They find themselves shut out of our way of life.
Like the rest of society, the church too has thus far forgotten the people who may look or act a little differently. Where are the persons with disability? They are certainly not sitting in church. They are not among the congregation listening to the word of God, singing and praying along with other fellow worshippers. Children with disabilities are not taking part in Sunday School activities, listening to Bible stories or playing and having fun with their friends.
Speaking only of the physical building, among the thousands of churches in the State, all denominations, only a countable few have any kind of enabling environment that beckons and welcomes people with disability. Lack of accessibility and unfriendly spaces excludes disabled people from the life of the church.
We like to think of our churches as places where all are welcome. Take a look at your church building. Does it have barriers that you do not notice because you’re so accustomed to the way things are? Can a person with mobility disability enter your church and sit among the congregation and worship with dignity? Many people with disabilities never go to church because they either cannot get there or they cannot get in.
However, though churches certainly have a legal and social responsibility to ensure that their buildings are safe and accessible, inclusion for those living with disabilities goes far beyond installing ramps and accessible toilets. Many do not feel welcome at church because they cannot hear the message. Others cannot participate because they cannot read. Some have difficulty following the unwritten rules. Others simply cannot sit quiet and still for an hour or more. Some cannot understand what is happening. The NBCC Disability Commission has already sent out guidelines on simple, basic steps that can be taken by its churches to make its worship services inclusive.
Now, there is no question that people with disabilities face huge barriers in the form of physical obstacles in buildings and public spaces. But architectural barriers are often relatively easy to surmount with some creative problem-solving. The most difficult barriers to overcome are attitudes other people carry regarding people with disability. Whether born from ignorance, fear or misunderstanding, these attitudes keep people from appreciating and experiencing the full potential of a person with a disability. The most pervasive negative attitude is focusing on a person’s disability rather than on an individual’s abilities. And this is the attitude that rules Naga society.
The worldly culture is highly intolerant of what is perceived as physical and mental imperfection. Is your church simply going to flow along with this culture or are you ready to step up as a change agent in society? Disabled people deal with societal patronisation and pseudo-compassion on a daily basis, but the worst is being marginalised and disenfranchised by your own church. This rejection hurts the most!
There is much that the church can do to change attitudes and perceptions, educate the masses on inclusion and acceptance and encouraging people with disabilities in their gifts and abilities. It can create communities in which people who are not alike can be found living and working together. This will allow the Church to assume its rightful position in shaping culture, and to become a visible expression of God’s love for all humanity through constructive protest against the social conditions faced by men and women with disabilities.
The church must lead the movement away from ignorance, insensitivity, and indifference toward acceptance and reconciliation, actively seeking to remove barriers which exclude disabled persons from all aspects of society. It has the opportunity and capacity to transform the lives of thousands of people with disabilities, their families and carers.
Some suggestions on how to observe Disability Sunday have already been sent out to its churches by the NBCC Disability Commission. These include planning a worship service themed around God’s love and acceptance of all people, inviting and involving persons with disabilities to share their gifts in appropriate ways - as ushers, musicians/singers, to present the gospel reading for the day, etc, inviting a disability expert to give a short talk on disability, disability rights and inclusion matters and organising an after-worship service refreshment gathering and encouraging all congregation members to mingle and get to know one another.
In the past few weeks, the churches have been encouraged to collect the names of all their members with various disabilities or family members with disabilities, visit and have fellowship with them and also talk to them about the disability inclusion programme of the church and encourage them to participate in the special Sunday worship and all other Sundays as well, to set up a committee or focus group on disability and also to carry out an accessibility audit of their church building and spaces around it.
However, there is a very point to keep in mind: while inviting and involving persons with disability, the special Sunday should be taken as an occasion when disabled people are brought out and put on display, such as making them perform something only for the special programme. The aim should be to include them in various activities because they are capable of doing them which others can observe and learn from. And this inclusion of persons with disabilities in worship service and other church activities should then be taken forward and not limited only to the special Sunday.
Lastly, while it certainly is not my place to preach, I do sincerely believe that inclusion and making the disabled welcome in your church is not an optional add on or a choice, it is a Gospel imperative! God bless us all.
