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The DisAbility Ministries Committee,
the UM Association of Ministers with Disabilities,
& the Committee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries will be represented at General Conference!
Stop by the General Commission on Religion and Race booth to say "Hello" and find out more about General Conference accessibility! We will be staffing a portion of this space as often as possible. Please send your friends to us so they can sign up for our newsletter and pick up a brochure.
Please pass the information below along to your conference delegation and to friends who are delegates so they can support us. And please reach out to us with any questions about the legislation.
Disability-related legislation submitted to General Conference 2020:
Assigned to the General Administration legislative committee:
Petition #: 20252-GA-¶265.4-G, ADCA p.
640
Name:
Regarding Disability Awareness Sunday
The resolution amends existing legislation ¶265.4, last sentence.
This amendment moves responsibility for Disability Awareness Sunday to the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR), the agency now responsible for oversight of the DisAbility Ministries Committee of the UMC.
Assigned to the Independent Commissions Legislative committee:
Petition #:
20583-IC-R9999-G, ADCA p. 900
Name:
Recognition of the DisAbility Ministries Committee of the United Methodist Church
New legislation that asks for General Conference recognition of the DisAbility Ministries Committee of the UMC, which has been in existence since 1992 and has formalized a new relationship with the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR). The mission of the Disability Ministries Committee is to support UM churches, districts, conferences, and other entities in providing greater access and places of true belonging for persons with disabilities and their families.
Petition #:
20584-IC-R9999-G, ADCA p. 901
Name:
Disabilities and the Ordination Process
This new legislation urges those involved in the evaluation of candidates for ministry to offer appropriate accommodations to people with disabilities before evaluating their effectiveness for ministry. Accommodations may include scheduling meetings in accessible spaces, sending documents ahead of time for use on a computer screen reader or Braille display, providing sign language interpreters, captioning, or amplification when requested, and allowing qualified service dogs to remain with the person.
Petition #:
20585-IC-R9999-G, ADCA p. 901
Name:
Mental Health Discrimination in Disability Compensation
This new resolution calls on the General Board of Church and Society and the United Methodist Church to advocate globally against the discrimination of persons with mental illness by companies that offer disability insurance and protection.
Petition #:
20568-IC-R3001-G, ADCA p. 892
Name:
Accessibility Grants to Churches
This a
mends existing Resolution 3001
(adopted 2000; re-adopted in 2008 and 2016)
,
to clarify that, under the GCORR as its new host agency, the DisAbility Ministries Committee (DMC) will continue to administer accessibility grants as per past quadrennia. The update expands grant eligibility to the global church, and funds disability ministry programs as well as accessibility projects.
Petition #:
20586-IC-R9999-G, ADCA p. 902
Name:
The Church and Disability
This resolution combines and replaces existing resolutions 3002 ("accessibility rule implementation in the UMC" adopted 1992, modified and expanded to be global in 2012, due for review) and 3302 ("church and people with disabilities" adopted 1984, amended and readopted 2012).
Resolutions 3002 and 3302, both addressing disability and the church and society, are rewritten and combined with minimal changes from the 2016 BOR. The resolution expands these principles to the global church, delineates agencies responsible for implementation, strengthens recommendations, and updates language to current standards.
Legislation from the Committee on Deaf & Hard of Hearing Ministries
Assigned to Global Ministries legislative committee:
Petition #: 20534-GM-NonDis-G, ADCA p. 705
The United Methodist Committee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries
Petition #:
20548-GM-R3004-G, ADCA p. 708
The Church and Deaf Ministries Steering Committee
Both petitions renew prior resolutions (scheduled for review) establishing and funding the work of the UM Committee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries and allow them to continue their important work.
General Conference Performances
The Flames puppet troupe from Centennial UMC in Roseville, MN, will perform during the lunch break on Tuesday, May 12, in the Exhibit Hall area. The Flames is an active small group ministry for teens and adults with intellectual disabilities. Eve Newman, a self-advocate member of the DisAbility Ministries Committee, is a member of this group.
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Sign choir at GC
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Combined sign language choirs from Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas, TX, and C
h
rist UMC in Baltimore, MD, will perform at 7:45 and again at 12 noon, also on Tuesday, May 12th. LaSander Saunders, a member of the the Committee on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministries, is part of the choir.
Come support these ministries if you are in Minneapolis, and say "Hi" and "Thanks" to the great team of ASL interpreters when they are not on duty!
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