Is your church ready for the Paralympics?

   

Amy Ottaway  from Norfolk who is in the GB Women's GoalBall at the London 2012 Paralympics (Picture Credit: British Paralympic Association)  

The euphoria of Team GB’s Olympic medal tally will likely carry through to the Paralympics – so is your church ready to take advantage of this unprecedented spotlight on disability?

‘There’s so much material in the media and the internet to provide fantastic resources for any church wanting to celebrate the inclusive message of the Gospel,’ says Torch CEO Dr Gordon Temple. ‘While all eyes are on Paralympians and their achievements, churches can open their doors wide to disabled people in their communities who are overlooked and isolated. They can demonstrate that the message that the Good News of Jesus is truly for all people.’

If your church is looking for material, a good place to start is the new Churches for all website: (www.churchesforall.org.uk).

‘There’s much on the website to link with the Paralympics,’ says Gordon, ‘not least the Disability Sunday activity pack, which many churches will be marking this year during the Paralympics, on September 2nd or September 9th.’

The Churches for All website also features video of an interview with former blind Paralympian Alan Whetherly, which was broadcast on Channel 4 TV this month, one of a series of short interviews about faith and sport (www.4thought.tv).

 Alan Whetherly will also be interviewed in two Reflections radio programmes produced by Torch Trust and being broadcast on September 2nd and 9th. Reflections is broadcast on RNIB Insight Radio online, on fm 101, on Sky 0188 and freesat 777. Sunday at 9am, with repeats on Tuesdays at 2am and Fridays at 1am; and also on Premier Christian Radio online, on mw 1305, 1332, 1413, on DAB, on Sky 0123 and on Freeview 725. Sundays at 4pm.

More useful resources:

·       Mike Townsend, blind and a trustee of Torch Trust, will give the sermon on the theology of disability for the BBC Radio 4 service on August 19th.

·       The August edition of the Baptist Union MissionScene online magazine gives lots of good material: (www.baptist.org.uk/resources-events/missionscene.html).

·       The July/August edition of the Evangelical Alliance Idea magazine is a Paralympics special: (www.eauk.org/idea/jul-aug-2012-issuu.cfm)

   If you want to hold an outreach event for disabled people, why not use the idea of a Luke 14 Banquet? To find out what this means, go to the More than Gold website: (www.morethangold.org.uk) or straight to the pdf which explains how to do it: (www.morethangold.org.uk/uploads/file/Hosting%20a%20Luke%2014%20Banquet.pdf).

·       Enabling Church by Gordon Temple with Lin Ball is a brand new resource for individuals, small groups and churches looking at issues around disability. The book includes Bible study discussion outlines, creative prayer and worship ideas, comments and insights from ordinary and well-known disabled people, and real life stories of people with different disabilities. Enabling Church, commended by all the Christian disability organisations under the Churches for All grouping, is available at £7.99 in print (from SPCK), large print and audio book formats from Torch Trust: (info@torchtrust.org).

Your invitation to a party – to launch the Paralympics!

Disabled people are being encouraged to turn out in force for a community festival on the opening night of the Paralympics at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Aylesbury – a place closely associated with the history of the Games.

A huge turnout is being anticipated for ‘Stoke Mandeville Live’ which will feature a big screen relaying the opening ceremony live from London, a programme of fun, arts, crafts and sporting activities along with free food and drink. It will run from 6-10pm on Wednesday 29th August.

‘This is a unique and exciting opportunity to see Christian inclusivity in action, that could potentially become a global model,’ says Tim Wood, CEO of the disability organisation Through the Roof.

The event is committed to inclusivity including allocated parking for disabled people, step-free access, a loop system and sign language interpreters.

Local groups, including Torch Fellowship Groups, have been invited and people are expected to attend from London, Oxford, Milton Keynes and further afield.

Organisers of this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity are primarily More Than Gold and the Aylesbury Church Network. The committee for the church network says, ‘The most distinctive thing about the opening event is that will have a strong disability focus that should make it attractive for both disabled adults and children. We want to model inclusion and see the community working together to celebrate everyone’s gifts and talents. We hope to help create a legacy of disability ministry and build on an already considerable festival-type ministry in the centre of town.’

If you live locally, you are encouraged to attend and bring your friends, along with a picnic rug and suitable outdoor clothing. The postcode for the stadium in Guttmann Road, Aylesbury, is HP21 9PP.

More Info and a Map from the Aylesbury Church Network Website

Torch in Ireland

The blogger was on holiday in sunny Ireland last weekend and met up with the leader and a member of the Torch Group which started about a year ago in Dublin. The group, which has about seven blind and partially sighted members meet at the Grace Bible Fellowship (shown left) which is located in the central area of the city in Pearse Street. The group's next trip is an outing to Dublin Zoo which is famous for breeding lions but I don't know if any of the members of the Torch Group are called Daniel!

If you ever visiting Dublin for the weekend and looking to join with other Christians on Sunday morning, you will receive a warm welcome at the Grace Bible Fellowship. You can find out more about them on their website: www.grace.ie