Year 2002 Report to Diocesan Council
The Bethsaida TeamDiocese of Newark
Jan Hardy, The Rev. Oscar Moskridge, Co-Chairs
The Bethsaida Team, the Commission of the Diocese of Newark dedicatd to addressing issues of the disabled population of our parish communities, was commissioned by Bishop Croneberger at Convention 2001. Our first meeting was May 1, 2001. During the first year the team, consisting of, at present, 12 members, sought to define our mission and develop a plan of action.
At convenion, 2002, a resolution was passed that notified all parishes and missions that by the year 2006, with the help of the Bethsaida Team, they will develop a plan to make each building and program inclusive and accessible using the ADA codes as the guideline. The Team then contacted parishes that showed interest in the program from attending our workshop at convention and at Creative Congregatons. We worked on planning a flexible program to bring to parish settings to teach awareness about disibilities in general and to help begin their development plan.
At this point in September 2002, we have made our services known through mailings, brochures and workshops. We have spoken with five congregational representatives as a beginning step toward making a parish visit in the near future. We had agreed to make a presentation to St. John the Devine in Hasbrouck Heights on October 12 and 13 at a supper meeting on Saturday evening and then being part of the litergy design and presentation. We have also agreed to make a visit to St. Agnes' Church in Little Falls on December 1 for their Sunday service and a forum. We are in conversation with clergy and wardens at Grace Church, Newark, and will meet with them soon.
We have also agreed to do a workshop at the District 7 meeting on November 21. We hope this wil be the first of many District meeting presentations.
The Bethsaida Team is an organizational member of The Coalition of Inclusive Congregations which is part of The Boggs Center at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and headed by William Gaventa. This is an interfaith orgaqnizsation for sharing ideas and quandries related to barrier free worship and space. They also present workshops and will have a dinner in the Spring to honor people who have been proactive in this field. Three of the Team members are part of the Advisory groups and will be active in their events and meetings.
Through the Coalition we have begun to be invited to other denominational disability groups, i.e., Presbyterian and Roman Catholic.
Our strategy is to plan an event a month during the academic year. We therefore need to recruit more members and continue training those who can do parish visits. We would like to invite another clergy member to join. We have applied for grants from ACTS/VIM and the Martini Foundation so that we can fund all that is necessary to reach each and every parish and mission in the Diocese. We also are building a written and other media resource library which is part of the Bishop Anand Resource Center. A list of our resources is available. Other materials can be bought or borrowed from The Boggs Center.
During the workshop that we presented at Creative Congregations, our own video was started. It has been enhanced and now has an introduction by Bishop Croneberger. It will be available to use as an introduction to the Bethsaida Team and its work. This should be completed and available to borrow from BARC or a Team member by the end of October.
The Bethsaida Team now has a web-page linked to the Diocesan site. A questionnaire is ready to mail to all parishes and it will be interactive on the web as well.
For more information, please call or email Jan Hardy or The Rev. Oscar Mockridge.
Respectfully submitted,
Jan Hardy
