Addressing the accessibility shortcomings of historic buildings can feel overwhelming, but there are many positive examples in other churches and updated spaces we can look to. UUCUC members David and Claudia Gross have a long-standing habit, and absolute joy, of attending Sunday services in other UU churches. They have been to approximately one hundred of the one thousand in the U.S., and they can help shine a light on what types of accessibility updates might be possible for a church like ours. Here are some of the experiences they had in other UU congregations, in David’s own words:
Through a bit of good luck two years ago in the months just before the COVID shutdown, I was in Sunday services in six (no typo) UU churches and fellowships. Five were fully accessible, five had flexible seating (chairs that could be moved) and three had high quality video and sound to overflow spaces such as a fellowship hall or childcare or conference rooms.
Salina, Kansas, a 60 member lay-led fellowship, has a building in a residential neighborhood, a building that looks like a residential ranch house. All on ground level. Super friendly folks who drive in from many miles, some for 70 or 80 or 90 miles, to their precious blue island in a very red state. They generally spend a full morning there with a discussion group, a service and a coffee hour.
The Abraham Lincoln UU Fellowship in Springfield, IL is special for me as my son, daughter in law and grandkids are there. Their minister, Rev Martin Woulfe, has been in the UUCUC pulpit several times. Their new, ground level building is especially welcoming to folks with mobility or vision challenges and is worth a visit as it is only 90 minutes from CU. If you visit there, do note the number of mobility or vision challenged folks who attend.
The large UU church in Atlanta, Georgia, is a 600 member congregation currently between buildings. Their old building needing work was sold to an adjacent hospital that wanted the land. They are now meeting temporarily in rented space in a commercial office complex, and that is working. Not church-like and without organ or stained glass, but comfortable, accessible and attracting many new members.
Key West, Florida, is in so many ways the other end of the spectrum. We have known them for decades and have nametags on their board. They were about 30 members when lay led, then grew to 60 when served by a full-time UU minister. But now again lay led they are back down to 30. Ministerial leadership does make a huge difference! Their building was, long ago, a corner grocery store and did convert well to a church function. Ground level and easy access, but no parking.
Bloomington, IN, a 600 member UU church adjacent to a Big 10 campus is absolutely worth a visit if we can ever get past the COVID issues. When this trip is possible, David will lead a caravan to Bloomington. The town is smaller than CU, but the UU church is larger in a new, wonderful building with a real elevator. To see their use of video with four screens is worth the trip. In a special fund drive during the pandemic, they paid off and retired their mortgage.
UUCUC is a strong and loving congregation, capable of imagining a new future for our building and our community. We are lucky to have so many promising examples of UU congregations that have successfully embodied their values within their church spaces, and we can all look forward to continuing this conversation right here in the weeks and months to come! Join us this Sunday for a post-service talkback session on Zoom. Start reflecting now on what experiences and questions from your own life you bring to this topic, and we hope to see you on the 23rd.