ED Disability Inclusion Audit for Churches

A tool for ongoing self-assessment and progressive improvement of churches in their journey towards disability inclusion. 

In June 2021 ED rolled out this inclusion audit tool in one of its Hub Coordinators’ meetings. ED Hubs were tasked with identifying churches/congregations that may be willing to try out this tool.

WHY DO WE NEED AN AUDIT TOOL:
1. The inclusion of any marginalised group has to be intentional and must begin by looking at our attitudes, systems, structures, and processes that exclude people.
2. An inclusion audit tool helps congregations assess their attitudes, systems, structures, and processes that exclude certain groups. It also helps plan for improvement in their inclusion of persons belonging to excluded groups such as persons with disabilities.
3. A disability inclusion audit needs to ensure “There is nothing about us without us” i.e., nothing that concerns those with disabilities should be discussed/ decided on without their active participation.
3. This tool assists congregations to assess themselves and also enables a congregation to understand what can be done so that “life in all its fullness” (John 10:10) will be experienced by all peoples, especially persons with disabilities in their congregation.

This tool can be used by a congregation to make an initial assessment of the disability inclusion level the congregation is at.

It can then be used again at periodic intervals to assess if progress has been made since the first assessment, and the congregation has grown to another level in its journey towards disability inclusion. 

ED recommends that the audit tool be filled-in as a group activity by a group of people belonging to a particular congregation. This audit tool is not to be filled out by individual pastors alone. 

To know more about the ED Disability Inclusion Audit tool for churches, and if you wish to deploy the tool in your own congregation, write to the National Coordinator at engagedisability@gmail.com 

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