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The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (WCC-EDAN) will flourish and become a source of increasing education and dialogue, said the programme’s leaders at a meeting in Kenya on 10-15 April.
They agreed to several recommendations to reach this goal. First, WCC-EDAN will become a growing source of knowledge in theology and disability by establishing an “e-library,” or online collection of resources, bringing together books published by WCC-EDAN as well as other relevant materials, particularly those that churches have developed on inclusive worship. Second, WCC-EDAN will seek more partners to continue work on theology and disability that will no longer be funded by Christoffel-Blindenmission next year.
WCC-EDAN leaders also agreed to reflect on their understanding of what the phrase “mission from the margins” means in the context of their work. This phrase, representing a new paradigm for mission, unites Christians and other people of faith in solidarity and hospitality with those whose lives are jeopardized by poverty, illness and violence.
Finally, WCC-EDAN will plan a forum to reflect on what a “pilgrimage of justice and peace” means to people with disabilities.
WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent greetings to the 24 people gathered, saying that EDAN’s existence reflects the WCC’s identification of disability concerns as an important agenda for the Christian church. “EDAN is considered an appropriate vehicle through which the churches and society should continue to be held accountable for their actions and helped to see people with disabilities as indispensable stakeholders in their work and lives,” he wrote.
WCC-EDAN leaders agreed that a strong focus must be on women, children, youth and older persons with disabilities, as well as violence that impacts persons with disabilities and creates disabilities. More work is also needed in the areas of women with disabilities, refugees with disabilities, the issue of the ordination of persons with disabilities, and equal opportunities for ministry of ordained persons with disabilities.
A new WCC-EDAN statement on disability, entitled “a Gift of Being,” will be presented to the WCC Central Committee in June.
WCC-EDAN works through a network of volunteer regional coordinators who have established themselves as disability advocates. Its main purpose is to advocate for the inclusion, participation and active involvement of persons with disabilities in all aspects of the life of the church and society. As a decentralized programme, WCC-EDAN has continued to contribute to awareness raising, theological reflection, capacity building and collaboration among persons with disabilities.
