Statement - For a Change
The consultation For a Change was organised in October 2003 by the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN) together with the Interchurch Commission of People with Disabilities in the Netherlands (ICIG) and with the support of Kerkinactie. We are the participants of the European consultation ‘For a Change’ in Lunteren, 10-13th October 2003. We are members of churches and most of us are people with disabilities. Others are family- or professional care givers. Some of us are members of EDAN or ICIG. This statement is addressed to the churches at all levels, to church based commissions and development agencies. that work with people with disabilities, and to theologians and theological institutions and faculties. We will also share the results of the conference with (organisations of) people with disabilities.
1) We encourage and promote the participation of people with disabilities in church and theology.  2) We urge the churches to change from an ethos of care for people with disabilities towards a theology of inclusion.  3) We strongly urge churches and networks to take seriously the inclusion of people with learning disabilities and members of the deaf community. 4) We accept the EDAN document ‘A Church of All and for All’ and the recommendations of the Policy Reference Group II, which have been accepted by the Central Committee of the WCC, as a framework for action. A key element in this document that we underline is the affirmation “that all people are made in the image of God and that we can never be a full community or complete image without one another”.  5) We commit ourselves to engage our churches to study and respond to the document ‘A Church of All and for All’. 6) We ask our churches to: a)      nominate people with disabilities to governing bodies and advisory groups at all levels, create opportunities for people with disabilities to take leadership roles and empower and build the capacity of people with disabilities to take a full part in the life of the church, b)      make churches and church buildings and websites accessible, c)      develop an inclusive and accessible theology, education, language and liturgy, d)      challenge the assumption that disability and sin are correlated, e)      promote disability issues in church based development work, especially in the area of violence, f)       commit enough funding and resources to advance the course of disability.
7) We commit ourselves to participate in the European network that is a part of EDAN and urge our churches to fund this work as a special project in the WCC programme. We are aware of the fact that EDAN urgently needs additional funding. 8) Arne Fritszon from Sweden and Simone Poortman from the Netherlands will coordinate the building up of the European network and in 2004 will pay special attention to ensuring the representation of the churches in those countries that are not yet represented, as well as building alliances with non-church organisations. 9) ICIG accepts the invitation of the Dutch National Council of Churches by drs. Ineke Bakker to introduce and discuss in its plenary meeting the document and recommendations ‘A Church of All and for All’ as well as the findings of the conference For a Change.  10) We welcome the interest in and support of EDAN by CEC and accept the invitation from rev.dr. Eva-Sibylle Vogel-Mfato and Thérèse Pache to discuss how disability issues can become central to the work of the CEC member churches and how EDAN can become involved in the European Diaconal Forum Process. Rev. J. Van Buuren, ICIG, P.O Box 334, 3900 AH Veenendaal, Netherlands Mr. Samuel N. Kabue, EDAN, P.O. Box 22, 00300 Ronald Ngala, Kenya