[Faith-talk] accessibility of church service material

Tue May 1 01:27:37 UTC 2012

What amazed me as I was visiting other faiths in the Christian relm was the cost of the hymnals and the sheer size of them.

Most of them you have to buy yourself and the ones I saw were starting out at at least 200 dollars or more.  Then there is the fact that the hymnals are usually loose and you have to find your hymns before the services to put them in a binder to use them.

If they are't loose leaf paper, they have so many volumes that they are almost impossible to use without taking the hymns you need out of the volume binders and putting them in separate binders, again, not easy if you don't get the b bulletin before church.

The LDS church and even the Jehovah's witnesses have all materials whether it be hymnals or study materials in accessible format without cost or minimal cost if you should get a ward in the LDS church that asks you to pay for your extra materials.

In my opinion, I'd stay away from the Jehovah's witnesses though, just about everything you hear about them is true, and I say that because I spent four years in that faith.

I don't mean to flame, just being honest.

OK, sharing my opinion.  If there are any witnesses on this list.  Please forgive me.  I just didn't have good experiences there and am not shunned and they will not speak to me because I attend another faith.  

My friends who were Jehovah's witnesses that still are and we were very close have no longer communicated with me because I left the church.

Jenny
On Apr 30, 2012, at 7:35 PM, Debbie Brown wrote:

> When most of us were growing up, most church materials were inaccessible, and there wasn't much we could do about it.  These days, because most printed material is produced on a computer, this situation seems to me to be less acceptable.  I receive my church bulletin in accessible PDF, which is actually better than the Word document (some techie may know why).
> 
> It is disturbing to me how much material for seminars and classes is inaccessible.  While some ministries are working on a shoestring budget, others are charging churches a lot of money for their materials, and in that case I find inaccessibility unacceptable.  Some of these people seem more worried about protecting their copyright than spreading the gospel, and I have to wonder whether they are serving God or Mammon.
> 
> I have been able to get Lifeways Ministries to provide some of Beth Moore's Bible courses, but it is more of a hassle than it should be, and I have to go through this application every time.
> 
> I receive a journal in audio format called "Does God Exist," about the Bible and science.  The editor of the journal, John Clayton, reads it himself, and a blind guy duplicates it on CD for him.  He really is working on a shoestring budget, but he has a blind son, so he gets accessibility.
> 
> Some teachers are very good at getting their class materials to me in time for class.  One of the best at my church is a retired college professor, so he knows how to make outlines and study guides.  Some of the worst are actually professional preachers, because they have trouble using their computers.  Older ones seem to have more trouble than younger ones.
> 
> I make it a point to ask, and I am trying to make it a policy not to buy study materials for seminars that are not accessible.  We had one recently at which nothing was accessible, and this person is supposed to be a college professor at an online university.  I hope no blind guy wants to take his classes, or he may find himself at the wrong end of a lawsuit.
> 
> I think we are not being unreasonable to ask for accessible materials, but we ought to show some loving consideration for the particular individuals we may be dealing with at church.
> 
> Debbie Brown
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jenny Keller" <jlperdue3 at gmail.com>
> To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion" <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 7:40 AM
> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] accessibility of church service material
> 
> 
> I am a member of the LDS church.
> 
> the hymnals a two volume bound braille volumes and the Sunday School material and Relief Society, which is our women's group materials are available on the website via just reading it on the site and being aboe to click on the scripture references, or audio that you can download or just listen to in mp3 format.
> 
> the bulletins and such are not accessable.  But I'm sure if I asked them to email me the contents they would.  I just never thought to do so.
> 
> Jenny
> On Apr 29, 2012, at 11:36 PM, Ashley Bramlett wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>> I said I’d post something to generate discussion rather than the traffic about forwards or debate on what to post. IMO, if you have a question about posting a topic, ask the moderator off list.
>> This sounds better to me than debating what topic is on topic for the list.
>> We go through that ocasionally on other lists I’m on too; its annoying since the debate about the list just generates endless traffic with no answer.
>> My topic here.
>> For those of you going to church regularly, how is the accessibility of the material? I’ll speak to my methodist church growing up.
>> They had a large braille hymnal of like 7 volumes for me. Other than that, the print wasn’t accessible. The schedule, bulletin, inserts of songs within the bulletin, etc was not accessible.  So I just listened to some songs and the other stuff read in the bulletin. For instance, we have to respond as a congregation to readings; I think its called the call to worship or something.
>> I stood and listened to that. Everyone else reads from their sheet.
>> I got a lot out of church since everyone hears the announcements, sermon, etc, but do not feel I was able to fully participate.
>> 
>> Ashley
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