Why Churches Should NOT Drop Online Services
So, Tish Harrison Warren has a regular column now in the New York Times. And I subscribed, because I generally like her work. Plus, I love that the Times has a regular columnist who shamelessly adheres to the Apostle’s Creed. But this week, I had serious issues with her words. The title says it all: Why Churches Should Drop Their Online Services.
That felt super ableist to me. And the article itself didn't get any better.
Before I go further, let me back up and remind my readers that an entire section of my web site is devoted to life in the body. I'm all about embodied living. The five senses. In-person gatherings and long conversations over food. True face time over FaceBook FaceTime. So given the choice, I usually opt for real embodied presence vs. Zoom. And yet, I still had serious issues with the piece—so much so that after reading, I wondered, “Am I over-reacting?”
I shot a link to the article with a message to my friend Lacie, who describes herself in this post as an amputee. And I asked her, “Does this feel ableist to you?”
Here’s her reply:
"Of the most egregious kind. It hurt my stomach to read. It’s wrapped in language that exalts the importance of embodiment…but only the needs of the healthy body matter.
"I can see where she’s coming from. Getting people back into pews after they’ve felt the comfort of learning/connecting from home must feel daunting for pastors. But disconnecting disabled people to motivate the able-bodied is not the way to do it.
"She outright says it’s fine to cut us out, then adds that someone should be visiting us. Come on. Looking back to how things were done before the internet and not seeing the beauty of how the internet has connected those of us who were previously disenfranchised feels like a stone-age thought process.
"The church has adapted and changed how we connect with one another in a myriad of ways throughout historical events and varying cultures. COVID has given us the impetus to broaden the way we do church. It’s given us the gift of worshipping across cities and states and global lines. My kids attended their grandparents' Sunday school lessons for the past year. What a gift!
"Disabled people know the feeling of being cut off from society. We face it with the phone calls we make to venues before going out to eat to see if the Google recommendation that says it’s ADA friendly is actually true or if there is a four-inch ledge at the front door. We face it when we’re unseen entirely in a store needing assistance or told by someone with a big cart to simply get out of the way. We face it when the sign outside our church says “Have children? Park in the west lot. Need handicapped entrance? Park in the east lot.” [Lacie has two kids.] My car was broken into two weeks ago, and the only thing stolen was my “handicapped” placard. All these things have happened to me.
"Warren’s proposal to remedy poor church attendance by cutting off virtual attendance says we don’t matter. Again. And to use embodiment as the reason is so tone deaf. The number of people already disabled or traumatized or homebound added to the increasing number of people dealing with the effects of long-COVID should tell us that now is definitely not the time to disconnect them from the body of Christ."