Grant helps Friends to Friends Community Church get people in the doors—literally

“Our front sanctuary doors were so terrible and not in good shape,” says Joanne Van Sant, pastor of Friends to Friends Community Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey. “It took a herculean effort to get them open and to stay open. They were heavy and just a formidable entrance.”

This was especially a problem for a church geared toward people with developmental disabilities, some of whom are in wheelchairs. But all of that changed in February, thanks to a Flourishing Churches Grant from the RCA’s Church Growth Fund.

With the grant money, awarded to flourishing churches in need of facility improvements, all the doors and entrances of Friends to Friends Community Church were upgraded and made more accessible. Although the building is not structured in a way that allows for totally hands-free, motion-sensored sliding doors, the doors are now automatic and opened with the press of a button.

“Not everyone in our congregation is able to press a button, but most people come with a support person,” says Van Sant. “I had to compromise, but all our doors are now more accessible. Our church has a more open and welcoming look, making it clear that we are an accessible place. We’re very excited.

“This is their church that’s designed for them,” adds Van Sant, citing a few additional ways that accessibility has been prioritized in the church: no pulpit or raised platform in the front of the worship space, some removed pews and wide aisles, screens and accessible technology, and an evening worship time that accommodates the daily schedules of group homes and their staff.

Van Sant says the church, which officially organized in 2014, holds the distinction of being the only RCA congregation mostly composed of people with developmental disabilities. The community has existed for 29 years, with grassroots origins in an ecumenical Sunday school program specially designed for kids with special needs.

“We have such wide boundaries—the whole spectrum of abilities. You can come with virtually any kind of ability and worship here. Anyone who wants to participate, we provide whatever they need,” she says. “It’s very interactive, and it’s different. There’s always great joy no matter what we do.”

The excitement about the accessible entrances hasn’t worn off yet, but more projects are already on the horizon, like adding a ramp for the back of the building or removing all the pews and replacing them with chairs so people can move chairs around and sit wherever they want.

“We just continue our work forward with accessibility,” says Van Sant. “It’s a vibrant ministry and vibrant congregation. We function a little differently, but we are indeed flourishing!”

The Church Growth Fund makes loans to churches to buy, build, and renovate facilities for ministry. Interest from those loans fund the Flourishing Churches Grant and other grants that benefit the RCA.