Recently, I visited Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University. Being from a Jewish background, I had never visited Dahlgren before, and found the experience to be very interesting, given that Dahlgren is one of Georgetown’s most famous symbols. My visit, however, wasn’t motivated by a desire to better explore Georgetown’s campus before my soon approaching graduation; rather it was to inspect Dahlgren’s facilities, and to attempt to determine how much accessibility they provide for the disabled.
In determining what constitutes acceptable accessibility, I mainly consulted with three primary sources on the matter of liturgical accessibility. The first of which is an article from Faith and Form magazine by Robert Habiger, a well-respected church architect, who discusses the value of equivalent experience in churches . The second source I used was the transcript of a webinar conducted with Mr. Habiger by Anne Koester, Associate Director of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy at Georgetown University. The webinar explores many of the same themes as the article, but expands upon them and places them in a more explicitly liturgical context . The third source I used was an article from the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. It helped me better …show more content…
As Robert Habiger brings up in the aforementioned webinar, no parent should be prevented from holding his or her child during the child’s baptism, a moment that is sacred for both the parent and the child . A better example of an accessible baptismal font can be seen in Exhibit 15, which is a picture of the baptismal font at Holy Family of Nazareth in Irving Texas. This font offers greater accessibility because it is so low to the ground, meaning that even somebody in a wheelchair could preform a
In determining what constitutes acceptable accessibility, I mainly consulted with three primary sources on the matter of liturgical accessibility. The first of which is an article from Faith and Form magazine by Robert Habiger, a well-respected church architect, who discusses the value of equivalent experience in churches . The second source I used was the transcript of a webinar conducted with Mr. Habiger by Anne Koester, Associate Director of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy at Georgetown University. The webinar explores many of the same themes as the article, but expands upon them and places them in a more explicitly liturgical context . The third source I used was an article from the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. It helped me better …show more content…
As Robert Habiger brings up in the aforementioned webinar, no parent should be prevented from holding his or her child during the child’s baptism, a moment that is sacred for both the parent and the child . A better example of an accessible baptismal font can be seen in Exhibit 15, which is a picture of the baptismal font at Holy Family of Nazareth in Irving Texas. This font offers greater accessibility because it is so low to the ground, meaning that even somebody in a wheelchair could preform a