Accessibility and Inclusion

 

Inclusion and Accessibility at Chapel in the Pines

Revised April 2024

Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church (CITP) strives to be inclusive, welcoming and accessible to all people. Welcome is foundational to who we are. From the church’s mission statement

“We open our doors to all persons to join in worship, fellowship, educational programs, and service. We welcome into membership all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, of every gender, race, ethnic origin, worldly conditions, sexual orientation, ability, or any other human condition.”

CITP staff and members are always working to make the church more inclusive and welcoming.  If you have a question, concern, or suggestion about inclusiveness or accessibility, call us at (919) 960-0616 or send an email to info@citppc.org as these features are a work in progress.

General Amenities

  • Restrooms.
    • There are separate men’s and women’s multiple-stall restrooms that are handicapped-accessible near the sanctuary.
    • There are four all-gender, single-toilet restrooms.  Two are handicapped-accessible and have a baby-changing table and are located in the Education Wing and in the Fellowship Hall. Two other single-toilet all- gender restrooms are in the Gathering Room (near the office) and the Fellowship Hall.
  • Coat racks are available in the narthex and fellowship hall.
  • First aid assistance is available.
  • There is a heart defibrillator available with staff/members trained in its use.

Mobility

  • ADA-compliant handicapped parking is available near the church entrance.
  • All church buildings are accessible on one level. There is a passenger drop-off location at the front of the sanctuary. Sidewalks connect all buildings and outdoor spaces (patio and Remembrance Garden).
  • There are designated spaces for wheelchairs in the sanctuary.  The sanctuary can be rearranged to provide as many wheelchair spaces as needed.

Hearing

  • The sanctuary and fellowship hall feature a hearing loop to provide improved accessibility for visitors with hearing aids with the telecoil capability enabled. The hearing loop is available for the worship service and most activities in the fellowship hall. Hearing loop assistive listening headsets are available from the ushers in the narthex for those wishing to use the hearing loop system but who do not have a telecoil enabled hearing aid.  Learn more about the hearing loop system below.
  • The later Sunday service is live streamed (and recorded). It can be found by following the link at the top of the church web site at org. The livestream can also be found on the church’s YouTube channel (“Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church”) and Facebook page. Previous service recordings are also available.
  • Service animals are welcome.

Vision

  • Large print worship bulletins, hymnals, and Bibles are available from the ushers.
  • Service animals are welcome.

 

More on the Hearing Loops

CITP has installed “Hearing Loop” technology in both the sanctuary and the fellowship hall to aid anyone wearing hearing aids or planning to acquire hearing aids.   This is the latest technology in hearing assistance. The hearing loop transmits sound directly from the microphones of the sanctuary or fellowship hall sound system into your hearing aids. Most hearing aids today have as one of their settings what is called a “T-Coil” (“telecoil”) setting. Simply switch your hearing aid to this setting and you will instantly be connected to the hearing loop of the sound systems.  If you do not know how to activate your T-Coil visit your audiologist or hearing aid technician and ask them to activate your T-Coil. Tell them your church has installed hearing loops. Many churches and public spaces are adding this state of-the-art technology, or adapting their hearing assistance devices to it, so you will find increasing opportunities to make use of the feature once your T-Coil setting is activated.

Here are some questions you might have:

“If no one is talking into a microphone will I hear ambient sound (music, talking, etc.)?”

Perhaps not. When your hearing aid is set on the T-Coil setting the hearing loop transfers sound directly from the microphones of the sound systems into your hearing aid. The microphones, by design, do not amplify the ambient sound in the room, so you may need to switch out of your T-coil setting for music and singing. We hope to add microphones for the piano and other musical instruments at some point in the future.

“I don’t have hearing aids, but I would like to use the personal hearing assistance devices CITP has available.”

If you like the experience of having sound delivered directly from the microphones into your ears but do not wear hearing aids, our ushers will provide you with a personal device that receives the sound transmitted from our hearing loop into either personal earphones or earbuds (you choose); simply ask an usher. Some people prefer to bring their own earbuds or earphones to plug into the device the usher will provide.