The University of Chester and the Committee for Ministry of and among Deaf and Disabled People of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England are offering training for Deaf people who want to train for Christian ministry. The course is being offered in British Sign Language and will begin in January of 2006. While this may not be a viable option for persons outside of England, it is great to see the need identified and an effort made to meet the need, hopefully other organizations will follow suit. (hat tip BBC Ouch!)
From American Public Media's Speaking of faith comes this riveting program titled Room for J: One Family's Struggle with Schizophrenia on one family's experience with schizophrenia, including how they see religion differently. In the program, Dan Hanson who has written Room for J discusses with his wife Sue the process of accepting their son's schizophrenia.
This looks like a great event to get together with a lot of amazing people working in this area. Even if you are not able to attend, please take a moment to take their Pre-summit survey and turn it in to the folks who are organizing this.
Interesting opinion piece by Gregory Banks wherein he states:
...I believe whatever your spiritual or non-spiritual beliefs are, there's no question that the very existence of life itself is precious, perhaps the most special thing in the entire universe, and therefore, it is indeed divine.
In December of 2004, a radio program on L'Arche was on the Speaking of Faith.
The program highlights a L'Arche program in Clinton, Iowa. A link to the audio as well as excerpts from the program are in the link above.
I attended a disability training last week given for a large group of teachers. During the training, I repeatedly heard the idea that we need to be mindful of accessibility issues because we all have a disability. The presenter was trying to get across the idea of a very broad definition of disability that would probably include wearing glasses, being left-handed or not liking brussel sprouts- characteristics that may at times be an inconvenience. While this statement might convey the idea to some that we all have strengths and weaknesses, I don't think that the statement, "we all have disabilities" is an effective way to change attitudes for a couple of reasons.
This advertisement from a French energy company has nothing to do with religion, but it offers a unique perspective on how persons with disabilities are forced to adjust to the way that "everyone" lives. It is a video showing nondisabled persons in situations where not having a disability makes life more difficult. There is a great commentary on the video over at The Gimp Parade. (Thanks for the link Danielle!)
From that blog I followed a post to a recent story from the Ragged Edge on blogs with disability commentary, lots of good stuff. I'm looking forward to sorting through it and will post the good stuff that I find.
Think how you would feel if you were very spiritual and you couldn't go to a church; you couldn't take communion; you couldn't sing; you couldn't be a part of that...
The notion that religious congregations are welcoming to people with disabilities seems so obvious, so natural. Surprisingly, a warm reception is not always the case.
The article has a number of examples of how persons with disabilities either were or weren't accepted in their congregations.
"I never thought I'd see (St. Joseph) Cathedral as accessible as it is now," she (Vicki Nisich) says. But more important is the gradual change in attitude. People are realizing that people with disabilities have gifts and strengths they can share with the church community and make it more fully alive, Nisich says.
"I would hope the church, of all places, would be the first place that would welcome a person with a disability," she says.
From American Public Media's Speaking of faith comes this riveting program titled