Everybody belongs. Everybody serves.
Becky
Ken
Disability
Terry
Daryl
Write your own blog post to share your ministry experience with others.
I’ve wondered why many older people who live with significant disabilities do not identify themselves as disabled, and even take offense at being called disabled. Yet, other people who live with disabilities not only embrace the term but even talk about “disability pride.”
Empathy is a perspective, a decision, and a skill to reach outside of yourself to connect with someone else. Empathy puts the Golden Rule into action.
When he asked about my work, I explained that I help churches learn ways to include people with disabilities in the life of the church.
I feel sorry for people who don’t have the privilege of raising a child who has a disability
Heather DeBoer reflects on life with her sister Jess, who lives with severe multiple disabilities.
Would you like to connect with parents of children with disabilities who share a similar faith story? Sara Pot began a discussion on our forum page. I hope you'll post a comment on the forum too, especially if you are raising a child who has a disability.
A few years ago a friend and former co-worker became a caretaker for her elderly neighbor who lived in what we would call debilitating circumstances. No one asked my friend. She just thought it was her responsibility.
Tim Bosch and several of his family members headed to Montreal for a routine checkup for Tim, that is, as routine as a checkup can get for a 15-year-old with brittle bone disease.
Mental illness can isolate people living with it and distance them from people who care, but empathy can help bridge that gap. Empathy is a powerful tool for ministry and for simple lovingkindness.
Robertson’s cavalier approach to the marriage commitment reflects our culture’s cavalier attitude toward commitment. But true Christians understand that love is not based on convenience but on commitment.
After 12 years of meeting my wife's ever more challenging mobility problems, I have found a lot of good solutions. People are available to help; I want to be one of those who will.
A controversy rages about the definition of autism. The American Psychiatric Association is considering a redefinition of the term for the newest edition of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).
Please don't ask if I'm content in my singleness. I'm not there yet, and I don't know when I will be. I see myself as single by circumstance, not necessarily by choice.
It’s a national tragedy that we as a society in North America are throwing away human lives through abortion, and such a high percentage of babies with Down Syndrome.
If you want to live your older years to the fullest, then you will want to consider changes that may come and prepare for them. Some changes that come with aging are unwelcome, but good preparation for them will
The stereotypes about mental illness that our society tells us are, mostly, lies. In poem, memoir, funeral sermon, eulogy, and painting, people narrate life with mental illness through Disability Concerns’ Stories of Grace and Truth.
To minister well with people who have disabilities, we need to understand the wide range of disability and the ways in which all of us can unintentionally exclude people with disabilities from the life and ministry of our churches.
When my mom broke her hip this past Tuesday, the four of us had to decide whether or not she would have surgery. Because mom has late stage dementia, she could not make the decision herself.
Deacons who serve well work hard at connecting with members of the congregation, organizing ministry, and finding appropriate resources. This final installment on deacons and people with disabilities suggests ideas for ministry and provides some resources to implement those ideas.
I still wonder sometimes if my friendships will last during a depression. Will they call? “How are you?” they ask. Do they want to know the painful truth? Sometimes it’s better to say “fine.”
They both live in good group homes that are clean, caring, and provide various evening activities. Their group home brings them to church on Sundays. What is missing from this picture?
The language of creation replaces, and transcends, the language of loss, just as it does in life. The pastoral care-giver's question is not, “What have you lost? But “What’s it like?” and “What’s happening?”
Mom hasn’t been able to initiate conversation for several years, but only a few months ago yet, mom and I could have two sentence conversations. I would say a brief sentence, and she would usually give some appropriate response. Those appropriate responses are gone too. Except one.
Mental health is not a particularly religious term. But the concern for wellness, for healing and recovery, and for the effects of illness and disease are part of spiritual care. It has never been easy for individuals suffering from brain disorders to find place among us.
As issues started coming up, we had to make decisions together. When should mom stop driving? Is she using the stove safely? Is she taking her meds correctly? When do we need to consider moving mom into assisted living? Facing such decisions can bring out old tensions and even tear families apart. We did not want this to happen to us.