Mark Stephenson

Jeanne, I praise God for the loving community at your church. From your description, it sounds like your church, this family, and this young man made decisions about his involvement in church based on his needs and his spiritual growth rather than on what people are most comfortable with. An expression of what a healthy body of Christ looks like!

Thanks Bonnie. You provide another good reason why it would be good for adults with intellectual disabilities to be with the adults without disabilities in Sunday school classes and other activities. My experience with adults who have intellectual disabilities is that many of them are much less limited by adult conventions than we who call ourselves nondisabled.

It's nearly impossible for science, good science, to make a blanket statement about a condition as complex as autism. However, the article I cite says, "The American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the Institute of Medicine all agree that there's probably no relationship between autism and vaccines." Considering the enormous, real, and documented risks posed to unvaccinated children, compared to the highly unlikely connection between autism and vaccines, I still feel the need to express my belief that the most responsible and loving choice a parent can make is to have his or her child vaccinated.

Regarding your final question, I'm strongly prolife. Your question is a difficult one, though you ask it in a misleading way. Your question makes it seem as if babies are continually aborted in order to create vaccines. In fact, some, not all vaccines, use stem cell lines from three babies that were aborted decades ago - two in the 1960's and one in the 1980's. Just because these abortions happened decades ago does not make the action of the abortions morally acceptable. However, as this article from Right to Life of Michigan  points out, "The further away the current act (using a vaccine) and intent (protecting a child from a disease) of an individual are from a previous immoral act (aborting a child), the less that individual is restricted by the immorality of the previous act. While the act of aborting the child was certainly immoral, all of the steps involved with the development and use of the vaccines thereafter did not cooperate with the abortion." This article goes on to cite a number of authorities who agree that using these vaccines is morally acceptable.

Thanks for your comment. You are so right. Many kind people made it possible for my wife and me to have time just with the two of us. I assume that single parents of kids with disabilities need respite help at least as much as couples. Some families could really use assistance during worship times on Sundays too.

Sometimes, government agencies will provide funding for or will provide places for respite care. Churches can come alongside families too. Among other ideas for caring, this page on the Disability Concerns website has suggestions for setting up respite care in a congregation.

Great point. I've heard of people who have brought their own gluten-free bread from home. It's so much better when the church leaders accommodate this need. Otherwise, if someone with problems with gluten forgets to take their own bread, they cannot participate with the others. Then communion isn't really communion.

Great point. And I assume that you would agree that this "push" should not just on a "Disabilty Awareness" Sunday. The principle of intentionality would also suggest that people with disabilties are invited to be involved in leadership roles, and language should be inclusive. You and I have had some discussion about that already!

Yes, wisdom and discernment. Grace and patience. Truth and love. We all have our weaknesses and challenges. Barb Newman says that we're all puzzle pieces with green and pink parts. The green parts are things we're good at, and the pink parts are things we're not so good at. What a safe and delightful fellowship a church could be if EVERY one of us lived that out. The people with the greenest green parts never became prideful and were always willing to be ministered to by others. And the people with the pinkest pink parts always knew that their gifts were encouraged and well received by other members of the congregation. 

Amen, brother Case! Amen.