|
Theology of Disability Ministry From the word's roots in Greek, theology is the study of God. Such a study is audacious to say the least. How can a human mind hope to understand God? As a beginning point, many people turn to St. Anselm, who wrote of "faith seeking understanding." Theology seeks to help us understand our faith in God and, by extension, what God calls us to do in the world. The primary concern of disability theology is to understand the nature of diversity in humans, who are created in the image of God, but exhibit many variations. Some of these variations may seem to be limiting, but on careful examination, are human views of different ways of understanding or doing things. Theological study reminds us that "Yahweh does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16.7, NRSV). Theology is also a reflection on life experience. Therefore we place value on how people live and where they find God's presence and direction. When we meet to worship, we express this search through our rules for living together. In the United Methodist Church, these rules are expressed in the Discipline and Book of Resolutions. Although neither perfect nor followed perfectly, they tell us what we aspire to be. Theology also reminds us of our call, and of the needs that we all face. As such, it also reminds us to strive to reach everyone, and that sometimes this requires knowledge of how those needs are understood and absorbed in different ways by some. Finally, theology reminds us that we all stand equally before God. People with disabilities have gifts of their own to bring to the body of Christ. These gifts may be different but they are vital to its health. Therefore, we speak of ministry with and not ministry to people with disabilities. The ultimate goal of ministry goes beyond outreach and even inclusion to full participation, as this video explains: Theology also has a practical, in-life dimension. Discussions of structure, nature, norms, and possibilities must be accompanied by follow-through and action. The term "dyspraxia" is sometimes applied to a failure to turn one's theological statements into action. This failure is often a problem for disability theology, as this video explores: RAM TV Episode 3 - Jeff McNair from Rising Above Ministries on Vimeo. Ableism is another term that arises in disability theology. Similar to racism, ageism, and sexism which divide us by characteristics over which we have no control, ableism is based on the assumption that there is such a thing as "normal" and that some of us fall outside that range. The concept of "normal" comes to us from the field of psychological testing and has no place in the community of faith. Ableism results in plans and decisions that are made without considering their impact on persons who live with one or more disabilities. No one sets out to exclude people, but unconscious ableism causes well-intentioned people to make decisions that do cause exclusion. Rather than acknowledging that all of us have needs that must be met in order for us to participate successfully in a given event, ableism labels some needs "special needs" and takes the stance that meeting special needs is optional. Someone with an ableist mindset may look around an inaccessible setting and remark that there is no need for accessibility because no one who uses a wheelchair attends anyway! This view tends to place a heavy emphasis on the costs of accessibility, rather than realizing how universal design of events or buildings benefits many people, e.g. mothers using strollers or people pushing heavy AV equipment carts. The Gospel calls us to do better. We can learn to plan ahead to meet access and participation needs. We can then communicate the access available and reach out to the many who may have been unable to attend in the past. We can joyfully come alongside each other as allies who ask what is needed for full participation and advocate for equal access. Then the kin-dom of God will have come a little closer to all of us! Committee Resources
Policy Statements
Organizations
Media
Tim Vermande and Lynn Swedberg, August 2016
|
