Maturity in
ministry: What
would be better?
Joni and Friends, Greater Philadelphia
April 15, 2014
Jeff McNair, Ph.D
Christian Institute on Disability, Joni and Friends
Disability Studies, California Baptist University
Overview of our time together
• What does the Bible teach about disability?
• A brief discussion of ministry and the social consequences
of disability.
• Evaluating ministry through “What would be better?”
disability
What words come to mind when
you hear this word?
What does the Bible teach about disability?
Bible passage
Take Home Lesson
1. Created in image of God
1. Genesis 1:26
2. Exodus 4:11
2. God makes people with
impairments
3. Psalms 139
3. Intimately formed
4. John 9:2-3
4. Sin not cause of disability/and
Why?
5. 1 Corinthians 12:22
6. 2 Corinthians 12:9
5. Weaker are indispensable
6. Faith and Healing/Grace of God
Godly sorrow brings
repentance…See what this
Godly sorrow has
produced in you;
what earnestness,
what eagerness to clear
yourselves,
what indignation,
what alarm,
what longing,
what concern,
what readiness to see justice
done.”
Godly Sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:8-11
Biblical/Cultural
Replacement Narrative
Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed any longer
to the patterns of this world but
be transformed by the renewing
of your mind.”
What might social structure changes in the
church look like?
The rejection of persons with disabilities
preserves…
Silence
Self-sufficiency
Lack of movement or movement
within accepted spheres
Not going in and out
“Fed in a particular way”
Presence of persons with disabilities
implies…
Speaking/making some noise
Assistance/service
Extraneous movement
Movement as desired
Freshness, unpredictability,
service within the actual worship
service
Models of Disability
The Moral Model
The Medical Model
The Social Model
The Moral Model of
Disability
Sin of parents, family or individual
Being "cursed"
"You have done something to deserve your life
experience"
The Medical Model of
Disability
Disability is housed in the individual who has the
characteristic called “impairment”
Focus is on "repairing" the individual
May be evidenced in the desire for physical healing
"Perhaps we can fix you."
The Social Model of Disability
The problem is not the individual with
impairment it is the society around the
individual that is the problem
Disability, therefore,
is a form of social
discrimination
"You have nothing
‘wrong’ with you,
it is all due to society"
"Wounds"
The Social Consequences of Disability
(Wolfensberger, 2001)
1-Bodily impairment
2-Functional impairment
3-Relegated to low social status
4- Systematic rejection
5-Historic deviancy roles
Not human/menace/waste
material/object of pity/eternal
child/sick/death related roles
"Wounds“
(Wolfensberger, 2001)
6-Juxtaposition
7-Scapegoated
8-Distancing
9-Loss of control
10-Discontinuity with
physical places and things
11-Social/relationship
discontinuities
12-Absence of freely given
relationships
"Wounds“
13-Deindividualized
(Wolfensberger, 2001)
14-Material poverty
15-Impoverishment of experience
16-Cut off from religious life/value systems
17-Have their lives wasted
18-Brutalization to point of death
Effects of being
wounded
disturbed relationship with the world
think themselves worthless and unlovable
see themselves at fault for their treatment
become self-destructive
grieve over being a disappointment to others
become more impaired as a result of their treatment
(Wolfensberger, 2001)
• The presence of people with disabilities will
Social Healing:
change the church
• more emphasis on service
The feeling of
• worship will change
• social skill dynamics will cause more openness
healing that a
• New ideas about what faith development means
person with an
impairment • Setting direction for the future of ministry to and
with people with disabilities
feels through
the elimination
of the social
consequences of
disability from
the
environment
From a ministry perspective, we are
assisted in understanding what to do
Moral model Faith/no faith - Purpose/no purpose
Medical model Competency enhancement
Social model –
Image enhancement
What would be
better?
Social Role
Valorization and
the Development
of Ministry to
Persons Affected
by disability.
Criteria for evaluating
disability ministry…and the
larger ministry of the
church.
Marc Tumeinski &
Jeff McNair
(JCID, vol.1, #1,
Fal/Winter, 2012)
http://www.joniandfriends.org/jcid/enjoy-two-freejcid-articles/
What would be
better?
Example 1
Image:
Setting/Time
“Is the time of assembly when
vulnerable church members spend
most of their time at church the same
time that typical church members
assemble at church? If the main
worship time is on Sunday morning,
are the vulnerable church members
present at the same time and place?
What would be better?” (p. 15)
What would be
better?
Example 2
Image:
Relationships
Do vulnerable church members spend
most of their church time mixing in
and participating with a broad
spectrum of other church members
across all ages and abilities? Are we
avoiding (even unintentionally) or
reinforcing negative stereotypes, such
as “those people only belong with
their own kind” or “those people are
happier with their own kind”? Are
vulnerable church members being
chosen as friends to the same degree as
other church members? What would
be better? (p. 16)
What would be
better?
Example 3
Competency:
Relationships
“What does our shared vision of
Christian community look like? Who
is present in our biblical vision of
community? How can the inclusion
of vulnerable people better reflect the
Gospel vision and therefore
strengthen our church community?
How can we more closely approach
this vision here and now within our
church? Given the actual makeup of
our membership, might we
unintentionally or unconsciously be
putting some groups of people outside
of this vision? What would be
better?” (p. 18)
What would be
better?
Example 4
Competence:
Roles and
Activities
Does the church’s core values and
mission adequately reflect the change
required for the church to more fully
include members whom society has
devalues? Does the church engage in
reflection and self-evaluation
regarding the participation of
devalued people in the life and
ministry of the church? What
evidence can the church collect for
itself to gauge progress towards its
mission of including devalued people?
What would be better? (p. 20)
Thanks for listening!
jmcnair@joniandfriends.org
jmcnair@calbaptist.edu