scholarly journals Inkludering og tilrettelegging i Den norske kirkes trosopplæring

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Inger Marie Lid
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
The Church

This article presents results from a project that studies inclusion and accommodation in Norwegian faith education as organized under the Plan for Faith Education by the Church of Norway. Norwegian faith education aims at educating children and young persons from 0 to 18 years. All children and young persons who wish to take part in this should be included and accommodated. However, there are barriers experienced by persons with disabilities hampering participation on an equal basis. Based on qualitative interviews in four congregations, the article discusses how inclusion and accommodation is practiced in the confirmation program, and what barriers hamper participation. The results indicate that the congregations wish to include all, but need more knowledge on how to reach the aim of inclusion and accommodation. The barriers are conceptual, attitudinal and material. The practice in faith education thus is to some extent segregational.

scholarly journals Making the Invisible Visible: Inviting Persons with Disabilities into the Life of the Church

Horizons ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-73
Author(s):  
Mary Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Communion Of Saints ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
Psychological Disabilities ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Invisible

Christianity espouses the dignity of all humanity and professes welcome for all to the communion of saints. Yet people with disabilities, especially those with more severe or profound physical or psychological disabilities, are largely invisible inside our houses of worship. This article examines the meaning of dignity and inclusion through the lenses of Christian anthropology, disabilities liberation theology, and the lived experience of persons with disabilities. It concludes with some suggestions on how to begin inclusion.

scholarly journals “Sister, This is MY Church!” The Sisters of St. Joseph and Contested Sacred Space

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Gendered Spaces ◽  
Cultural Symbols ◽  
The Past ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Church

Recently, sociologists who study space have paid more attention to the importance of place, in other words—not just physical locations—but also the meanings, interpretations, and cultural symbols bound up within them. In this paper, I examine the “emplaced” and often gendered lived experiences of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia after the Second Vatican Council. Drawing on archival research and in-depth qualitative interviews with nearly two dozen Sisters of St. Joseph, I analyze how the congregation negotiated and contested gendered spaces in the Church over the past fifty years. I explore the sisters’ occasionally tumultuous relationships and public disagreements with clergy, particularly about use of chapel and school space. I also examine the subtler ways—like presiding over funerals and annulment tribunals—that sisters in the congregation transgressed prescribed gendered boundaries in responding to the sacramental needs of the faithful and marginalized. Overall, I argue that sisters in the congregation adapted to changing pastoral needs and exercised agency as women in developing strategies of action to meet the needs of those whom they served.

scholarly journals Sårbarhet, mangfold og menneskerettigheter

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
Hans Morten Haugen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Enabling Technology ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
A Value ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Church

The article examines recent understandings of vulnerability and exposedness, and studies proving that people with disabilities are more exposed to violence, discrimination, and various forms of exclusion. Diversity has been elevated as a value, both in societies and in churches. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the only human rights treaty that names specific human rights principles, and one of these principles is diversity. There are also opposing trends to the enhanced recognition of diversity, summarized in three points: preservation of status quo; highlighting majority normality; and budgetary efficiency are given priority over empowering solutions. The Church of Norway, inspired by the World Council of Churches, wants to promote inclusion and empowerment, but is itself lagging behind, for instance in providing access to enabling technology.

scholarly journals Biblical principles towards a pastoral strategy for poverty alleviation amongst the youth in Uganda

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asea Wilson ◽  
Rantoa Letsosa
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Divine Grace ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Socially Disadvantaged ◽  
Persistent Poverty ◽  
The Government ◽  
Biblical Principles ◽  
Justice And Care ◽  
The Church

Over centuries, many churches in Uganda have failed to do justice to the gospel to the materially and socially robbed. Their preoccupation has been with the gospel to the sinners. But the salvation of sinners and the care for the materially and socially deprived are part of one and the same gospel. In other words, these churches could not handle the two gospels that are found in the Bible: the salvation of the sinners and care for the physical needs of the poor. It has a gospel for the ‘sinning’, but no gospel for the ‘sinned against’. The church in Uganda must now become involved in the process of mutual commitment to freedom, justice and care for the disadvantaged. It must develop a complete theology of the divine grace for sinners as well as the gospel for the materially and socially disadvantaged. Moreover, however, eradicating material poverty is not simply a matter of making more and better provisions available, but of expanding actual participation so that young people might fulfil their own roles in the whole society to which they belong. An attempt was made to define poverty and to discuss the characteristics of poverty through the exposition of the weak points of both the church and the government that were constructed by means of a literature study as well as qualitative interviews in contrast to the biblical strength that was determined through an exegetical study of texts that specifically dealt with issues of poverty. The views of churches with regard to poverty were taken into consideration. Last but not least, a possible means was developed that could be utilised to break down the persistent poverty amongst the youth in Uganda.

scholarly journals Keindahan dalam Disabilitas

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-60
Author(s):  
Isabella Novsima Sinulingga
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
The Other ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Constructive Theology ◽  
Inclusive Theology ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

This article challenges conceptions of intellectual disability that view such conditions from the perspective of normalcy. In Indonesia, conversations of theological anthropology still employ a medical model lens, which perceives disability merely as bodily and intellectual impairments, thus failing the standard of "normal." Normalcy unilaterally defines disability and dictates normative approaches toward persons with disabilities. Consequently, persons with disabilities are perceived in Indonesia as mere objects of charity to be pitied. On the other hand, they remain susceptible to suffering violence. These trends owing to the fact that Indonesian society does not adequately provide either tangible resource considerations or sufficient social support. Lacunae in the theological literature concerning disability in Indonesian contexts foment in the life of the church further challenges for persons with disabilities. For persons there with intellectual disabilities, in particular, the situation is even more severe, as their condition is regarded as a kind of punishment for sin and further stigmatized as abnormal. This article offers a constructive theology of disability to dismantle the myth of normalcy, which reduces persons with disabilities to being merely impaired organisms within society. Theological musings on the beauty of all creation, the perichoretic relationship within the Trinity, the doctrines of imago Dei and imago Christi are taken up in this essay, to offer an inclusive theology expressly for persons with intellectual disabilities.

scholarly journals Achieving Disability Equality: Empowering Disabled People to Take the Lead

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laufey Löve ◽  
Rannveig Traustadóttir ◽  
James Gordon Rice
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Full Inclusion ◽  
Meaningful Involvement ◽  
Activist Groups

Achieving disability equality calls for transformative changes to society’s structures and norms. Recognizing the central role of disabled people and their organizations in this restructuring, and the call of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for their full inclusion in all legal and policy decisions relating to their rights, this article focuses on how disability groups and organizations regard their ability to effect changes in line with the CRPD. The article draws on qualitative interviews with leaders of disability organizations and activist groups in Iceland in 2016 and 2017. The findings reflect frustration among the leaders with what they perceive to be a lack of sustained progress in the decade since the country signed the CRPD. In their view, this period has been characterized by a lack of meaningful involvement of disabled people in policymaking, and a lack of political will and interest in disability affairs, which has resulted in stagnation. As a result, leaders of disabled people’s organizations have begun to change their strategies and are taking steps to redefine their approaches, and reframe the issues and dialogue with authorities in a more progressive manner, demanding to have more say in the process of change.

scholarly journals Pastoral ministry and persons with disabilities: The case of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nomatter Sande
Keyword(s):  
Minority Group ◽  
Pastoral Ministry ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Critical Gap ◽  
Apostolic Faith Mission ◽  
Construction Of Disability ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church

Background: The Persons with Disability (PWD) are the minority group dehumanized in the church. The subject of disability is complicated because of the impact of the Judeo-Christian teachings. The Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe is a leading Pentecostal church with a pastoral ministry theology which emphasises divine healing, miracles, signs and wonders. Thus, the space of PWD and how the PWD either connects or benefits from this Pentecostal heritage is a critical gap in this study.Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the construction of disability through the practices and processes of the pastoral ministry in the AFM.Method: This study followed qualitative research and used the social model of disability as theoretical framework. The data were collected from 26 participants who are PWD and pastors using in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observations.Results: The results showed the AFM pastoral practices created invisible barriers that militate against PWD. Thus, the pastoral ‘divine solutions’ and ‘triumphalist messages and teachings’ are ‘prescriptive’ and ineffective in reducing ‘the plight of PWD in Zimbabwe’.Conclusion: The study concludes that the pastoral ministry should be ‘one efficient vehicle’ with which the church can care for and ‘transform persons with disabilities’. Pastors should break the glass ceiling by expecting pastors to minister better and more effectively creating a safe space for persons with disabilities. A caring community should be the nature of both the AFM and the pastoral ministry responsible for meeting the needs of the persons with disabilities.

Poured Out: A Kenotic Approach to Initiating Children at a Distance from the Church

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-194
Author(s):  
Sarah Kathleen Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
The Self ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
Protestant Clergy ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
The Church ◽  
Growing Population

A kenotic theology of infant initiation that emphasizes extending the self-giving of God through the sacraments is an alternative to a covenantal approach when celebrating Christian initiation in an American religious landscape characterized by declining participation in religious institutions, a growing population who identify as nonreligious, and increasing uncertainty about matters of faith. This study is anchored in twenty-one stories emerging from qualitative interviews with Protestant clergy about their experience of receiving requests for infant initiation. Analysis of interview data reveals five types of distance from the church (formal, relational, historic, theological, and moral), four primary motivations prompting families at a distance to request infant initiation (family celebration, cultural tradition, concern for salvation, and spiritual connection), and five approaches clergy take in responding to requests (safeguarding, hospitality, compassion, conviction, and evangelical opportunity). Engaging Chauvet, Belcher, Peirce, and Hughes, a kenotic approach invites the church to pour itself out, without expectation of reward, and with the risk of loss, as an extension of the self-giving of God. A kenotic approach invites participants with a range of relationships with the church to bring their own motivations and meanings which, through encounter and dialogue, may enrich the practice for all involved, including clergy and congregations, as a fusion of meaning is produced collaboratively.

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