Welcoming All: A Comparison of Church and Familial Expectations in Disability Ministry

Welcoming All: A Comparison of Church and Familial Expectations in Disability Ministry

A Dissertation by Amy E. Dows, submitted to the Faculty in candidacy for the degree Doctor of Ministry. This project compares the expectations of churches providing intentional disability ministries with the expectations of members affected by disability. Questionnaires were developed for churches with disability ministries and for members or families affected by disability. The comparison of these questionnaires provides a glimpse into the expectations held by families and churches that provide disability ministry. According to the results of this survey, families tend to seek a faith community where their entire family is included and supported. They also believe that the church benefits by welcoming individuals with disabilities. Churches, in general, strive to provide a place that is welcoming to all but with little attention given to issues of assimilation, and churches tend to see little or no benefit to the congregation through including families affected by disability other than in ways that trivialize disability as charitable acts to those in need. Although these churches seek to meet the needs of families affected by disability, issues of assimilation to cultural norms and trivialization of disability continue to impact the practice of disability ministry. Advisor: Greg Carey. Electronic PDF document. 100 pages.

Dows, Amy E.

Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Theological Seminary

2012

(c) Amy E. Dows; posted by permission

Disabilities

Church work with people with disabilities

Dissertation

electronic document (PDF)

https://library.lancasterseminary.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=120046

English