Advice

ADVICE

Becoming an inclusive Church

PETER DILLEY discovers the story of Causeway PROSPECTS, helping to meet the spiritual needs of the 1.2 million people in the UK with learning disabilities

Celebrations at major Christian events do much to raise the profile of Causeway PROSPECTS’ work with adults with learning disabilities, but this is just a part of a nationwide ministry and resource base, with a growing network of smaller groups.

Tony Phelps-Jones is currently director of Causeway PROSPECTS, but he stressed that the original impetus behind it came from Rev David and Madeleine Potter (the organisation’s founders), as they were developing the Living PROSPECTS residential projects:

“Their thoughts turned to the rest of the 1.2 million people with learning disabilities in the UK – they couldn’t provide residential care for them, and their spiritual needs weren’t being addressed effectively by local churches. What could they do about that?

“They felt God directing them to start something that would help the spiritual lives of many more people with learning disabilities. So Causeway PROSPECTS began with awareness-raising, and they produced the first few resource materials (Bible studies etc) to help churches to get educated and set up small ministry groups, after Madeleine and David had realised that the group they were with in Reading were understanding very little of the church service and sermon each week.

“At much the same time, David Potter was invited to be a seminar speaker at Spring Harvest, and he observed that there was nothing at Spring Harvest which was suitable for people with learning disabilities, so after talking to Clive Calver they were invited to come back and run something.

“We’ve been doing that for 18 years now, along with Keswick Convention and FIEC Pwllheli, and we’re gradually working to encourage other conferences to be inclusive by having programmes especially for adults with learning disabilities.”

At a local level too, Tony believes there’s a biblical imperative for churches to become more inclusive:

“When I talk to churches, I often use the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 12 – Paul’s description of the body being made up of many parts. Parts, although different, are of no less value: ‘Those parts which seem to be weakest are indispensable’ (verse 22). It’s really on that basis that I paint this picture of an inclusive Church – it’s our perception of them as being weaker, measured by our standards, and the Bible says they are ‘indispensable’, we cannot do without them, we’re incomplete without them.

“The reality is that spiritual gifts are given to all Christians to build up the Church – if we’re not including people, then obviously we’re excluding their gifts as well, and we’ll be impoverished as a result. So the inclusive Church is a stronger Church, and that obviously covers a lot more than people with learning disabilities.

“But including people with learning disabilities won’t happen automatically – they need to be welcomed, and the average Christian doesn’t know how to respond to them well, and may not give them the same kind of welcome as they would to any other guest coming into church. People with learning disabilities are very sensitive to mood and attitude – if they sense indifference or rejection, they’ll probably vote with their feet and not come back.

“Quite often people say to me ‘we don’t have any people with learning disabilities coming to our church’, and I’m thinking ‘I wonder why not?!’ It could be there aren’t any around, or because somebody came once and didn’t get a warm welcome, or that they found the whole service was inaccessible.

“There are ways that churches can make their ordinary services more accessible: make sure they include at least one or two simple songs, which aren’t full of difficult words, and not too difficult to sing, so people can understand, and possibly join in; take trouble to explain what the song is about, why we’re singing it (good practice anyway); and if a church is accustomed to having a long sermon, I’m not suggesting they ditch that, but the preacher could be invited to sum up the sermon in two sentences. Quite a challenge, but helpful for those who haven’t got everything they’ve said.”

Besides tapping into the wide range of resource materials available, many churches have gone a step further, setting up and hosting the 135 local Causeway PROSPECTS groups across the UK, each with their own programmes of worship and teaching. Support and training for this is provided by regional staff, and groups link in to a variety of regional celebrations and residential weekends. Even where that’s not possible, Tony believes that individual support can still make a real difference:

“There are opportunities for people to work one-to-one if they can’t set up a group – help people to get hold of an Easy-To-Read Bible and some daily notes that we publish, and support them to use them, so they have the benefits of receiving regularly from the Bible in the same kind of way that we take for granted.”

CONTACT
Causeway PROSPECTS, PO Box 351, Reading RG30 4XQ,Telephone: 0118 950 8781
Web: www.prospects.org.uk E-mail:info@prospects.org.uk

Peter Dilley is a Connexions Personal Adviser working with the charity InterAct in Chelmsford

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		ADVICE Becoming an inclusive Church PETER DILLEY discovers the story of Causeway PROSPECTS, helping to meet the spiritual needs of the 1.2 million people in the UK with learning disabilities Celebrations at major Christian events do much to raise the profile of Causeway PROSPECTS’ work with adults with learning disabilities, but this is just a part of a nationwide ministry and resource base, with a growing network of smaller groups. Tony Phelps-Jones is currently director of Causeway PROSPECTS, but he stressed that the original impetus behind it came from Rev David and Madeleine Potter (the organisation’s founders), as they were developing the Living PROSPECTS residential projects: “Their thoughts turned to the rest of the 1.2 million people with learning disabilities in the UK – they couldn’t provide residential care for them, and their spiritual needs weren’t being addressed effectively by local churches. What could they do about that? “They felt God directing them to start something that would help the spiritual lives of many more people with learning disabilities. So Causeway PROSPECTS began with awareness-raising, and they produced the first few resource materials (Bible studies etc) to help churches to get educated and set up small ministry groups, after Madeleine and David had realised that the group they were with in Reading were understanding very little of the church service and sermon each week. “At much the same time, David Potter was invited to be a seminar speaker at Spring Harvest, and he observed that there was nothing at Spring Harvest which was suitable for people with learning disabilities, so after talking to Clive Calver they were invited to come back and run something. “We’ve been doing that for 18 years now, along with Keswick Convention and FIEC Pwllheli, and we’re gradually working to encourage other conferences to be inclusive by having programmes especially for adults with learning disabilities.” At a local level too, Tony believes there’s a biblical imperative for churches to become more inclusive: “When I talk to churches, I often use the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 12 – Paul’s description of the body being made up of many parts. Parts, although different, are of no less value: ‘Those parts which seem to be weakest are indispensable’ (verse 22). It’s really on that basis that I paint this picture of an inclusive Church – it’s our perception of them as being weaker, measured by our standards, and the Bible says they are ‘indispensable’, we cannot do without them, we’re incomplete without them. “The reality is that spiritual gifts are given to all Christians to build up the Church – if we’re not including people, then obviously we’re excluding their gifts as well, and we’ll be impoverished as a result. So the inclusive Church is a stronger Church, and that obviously covers a lot more than people with learning disabilities. “But including people with learning disabilities won’t happen automatically – they need to be welcomed, and the average Christian doesn’t know how to respond to them well, and may not give them the same kind of welcome as they would to any other guest coming into church. People with learning disabilities are very sensitive to mood and attitude – if they sense indifference or rejection, they’ll probably vote with their feet and not come back. “Quite often people say to me ‘we don’t have any people with learning disabilities coming to our church’, and I’m thinking ‘I wonder why not?!’ It could be there aren’t any around, or because somebody came once and didn’t get a warm welcome, or that they found the whole service was inaccessible. “There are ways that churches can make their ordinary services more accessible: make sure they include at least one or two simple songs, which aren’t full of difficult words, and not too difficult to sing, so people can understand, and possibly join in; take trouble to explain what the song is about, why we’re singing it (good practice anyway); and if a church is accustomed to having a long sermon, I’m not suggesting they ditch that, but the preacher could be invited to sum up the sermon in two sentences. Quite a challenge, but helpful for those who haven’t got everything they’ve said.” Besides tapping into the wide range of resource materials available, many churches have gone a step further, setting up and hosting the 135 local Causeway PROSPECTS groups across the UK, each with their own programmes of worship and teaching. Support and training for this is provided by regional staff, and groups link in to a variety of regional celebrations and residential weekends. Even where that’s not possible, Tony believes that individual support can still make a real difference: “There are opportunities for people to work one-to-one if they can’t set up a group – help people to get hold of an Easy-To-Read Bible and some daily notes that we publish, and support them to use them, so they have the benefits of receiving regularly from the Bible in the same kind of way that we take for granted.” CONTACT Causeway PROSPECTS, PO Box 351, Reading RG30 4XQ,Telephone: 0118 950 8781 Web: www.prospects.org.uk E-mail:info@prospects.org.uk Peter Dilley is a Connexions Personal Adviser working with the charity InterAct in Chelmsford © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.