Beyond Inclusion
By Dr Mike Townsend, Chair of Trustees
The school for deaf people in Gjakova, Kosovo
supports around 100 students. We were on a
Churches Inc. outreach with Through the
Roof. I sat down with two charming young
ladies who were getting ready for life beyond
school. ‘Chatting’ was an interesting
description of what we were doing. There
were several layers of translation: English,
Albanian, Sign language. “What is the most
important feature of your lives that you would
like to be different?” I asked.
Communication, “Being together”, was their
response. Probing further, I discovered that
these two girls wanted “friendship”.
We at Through the Roof, conducted a survey
a few years ago asking disabled people what
they found church lacked, and ‘friendship’
was the top response.
Churches often provide access to buildings,
services and events. One of my friends said
that his church was always “very polite”. But
he had no friends there after many years.
Another disabled couple told me that, even
though they had been going to a local church
for nearly five years, they were still treated as
visitors.
A key word we use in describing access to
church is ‘inclusion’. This is a useful concept. It
means that we can take part in most aspects
of church. But inclusion is an ‘outside’ word.
As an outsider you are drawn in to be
included where possible. But ‘inclusion’ still
leaves us as outsiders to be let in.
Beyond inclusion to belonging
For friendship to grow, we need to
look beyond our disabilities or
needs to the real us Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love
one another. (John 13.34-5).
I prefer a different word—‘belonging’. This is an ‘inside’
word. If I belong to a church, it is MY church, and I am an
integral part of it. It is a ‘together’ word. We are amongst
fellow worshippers, enjoying God’s word together, and
serving Jesus as living examples of love. When Jesus looked at the paralysed man lying at his feet,
he wanted him to be his friend for time and eternity. But
the man was cut off from God by the barrier of his sin. So
Jesus’ first act was to remove that barrier and to tell him,
“your sins are forgiven”.
We need to see beyond the evident disabilities—and this
includes hidden disabilities. As I said to the Kosovan folk at
our workshops, “I am not Mr Blind, my friend is not Mrs
Wheelchair”. The man lowered through the roof to Jesus
was not ‘Mr Paralysed’. For friendship to grow, we need to
look beyond our disabilities or needs to the real us. Let’s love each other just like Jesus, and have a diverse
range of real friends.
www.throughtheroof.org
www.throughtheroof.org