Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church

The experiences of people with severe intellectual disabilities (SID) in local churches are rarely studied, and their voices are not being heard in the research and religious communities. This study is an attempt to narrow the gap. Through a research method that combined person-centred care and acti...

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Main Author: Sarah Shea
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/4/287
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spelling doaj-7cfd014d7f6f43a5a36fc4c22858d38d2020-11-24T20:43:28ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442019-04-0110428710.3390/rel10040287rel10040287Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical ChurchSarah Shea0Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary, Hong Kong, ChinaThe experiences of people with severe intellectual disabilities (SID) in local churches are rarely studied, and their voices are not being heard in the research and religious communities. This study is an attempt to narrow the gap. Through a research method that combined person-centred care and action research, this study looks to explore the experiences of three persons with SID in a Hong Kong evangelical church, and give an account of the cultural and religious forces that have marginalized them. Findings show that it is not merely feasible but also necessary for church caregivers to listen to these powerless individuals if they want to be liberated from destructive stereotypical images of SID, broaden their basis of religious epistemology, and transform their spiritual care practices. However, the study reveals that there are some remaining barriers. It is found that the problematic evangelical style of spirituality has made Christians without disabilities misconceive individuals with SID as either inferior in the matter of faith or even incapable of coming to faith. Three corresponding types of pastoral responses that have kept persons with SID at the margins of the faith community are identified and discussed in this paper. The research results implies that evangelical Christian communities need nothing less than a critical examination of the logic of coming to faith if they want to remove such religious prejudice against persons with SID in future.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/4/287action researchperson-centred caresevere intellectual disabilitiesevangelical spirituality
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sarah Shea
spellingShingle Sarah Shea
Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
Religions
action research
person-centred care
severe intellectual disabilities
evangelical spirituality
author_facet Sarah Shea
author_sort Sarah Shea
title Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
title_short Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
title_full Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
title_fullStr Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
title_full_unstemmed Listening to the Powerless: Experiences of People with Severe Intellectual Disabilities in an Evangelical Church
title_sort listening to the powerless: experiences of people with severe intellectual disabilities in an evangelical church
publisher MDPI AG
series Religions
issn 2077-1444
publishDate 2019-04-01
description The experiences of people with severe intellectual disabilities (SID) in local churches are rarely studied, and their voices are not being heard in the research and religious communities. This study is an attempt to narrow the gap. Through a research method that combined person-centred care and action research, this study looks to explore the experiences of three persons with SID in a Hong Kong evangelical church, and give an account of the cultural and religious forces that have marginalized them. Findings show that it is not merely feasible but also necessary for church caregivers to listen to these powerless individuals if they want to be liberated from destructive stereotypical images of SID, broaden their basis of religious epistemology, and transform their spiritual care practices. However, the study reveals that there are some remaining barriers. It is found that the problematic evangelical style of spirituality has made Christians without disabilities misconceive individuals with SID as either inferior in the matter of faith or even incapable of coming to faith. Three corresponding types of pastoral responses that have kept persons with SID at the margins of the faith community are identified and discussed in this paper. The research results implies that evangelical Christian communities need nothing less than a critical examination of the logic of coming to faith if they want to remove such religious prejudice against persons with SID in future.
topic action research
person-centred care
severe intellectual disabilities
evangelical spirituality
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/4/287
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