Mental Health: ‘Normalization’ Trend in Ministry to Disabled Resisted by Churches

Ministry to people with mental retardation recently has been sharply curtailed by several financially strapped denominations as the churches struggle to maintain programs.

The disability divisions of two denominations, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have been eliminated. After being dismantled in January, the Special Education Department of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Sunday School Board has been reinstated and enlarged following sharp protests.

Bill Gaventa, executive secretary of the religious division of the American Association of Mental Retardation, says there has been a shift from “special religious programs” to inclusive ministries for disabled people.

Gene Nabi, a consultant to the Special Education Department of the SBC, believes the current trends toward inclusive ministries are “a big mistake.” Nabi asks, “In the normal classroom environment, are mentally retarded persons going to get the point of the Bible lessons? The Sunday-school setting demands that everyone hear the gospel. If we are evangelical, we will be held accountable.”

The tension felt within the church is an outgrowth of the debate among professionals who work within the disability community regarding “normalization,” a term used to describe the practice of mainstreaming disabled people into existing schools, classrooms, and churches.

Nabi believes denominational leaders making reforms are well-meaning people; however, he believes decisions are “not thought out.” Nabi says, “The spiritual lives of people who are mentally retarded have been put in jeopardy.”

A PROGRAM EXPANDS

While larger denominations are paring back, the 320,000-member Christian Reformed Church (CRC) is expanding its evangelization and discipleship of mentally challenged persons. Ironically, the CRC has found that ministry to mentally challenged persons has promoted growth for the denomination.

“Some of our recent activity and growth is a fallout from the disbanding of special-education ministries in other denominations,” says Jerry Van Spronsen, CRC disability ministries program director.

In 1983, Christian Reformed Church leadership formed a subsidiary, Friendship Ministries, convinced that the clubs could better meet the needs of its members if it was a separate, nondenominational organization. Friendship Ministries now has an estimated 11,000 mentally challenged members, many the result of evangelism.

Celle Mereness, head of Friendship Ministries USA, says, “The Friendship concept is that one person befriends and shares the gospel with one mentally challenged person.”

Yet there have been times that the mainstreaming issue has caused concern. “At one conference, I was asked not to display our literature, because our concept was not inclusive,” Mereness says. “We do not segregate the members from the congregation but seek to draw mentally challenged people into the full fellowship of the church.”

Harry Piland of the Sunday School Board of the SBC defended the changes initiated by his denomination in January. “We chose a more inclusive model,” Piland says. “However, we found that our decision was not supported by the teachers and workers who are involved in ministry. Our teachers strongly believe that mentally disabled people need to hear the gospel on their educational level to be effectively discipled.”

“The pendulum will swing back to the truth,” Nabi says. “Evangelization of mentally challenged people is right.”

By Linda G. Howard.

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