Extending Long Term Hospitality

Mental Health & Disabilities

 

1. Outline for Worship Service
2. Litany: For the whole people of God
3. Reader's Theatre
4. Pastoral Prayer
5. Appendices
6. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the church

 

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1. Outline for Worship Service

Extending Long Term Hospitality

Specifically to People Living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

 

Preamble

The service outline that follows is longer than most congregations would need for a service. Feel free to use or adapt as it fits your congregation. Much of this material can be found in MCC's Light for All: Worship Resources for Including People with Mental Illness and Disabilities and can be copied for congregational use. Some of it pertains to disabilities in general and some has been adapted to fit for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(FASD). The article The Church and FASD in the appendices gives some general background information on FASD.

The hymns and numbers are from Hymnal: A Worship Book.

The poem Beatitudes for Family and Friends in the appendices could be used on the bulletin cover or incorporated into the sermon.

 

Gathering

Hymn

All People That On Earth Do Dwell - #42

 

Call To Worship

Let's worship God who loves us all;
Whether we're old or young
Educated or uneducated, healthy or ill,
Dark skinned or light-skinned,
Rich or poor, conservative or liberal.

Let's worship God who wants us to
Love our neighbor as ourselves;
The one who is weak and the one who is strong
The one we understand and the one we don't
The one who is like us and the one who is different.

Let's worship the God who desires our love;
Whether we are confused or together,
Happy or sad, smart or delayed,
Trusting or fearful, ugly or beautiful,
Successful or a failure.

Let's worship God with our thoughts, prayers and songs.

 

From Light for All.

 

Praising God

Hymns

Now Thank We All Our God #86
Praise My Soul the King of Heaven #65

 

Confession

Litany: For the whole people of God (2. below)

 

Hymn

Brothers and Sisters of Mine #142

 

Affirming Our Faith

Responsive Reading #711

 

Hearing the Word

Scripture Reading of 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 in Readers' Theatre Style

 

Children's Feature

Based on I Corinthians 12:12-26 Everyone in Our Church is Important

Ideas that could be included:

• God made each boy and girl in very special ways
• Get children to list parts of their body, point to them or use them in some way and tell why they are important
• Then give examples of body parts they did not list and ask why these are important
• We need all our body parts for different reasons
• Families are like that, too. We need all people in our family; each one is important
• Different families are different - some have two parents and two or three children, some have one parent and two or three children, some have a grandparent and a parent and a child - the families are different but all the people in it are important.
• Our church family is a bigger family. What kinds of people do we have in it?
• As various kinds of people are listed get one person from each group to stand to help children see the diversity.
• Are they the same? Can they all do the same things?
• Some can walk, some can't; some can talk, some can't; some can sit still, others can't; some can read, some can't; some can sing, some can't.
• But all of us are part of our church family and all of us are very important

 

Sermon

Based on I Corinthians 12:12-26

Introduction:

• It might be good to use A Ray of Hope from the appendices (5. below) as part of the introduction.

Some possible points that could be included in the sermon:

• All people are important in the body of Christ
• All people have abilities and vulnerabilities
• Inclusion of all people in worship and church life is Biblical and important
• This is important for mutual good and edification
• People who do not see themselves as having a disability need to stop long enough to see what gifts people who have a disability bring to them so mutual edification can be experienced
• It would be very helpful if the speaker could share some personal story(stories) of how a person with FASD has been a blessing to the speaker
• The poem Beatitudes for Family and Friends could be included

 

Responding

Pastoral Prayer (4. below)

 

Adapted from Light for All.

 

Hymns

Will You Let Me Be Your Servant #307
Healer of Our Every Ill #377
For We Are Strangers No More #322

Sending

Benediction
May the Lord bless you; may the Lord give you courage to be an inclusive faith community for all God's people. Amen

 

2. Litany: For the whole people of God

Leader:
Lord, we do not understand many of your ways in creating and sustaining the universe. We do not understand why people have disabilities, even though we may identify specific causes such as accidents, disease and aging.

Congregation:
Lord, we come to you, confessing our desire for wholeness and our willingness to bear with one another when our bodies fail us.

Leader:
We know that the unity of the church includes both those with disabilities and those without, young and the elderly, the gifted and those who learn more slowly.

Congregation:
We hear your word, O Lord.

Leader:
To exemplify the full humanity revealed in Christ, and to achieve unity in diversity, we open our arms to those who have a disability and offer them full participation in the life of the church.

Congregation:
Strengthen our commitment to your way, O Lord.

Leader:
We handicap people by our pity. We stare at those who do not look like us, or refuse to meet the eyes of those who are different. We give up talking to those who cannot hear the way we hear, or see the way we see. Deliver us, O Lord, from our insensitivity and lack of creativity. Help us know ourselves and our own real disabilities.

Congregation:
Let Your wisdom lead us, O Lord.

Leader:
We recognize that people who have disabilities teach people who do not have a disability much about strength and Christian acceptance, and understand that they have the same duty, as do all members of the community, to do the Lord's work in the world, according to their God-given talents and capacities.

Congregation:
Help us to see your truth, O Lord.

Leader:
We commit ourselves again to the full acceptance of people with disabilities within the mainstream of our congregational life, assuring the full integration of persons with disabilities into our membership, encouraging the full participation in church and society, helping them realize their full potential, and thus express our belief in the dignity and worth of all persons.

 

3. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 — Readers' Theatre Style

Reader 1:
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

Reader 2:
For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body—

Reader 3:
whether sighted or sightless,

Reader 1:
hearing or hearing impaired,

Reader 2:
mobile or immobile, quiet or wiggly,

Reader 3:
genius or slow-learners—

All:
and we were all given the one Spirit.

Reader 3:
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Reader 1:
If a person using a wheelchair asks, "Because I am not able to walk, do I for that reason cease to be a member of the body?"

Readers 2 & 3:
No, you are a part of the body.

Reader 2:
And if a person living with FASD asks, "Since I don't fit into the church's educational program, do I for that reason cease to belong to the church?"

Reader 1 & 3:
No, you are part of the body.

Reader 3:
If the whole body were learners, who would be the teachers? If the whole church were talkers, who would listen?

Reader 1:
As it is, God has arranged the kinds of people in a church. Each one God has chosen. If all were the same, where would the beauty be?

All:
As it is, there are people with many types of abilities, but one church.

Reader 3:
The members of the church that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those who seem to be disabled we treat with greater respect. Those who need assistance we serve with dignity.

Reader 1:
God has combined the members of the church and has given grace to all so there should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other.

All:
If one part has need, every part feels that need; if one part receives care, every part rejoices with it.

 

Adapted from Light for All.

 

4. Pastoral Prayer

Gracious God, today we are thinking about people who live with disabilities. Some of the disabilities are visible and we know about them although we do not know what it feels like for the person who lives with them. Some disabilities are invisible and very few people know about them. Sometimes we don't even believe people when they tell us about things we cannot see or we make it seem as if the disability is insignificant.

We pray for all people who live with a disability but today especially for those who have been affected by alcohol before they were born. We pray that they would sense your presence in the midst of what may be confusing, frustrating, lonely and sometimes debilitating. We pray for people with disabilities who often feel on the fringe of the congregation because they cannot think as clearly or as quickly as some others do. We pray that you would give them courage to live with their disabilities and even to have the courage to tell us what it is like to live with them.

We pray for members of their families who may feel very alone because sometimes disabilities tend to isolate families. We pray for wisdom for family member who seek to support and walk with those whose lives are affected by FASD. We pray that all of us, no matter what our situation, would find hope in You. We pray for people who work in the disabilities' field and that they would work with compassion and understanding.

We pray that our congregation would be open and include all people in our church's worship and activities. We pray for a true spirit of humility so we will learn from each other. We ask that we would face our own vulnerabilities, be open about them and never think that we are superior or more important than someone else. Help us not to give easy answers to the difficult questions that face people who struggle with a wide variety of issues in their lives. Give us grace to be gracious with all people.

We pray for people all over the world - those who struggle in any way, whether it be because of long-term illnesses, disabilities, poverty, losses, stigma or loneliness. Somehow through Your mercy let them sense Your care.

Forgive us where we take things for granted and where we go our own way. Forgive us for our selfishness. Forgive us for our prejudices and our biases. Help us this morning to respond to you and to hear what You want us to hear. For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

 

Adapted from Light for All.

 

5. Appendices

1. A Ray of Hope

I was not diagnosed with FASD until I was 43 years old and not knowing the reasons for my actions was very frustrating. I was really a person who wanted to do good! I could not understand what drove me to disappoint those I wanted to be proud of me. I was so lost! It was only after I was diagnosed with FASD that I realized my brain was like a fuse box on overload without the current flow that healthy brains have, to give me the chance to think before I acted and make a choice. This was taken away from me by the alcohol before I was born.

Now where do I go from here? First it was important for me to realize the reason I had a short circuit. With this information I could pick up from that point and not keep bashing my head against the wall trying to be normal and function like those who don't have brain damage. This is impossible! Now knowing this would I take advantage of this knowledge? At first maybe so, but with a chance to begin where I am capable and achieve from that point can only better my life. Now I might have a damaged brain and be unable to make decisions, but by turning to my higher power, that being (God) would and could take over for me.

I could as these words suggest be "BORN AGAIN". Yes, I am talking about faith and turning my life over to Jesus Christ. Now just imagine being able to have the Son of God take over for my damaged fuse box. Well I have done just that. Jesus Christ is guiding me and when I have a situation that needs a fuse box Jesus is there to comfort me and calm me down. This spiritual connection has many outlets. Jesus has taught me the signals. I first start out with the mellow music of a composer named Mars Lasar. With a Name like Mars who would think his music helps with bringing me back to earth. Faith in my life over rides the brain damage and gives me the strength to listen and let Jesus take control! I don't always release it to the Lord. That's when I have problems and begin to panic! But in the end of all the defects that the alcohol has given me, Jesus takes over and all is calm and peace is restored.

Programs are needed for those who are affected with FASD. I will devote my life to see that these get off the ground. I also will help create them. This is my pledge to our Special Ones and those who love them! Although FASD is for life, hope is here and I'm no different from any other affected individual. I cast a rainbow and say that at the end of this rainbow is productive life for all with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. I will help unlock that door and help all of you see this rainbow and see the productive life that Your Special One can lead.

 

By Stephen Neafcy 2001
"Diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder FASD"

www.fasflight.com

 

2. Beatitudes for Family and Friends

Blessed are you who take time to listen to difficult speech,
For you help us to persevere until we understand.

Blessed are you who walk with us in public places and ignore the stares of strangers,
For we find havens of relaxation in your companionship.

Blessed are you who never bid us to "hurry up", and more blessed are you who do not snatch our task from our hands to do them for us,
For often we need time, rather than help.

Blessed are you who stand beside us as we enter new and untried ventures,
For the delight we feel when we surprise you outweighs all the frustrating failures.

Blessed are you who ask for our help,
For our greatest need is to be needed.

Author Unknown

 

Adapted from Light for All.

 

6. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the church

Read Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the church article in the FASD Articles section.

 

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