July Bookbag - Part One

TRUE VINE: A YOUNG BLACK MAN’S JOURNEY OF FAITH, HOPE, AND CLARITY

John W. Fountain is a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a journalism professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He also has served on the journalism faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, lectured at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and written for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune (which is far better than the Sun-Times in my estimation), and the Washington Post. He grew up on the West Side of Chicago at the same time I was growing up in the Western Suburbs of Chicago.

For those of you who aren’t from the Chicagoland area, there’s a big difference between growing up in the city and growing up in the suburbs. Growing-up, I had the opportunity to take in many cultural events because I lived  near the Second City.. I sampled all manner of cuisine (always fun), went shopping (generally fun), and visited pediatric medical specialists affiliated with prestigious medical schools (rarely fun and always tedious). When the meal, shopping trip or medical appointment was over, we hopped on the Eisenhower and returned to the relative-calm of DuPage County.

Fountain grew up poor, black, and male in the city of Chicago. The schools were bad. The crime was bad. His biological dad left. Fountain fathered a child while he was still a teenager. True Vine, which draws its name from John 15:15, tells the story of Fountain’s growing-up years. I saw how Fountain drew strength from his Pentecostal roots and his involvement in the local church. Grandpa was a preacher and his Grandma was a prayer warrior. I saw how – despite a series of academic and financial missteps – Fountain returned to the U of I to finish his bachelors, complete a masters, and be a parent. Though it dragged a little in the beginning, I read most of the 350+ page book in one sitting and enjoyed it.

SPECIAL NEEDS MINISTRY

My interest in Special Needs Ministry has more to do with the fact that my cousin Scott has a son with special needs than it does with me.  I'm pleased the church is beginning to reach out to families who face challenges like ours.  As I see it, Special Needs Families may require accomodation in worship services and educational programs. Additional Pastoral Care - including hospital visitation and referrals to professional counselors - also may be warranted. Then, there's the issue of respite care.  What role might a church play in providing that?  While having a spouse or child with special needs is a blessing, these families also experience significant emotional, spiritual and financial stress.  The divorce rate for couples with special needs kids is upwards of 75 percent.  Teaching skiing, I had the opportunity to connect with a lot of families and developed a heart for the siblings.

AMAZING GIFTS: STORIES OF FAITH, DISABILITY AND INCLUSION

Mark I. Pinsky, who is religion editor of the Orlando Sentinel, has edited a collection of stories which address how churches have met the challenge of including Special Needs Families in their congregations.

WHY, O GOD?: SUFFERING AND DISABILITY IN THE BIBLE AND CHURCH

Why, O God? Is edited by Larry J. Waters and Roy B. Zuck. Waters is associate professor of Bible Exposition and teaches in the missions department in Dallas Theological Seminary. Roy B. Zuck is senior professor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary. The first two sections of Why O God are exegetical – addressing the themes of suffering and disability in the Old and New Testaments. The third section is theological. The fourth section addresses how the church can meet the needs of special needs families. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two sections of the book although it took me a long time to finish them. The second half of the book was less enlightening. It may have more to do with my background than the text itself. I had the distinct pleasure of taking a Redemptive Suffering class from Dr. Bruce Demarest last summer.

THE BIBLE, DISABILITY, AND THE CHURCH: A NEW VISION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Amos Yong is J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology at Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia. He also is the author of Theology and Down Syndrome and Hospitality and the Other.

Yong, who has a brother with Down Syndrome remarks, "Some say that sustained thinking about disability is unnecessary because disabled people constitute only a very small percentage of our congregations. I counter, however, that this is probably because the church communicates the message ‘you are not welcome here to people with disabilities. Further, there are more ‘hidden’ disabilities that are not noticeable, so how do we know that there are in fact few people with disabilities in our churches? Last but not least, the challenges associated with living with disability will be experienced by everyone if they live long enough, whatever medical aids and technological advances may develop."  The author advocates that churches not only accommodating parishioners with special needs but specifically inviting them into their congregations.