A life well lived

Following the death earlier this week of my mother, Franziska Maria, néé Navratil, this blog is on hold for a while. Mum had had a long, varied and fruitful life which included a (deeply scary) adventure as a civilian worker in the German army behind the Russian lines; a happy but too brief marriage; rearing five children - four of them on her own following Dad's death; in her forties qualifying for entrance to and a degree from Edinburgh University, subsequently becoming Head of Languages at a local High School; and being a counsellor, then a supervisor, then a branch founder for CRUSE, being recognised in her 80s as Fife Volunteer of the year.

Most important, Mum became a follower of Jesus Christ in 1970 or 71. 18 months or so later, partly because of her testimony, Tricia and I followed suit. She is rejoicing with the saints in glory, but we whom she has influenced will badly miss her.

Please pray for my siblings (Mary, Frank, Helen, John) their spouses, children and grandchildren, and, of course, for Tricia, me, and ours.

Through Changing Scenes

The title is also that of the book by David Potter about the history of Prospects. He and his wife founded the charity, and led it for many years. I hadn't appreciated that the purpose of 'A Cause for Concern', the charity's original name, was to enable Christians with learning disabilities to live together in appropriately staffed communities. Local groups meeting for worship came later, as the need became apparent.

One of the things that has interested me is the motivation of people involved in leading and helping with the local groups. David Potter's was quite clear. When their disabled child reached age 10, he was challenged by a friend about what her life would be like (care was still highly institutionalised at the time) when he and his wife were no longer able to care for her. Prospects is the result. I had rather assumed this would be the norm, but my conversations revealed many stories and motivations. What is central to each is a clear sense of calling. All speak of how much they find fulfilment and pleasure in what they do.

I've now been to two more local groups, deliberately chosen for me because of their dissimilarities. It's clear that one size doesn't fit all. One leader told me how 75% of the members of a nearby group can read. 90% of his can't, so the way the bible is studied has to be much different. What the groups had in common was a vibrancy and joy that our churches can learn from. And the tambourines, shakers and flags wouldn't go amiss in some places!

I shall be coming back to Prospects towards the end of the sabbatical. Meantime, some reading on how God is building his church through those who are weak and powerless, and some thinking about issues of physical access.

A couple of visits

Last week we went up to one of our old haunts, Gillingham URC (Kent), to talk to Pam Tolhurst, the church's Local Leader. Pastor Pam, as she's better known, leads a monthly act of worship at Gillingham Deafblind Club.  Apparently very few people are completely unable to hear or see, and the people in the club suffer from various levels of disability. Communion Services are are kept very simple, as the hand language used to communicate with a profoundly deafblind person is laborious.

A number of members of the club are now Members at Gillingham URC, including one who went through a clear conversion experience after he started worshipping there. However, none of the more profoundly disabled club members is involved at the church. The hand language is fairly basic (although Pam showed us how to say, "God loves you"), and profoundly deafblind people tend to live in a very enclosed world. For example, prayer is only asked for close family and friends.

We are in the same territory as in the story of the severely disabled teenager of 'Wrestling with Angels', and those in severe dementia. The normal rules of the challenge to faith and the reasoned response don't apply. But God's grace always applies.

On Palm Sunday we had a great time of worship and celebration at Sonshine, a Prospects group meeting monthly in the West Sussex village of Climping to worship God and share the Good News about Jesus. The congregation consists mainly of people with learning disabilities and some of their carers. We started with the group's own worship song. We had simple praise songs; sketches; bible readings taking us through the stories of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday; a little teaching though nothing remotely like a sermon; two 'sharing times'; and a couple of short prayers partly linked to the sharing. There was also an excellent demonstration of how it is possible to communicate by puppetry, and the group hopes to develop its own puppet team. It felt not unlike many Family Services Tricia and/or I have led in the past, and it was good to be there.

Over the next two or three weeks I shall be going to some more Prospects groups and finding out about the work the organisation does. After that, I'll offer some deeper reflection on what I believe the Lord might be saying to the wider church through Christians with learning disabilities.