EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOL OF GENUINE HUMANITY: PASTORAL CARE FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITY AND THEIR FAMILIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Disability is an inescapable reality of life. Many families who have a disabled member among them face serious emotional, psychological and socio-economic challenges. Some of these persons living with disability are also members of the church. However, in spite of their sizable numbers in many worshiping communities, they are basically sidelined in the pastoral outreach of the church. The reasons for this are either ignorance, prejudice or the absence of adequate pastoral training on how to reach out to this group or perhaps their seeming neglect is a symptom of a deeper theological problem. Could the pastoral ‘invisibility’ of persons living with disability in ecclesial life not be due to a theological uneasiness regarding God’s goodness, the problem of evil, etc. The goal of this article is to examine the parameters of a pastoral care plan. This article will be predicated on the fact that persons living with disability form part of the body of Christ and are full human subjects with the corresponding innate, sacred and inviolable rights. They too have unique gifts which can be at the service of communion. Harnessing these gifts will require an education in the school of genuine humanity whereby able members of the church will create a conducive atmosphere of pastoral integration for people living with disability and their families. The goal is to make people with disabilities equal partners in the Christian community. This pastoral care plan will include but may not be limited to designing churches that are disabled friendly (mobility) creating opportunities for ministry by persons with disability, pastorally reaching out to families with disabled members and examining how the laws of state protect the disabled and how these can be harmonized with the pastoral ministry of the church.