Hope Centre helps churches include the marginalized
WINNIPEG, MB—Shellie Power, director of spiritual care at Hope Centre Ministries, envisions a day when her organization doesn't have to exist.
The 40-year-old ministry provides friendship and pastoral care for people with disabilities through worship, fellowship groups and retreats. Hope Centre also advises churches on how they can be more inclusive of people with disabilities. It recently hosted IN2013, a conference for churches and other organizations that want to grow in their understanding of inclusion.
"I suppose our vision is that people wouldn't need us after a while," Power says with a laugh. "We don't want to be a segregated group of people with disabilities—we want to be able to support churches to include members with disabilities."
Power says 14 per cent of Canadians have a disability, but most churches don't reflect that. While churches have come a long way in accepting people with physical disabilities, she believes the challenge to accept people with mental disabilities still exists.
"As church communities and faith families, God has called us to inclusion, and Jesus modelled that for us," Power says. "Our prayer for churches is that they realize and respond to the call that God has put on us."
Power adds that most churches want to include people with disabilities—they just don't know how.
While there is no blanket approach to becoming more inclusive, Power believes there are a few starting points: doing an evaluation to see how your church is doing when it comes to including people with disabilities; equipping volunteers; and developing a plan.
Building relationships with people who have disabilities is also key, Power adds.
"We have to know people personally, so that they are comfortable sharing what they need with us," she says. "I really think if we know people—really, really know them—we'll be able to seek out the support for what they need."
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