March 27, 2025 • 18 mins
Friendship House represents a powerful model of intentional community where individuals with disabilities and seminary students live, learn, and grow together. This episode dives into the unique origins, shared experiences, and spiritual formation within Friendship House, showcasing how mutual support fosters growth and challenges preconceived notions about disability in ministry.
• Introduction to the Friendship House's unique community
• Origins rooted in shared needs for affordable housing and independence
• Positive growth outcomes documented among residents with disabilities
• Emergence of the Fellows Program for vocational and spiritual formation
• Daily life blending worship, study, and mutual learning
• Emphasis on the importance of diversity in community living
• Future episodes to delve deeper into community stories and experiences
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:10):
Disabling the Church is a production of the Center for
Disability and Ministry atWestern Theological Seminary.
This series amplifies thevoices, giftedness and
perspectives of disabled peopleto enrich the ministry and
witness of the church andperspectives of disabled people
to enrich the ministry andwitness of the church.
Dr. LS Carlos Thompson (00:27):
Hello everyone and welcome to
Disabling the Church the podcast.
I am your host, dr LS CarlosThompson.
Today I'd like to invite youinto the story of the place that
I'm blessed to call home.
I live in a place called theFriendship House in Holland,
michigan.
It's a place that has becomehome to many, including me.
(00:48):
A place where people with andwithout disabilities live
together and form intentional,healthy relationships that are
governed toward bending to theformation of intentional
community in Christ for the goodof the world and the glory of
God.
We also exist to growindependent living skills and
share in spiritual andvocational formation and the
(01:10):
journey that God sort of calledus into as members of the body
of Christ.
The Friendship House is a partof the campus housing at Western
Theological Seminary, but whatmakes this place unique is the
makeup of its residentpopulation.
The house is home to facultylike myself, students and
individuals with intellectualand developmental disabilities.
(01:32):
The house was born out of acommunity conversation that took
place between six localfamilies with loved ones who
lived with intellectualdisabilities or IDDs and the
Western Theological Seminarycommunity.
In 2007, the seminary desiredto provide more affordable
in-residence housing for itsin-residence students and,
(01:55):
around the same time, severalfamilies in the Holland
community who had individuals intheir families who lived with
IDDs desired to provide anopportunity for their adult
children to live moreindependently outside of the
family home and to grow in theirindependent living skills and
to form intentional, healthy,supportive relationships.
(02:16):
Matt Floating, the seminary'sdean of students at the time
time, entered into conversationswith local families,
recognizing the possibility forcollaboration around the shared
need for more living space andmore living options.
On the one hand, our seminaryneeded to provide additional
housing and, on the other hand,the seminary also desired to
(02:38):
develop new ways of formingpastors and Christians for
faithful ministry in the world,knowing that the world ministry
in the world includes thinkingseriously about what it means to
walk alongside of people wholive with intellectual
disabilities and their family ifyou're going to do any work in
the church and meaningful workin the community.
(02:59):
When the house opened in 2007,these two groups students and
folks with intellectualdisabilities came together to
organically create complementaryways of life and community.
From 2007 to about 2018,students gained experience
working with disabledindividuals and living in a
(03:21):
place that was affordable, andthose who lived with
intellectual disabilitiescultivated their independent
living skills as well as growingin their social and vocational
skills.
In the context of a communitythat was supportive, the
seminary students were able tomore concretely reflect on the
material that they're learningin the classroom and ask
(03:42):
questions that concretelychallenged how the information
they were learning came downinto the lives of people who
lived with intellectualdisabilities or were simply just
very different than them.
People with intellectualdisabilities, naturally, by way
of being, are going to challengea lot of the paradigms that
(04:02):
govern what we gain in thecontext of theological education
, and so this seemed like anatural pair, and the fruit that
came out of this was faithfulto trying to expand the
worldview of seminary students.
Likewise, the founding sixmembers found that throughout
the first six to eight years oflife in the Friendship House,
(04:23):
their relational, social andindependent living skills grew
immensely.
A local special educationprofessor named Jane Finn from
Hope College collated test datafrom the first years of
residency up until that point ofabout six to eight years, and
it demonstrated immense growththat exceeded almost all
(04:44):
measurable expectations,socially and relationally.
Also, the independent livingskills that were garnered in
that period often moved waybeyond what was expected.
As a side note for moreinformation on the founding
ideals and visions behind theFriendship House.
You can see the list ofarticles linked below that I'll
explain more about a littlelater.
(05:06):
However, after those six years,things began to change Within
the seminary community.
Questions were raised about howwe gauge and measure what is
faithful and fruitful when welive intentionally in a
community with people who livewith intellectual disabilities.
How ought we desire to learnfrom one another and be shaped
(05:28):
by one another, and what sort ofresponsibility does a place
like a seminary have to all theindividuals whom God calls into
this kind of unique community,regardless of their race,
disability or gender, etc.
Around 2018, questions wereraised about what the Friendship
House could continue to do andwho this community could
(05:51):
continue to be faithfully andfruitfully within the context of
trying to live as the body ofChrist in a particular way that
involves theological educationand vocational discernment.
So, born out of these questionsand the discussion that
followed, the Friendship HouseFellows Program came to be.
(06:16):
The program introducedintentional theological
education, formation andvocational discernment for
residents with intellectualdisabilities and placed the
emphasis on spiritual formationrather than independent living
skills alone.
In a way, the Fellows Programwas born out of a desire to say
that it's not only the seminarystudent or the individual
(06:38):
registered for a degree programwho has a call from God, but
rather anyone living together inthe name of Jesus, who is being
mutually formed by other peoplewho are siblings in the faith,
has a vocation that expressesthe love of God for the world
(06:58):
and Christ's redemptive plan.
In short, we as a seminaryrecognize our responsibility to
partner in God's work and tobegin shaping the vocation and
offering tools for vocationaldiscernment, regardless of the
diverse background that someonemight come from.
That's, in fact, what enrichesa community that reflects the
(07:20):
body of Christ.
So in part, I came to theseminary as a doctoral fellow as
part of the Nowen FellowsProgram.
To help facilitate thistransformation in the Friendship
House and itsself-understanding in relation
to the seminary, I have sincejoined the faculty as the
Assistant Professor of ChristianMinistry and Disability
Theology.
I serve as the Director of theFriendship House and the
(07:43):
Director of the Friendship HouseFellows Program housed therein.
Life in the Friendship Houseresembles a mutually shared,
intentional Christian communityembedded in a seminary context
and, to the extent that this ispossible, everyone in the house
and even in the seminary areinvolved in intentionally
(08:04):
committing to the cultivation ofmutual discipleship in the
context of the community, thehouse that we call home.
Some of the more formal waysthat formation begins to happen
revolve around our commitment toreading scripture through the
lens of Lectio Divina, twice aweek at Bible study.
(08:26):
That draws all the members ofthe community and some of the
broader seminary communityaround the study of scripture
and conversations aroundpassages and what the Spirit may
be teaching us.
And there are options toparticipate in evening vespers
or evening prayer that's guidedby an adaptation of the North
American Anglican Church's Bookof Common Prayer, and this is an
(08:48):
option Monday through Thursdayin the lounge in the house.
And then we have communitydinner together once a week and
we celebrate birthdays and otherholidays around these same
rhythms.
So the house as it exists nowis much more intentionally and
formally embedded in a kind ofmonastic rhythm of doing life
(09:12):
together, praying together,worshiping together, and
revolves around the reading andthe recitation of the word
together, because we are alldisciples of Jesus, members of
the body of Christ, tasked withdiscipling one another in Christ
and living together so that wecan become more like Christ.
(09:32):
It's not contingent on whetheror not we believe socially that
someone has the capacitiesneeded to do that individually.
We believe that life and workare contingent on God's calling
people into these kinds ofspaces so that we can belong to
Christ and, through Christ,belong to one another.
(09:54):
It's in this belonging, then,that we learn to befriend one
another, that we teach oneanother and that we learn from
one another, giving to oneanother and receiving from one
another.
So in this context, fellows dolife alongside of other seminary
students and founding membersof the community who have since
(10:17):
matriculated out of the programand, as a founding member, have
transitioned into moreindependent housing, no longer
on the seminary campus.
Now all the founding memberslive independently in their own
apartments down the street andremain very involved as members
of the Friendship Housecommunity.
And we have residents who livethen in the Friendship House
(10:42):
part of the fellows program, andother seminary students, and
then they live within this sortof broader community of people
who no longer live in theFriendship House, and this
includes the founding members.
We are part of a community thatis committed to growing in our
faith together and we gathertogether out of a commitment and
(11:06):
a desire to make this househome, gather together out of a
commitment and a desire to makethis house home.
So within the Friendship HouseFellows Program there's a set
curriculum that Fellows areinvited into alongside of other
seminary students, a series ofblended classes.
One of those classes is calledLiving into Community.
It's a class that I teacharound forming or giving
(11:28):
students the tools to begin toarticulate a theology of
community, where students areinvited to read a series of
texts from the Christiantradition and then the biblical
text and then conversationallyflesh out a theology of
community that considers thiskind of mutual diversity as an
(11:49):
expression of a gift fromdivinity, rather than assuming
that diversity or difference isjust a sign of deficiency.
Diversity or difference is justa sign of deficiency.
Understanding what it is to beconnected to the body of Christ
is a place where fellows canbegin to tease things out
theologically alongside of theirfellow students and co-learners
(12:10):
as equals in the classroom.
This is a mutual space wherethe learning and formation that
begins to happen for theseminary student is shared as
something that every student,fellow or seminary student
without a disability arewelcomed into for a mutual good
(12:40):
conversation where we are allequal contributors forming one
another carries over intoconversations about scripture
that then influences our eveningBible studies, our evening
prayers, and is discussed veryorganically around the dinner
table when we gather in thelounge.
Many of those conversations,though they're not formally
scripted, they are veryindicative of the foundational
values that govern how we'vecommitted to doing life together
(13:04):
.
So we listen to and we learnfrom and we enrich one another
in the spirit.
And this sort of formalemphasis on mutuality and
stability and of being committedto being with one another is
the shift that has given birthto the fellows program.
(13:25):
After that six-year mark, whenthings kind of level out
relationally, socially andlikewise, then it's reasonable
as a seminary to ask questionslike where do we go from here?
Where do we go to move forwardfaithfully in the face of the
fact that we are a seminary andwe want to give birth to all
(13:48):
that aligns with God's intentionfor the world and not simply
settle for what's comfortable orfamiliar to us?
How should we commit toengaging people regardless of
gender, ability or perceivedcapacity?
And as we start asking thesequestions in humility and with
(14:09):
gentleness, then our hopesexpand and our convictions allow
more space for us to live inreally beautiful ways that are
uncomfortable, new, innovative,but they also reinvigorate space
to ask questions around.
What does it mean for us to bea part of the body of Christ and
(14:29):
an expression of the presenceof Christ to one another, for
the good of the world and theglory of God.
I hope that you've enjoyed thisintroduction to the house that I
love, this place that I havethe honor of calling home.
Remember that a house is a homebecause of the people that
share it and further, a home isa home through the continual
(14:53):
practice of reconciliation,forgiveness and the extension of
grace.
I want to let you know thatthere will be subsequent
episodes where we begin to hearfrom members of the founding
group and the fellows programand we'll have more intentional
space to engage questions likewhat does it mean to have a
vocation in Christ?
What is it like to live day today in the friendship house?
(15:16):
How does a communalunderstanding of this kind of
interior life and what it liketo live day to day in the
friendship house?
How does a communalunderstanding of this kind of
interior life and what it meansto be a Christian inform how you
understand your purpose in lifeor how a person might come to
know what it means to even be aChristian in the first place?
How does living in a space likethis impact your understanding
(15:37):
of the importance of communityin relation to how you
understand what it even means tobe a member of the body of
Christ.
But if you're anything like me,this sort of conversation spurs
some further interest and youwant to do some further reading.
There will be additional linksunderneath that point you into a
(15:57):
direction where you can beginto tease out and learn about
some of the earlier days in thefriendship house and what burst
the initial vision for thefriendship house.
An article that was written byme was.
It can be found in commentmagazine and it's titled the
beauty of belonging and it'sbased on a series of
conversations that I'mreflecting on between myself and
(16:20):
one of the founding members ofthe community named Seth
Vanderbrook, who you'll meetlater in other episodes.
There's also another articlethat you can read that's found
in the Journal for Disabilityand Theology and it's an article
that takes a bit of time toread but it's kind of critiquing
theological education ordisabling theological education
(16:42):
and engaging some of what mighthave been some of the missing
points in the earlier days ofthe vision of the Friendship
House, and it helps to explain alittle bit more of how the
Fellows Program came to be byemphasizing a more formalized
structure that gave birth tointentional theological
formation.
Then, as a result of a seriesof conversations with founding
(17:07):
members of the community over along period, some of these
articles came to be and we'llbegin to reflect on some of how
that impacts, even still to thisday, our daily functioning as a
community.
A series of things you can readif you want to enter into a
conversation gently and wait asyou kind of learn how to develop
(17:29):
a vernacular for any of theseconversations can be found in
these articles.
But by no means is it acomprehensive way to enter this
conversation.
So I hope that you willcontinue to listen to subsequent
episodes and, as always, it'sgood to be with you.
I look forward to being withyou.
May God bless you.
May God keep you and my friendsuntil next time.
(17:52):
Be blessed.
Intro (17:58):
This has been a Center for Disability and Ministry
production.
Join us next time for anotherinsightful episode.
Disabling the Church is a production of the Center for
Disability and Ministry atWestern Theological Seminary.
This series amplifies thevoices, giftedness and
perspectives of disabled peopleto enrich the ministry and
witness of the church andperspectives of disabled people
to enrich the ministry andwitness of the church.
Dr. LS Carlos Thompson (00:27):
Hello everyone and welcome to
Disabling the Church the podcast.
I am your host, dr LS CarlosThompson.
Today I'd like to invite youinto the story of the place that
I'm blessed to call home.
I live in a place called theFriendship House in Holland,
michigan.
It's a place that has becomehome to many, including me.
(00:48):
A place where people with andwithout disabilities live
together and form intentional,healthy relationships that are
governed toward bending to theformation of intentional
community in Christ for the goodof the world and the glory of
God.
We also exist to growindependent living skills and
share in spiritual andvocational formation and the
(01:10):
journey that God sort of calledus into as members of the body
of Christ.
The Friendship House is a partof the campus housing at Western
Theological Seminary, but whatmakes this place unique is the
makeup of its residentpopulation.
The house is home to facultylike myself, students and
individuals with intellectualand developmental disabilities.
(01:32):
The house was born out of acommunity conversation that took
place between six localfamilies with loved ones who
lived with intellectualdisabilities or IDDs and the
Western Theological Seminarycommunity.
In 2007, the seminary desiredto provide more affordable
in-residence housing for itsin-residence students and,
(01:55):
around the same time, severalfamilies in the Holland
community who had individuals intheir families who lived with
IDDs desired to provide anopportunity for their adult
children to live moreindependently outside of the
family home and to grow in theirindependent living skills and
to form intentional, healthy,supportive relationships.
(02:16):
Matt Floating, the seminary'sdean of students at the time
time, entered into conversationswith local families,
recognizing the possibility forcollaboration around the shared
need for more living space andmore living options.
On the one hand, our seminaryneeded to provide additional
housing and, on the other hand,the seminary also desired to
(02:38):
develop new ways of formingpastors and Christians for
faithful ministry in the world,knowing that the world ministry
in the world includes thinkingseriously about what it means to
walk alongside of people wholive with intellectual
disabilities and their family ifyou're going to do any work in
the church and meaningful workin the community.
(02:59):
When the house opened in 2007,these two groups students and
folks with intellectualdisabilities came together to
organically create complementaryways of life and community.
From 2007 to about 2018,students gained experience
working with disabledindividuals and living in a
(03:21):
place that was affordable, andthose who lived with
intellectual disabilitiescultivated their independent
living skills as well as growingin their social and vocational
skills.
In the context of a communitythat was supportive, the
seminary students were able tomore concretely reflect on the
material that they're learningin the classroom and ask
(03:42):
questions that concretelychallenged how the information
they were learning came downinto the lives of people who
lived with intellectualdisabilities or were simply just
very different than them.
People with intellectualdisabilities, naturally, by way
of being, are going to challengea lot of the paradigms that
(04:02):
govern what we gain in thecontext of theological education
, and so this seemed like anatural pair, and the fruit that
came out of this was faithfulto trying to expand the
worldview of seminary students.
Likewise, the founding sixmembers found that throughout
the first six to eight years oflife in the Friendship House,
(04:23):
their relational, social andindependent living skills grew
immensely.
A local special educationprofessor named Jane Finn from
Hope College collated test datafrom the first years of
residency up until that point ofabout six to eight years, and
it demonstrated immense growththat exceeded almost all
(04:44):
measurable expectations,socially and relationally.
Also, the independent livingskills that were garnered in
that period often moved waybeyond what was expected.
As a side note for moreinformation on the founding
ideals and visions behind theFriendship House.
You can see the list ofarticles linked below that I'll
explain more about a littlelater.
(05:06):
However, after those six years,things began to change Within
the seminary community.
Questions were raised about howwe gauge and measure what is
faithful and fruitful when welive intentionally in a
community with people who livewith intellectual disabilities.
How ought we desire to learnfrom one another and be shaped
(05:28):
by one another, and what sort ofresponsibility does a place
like a seminary have to all theindividuals whom God calls into
this kind of unique community,regardless of their race,
disability or gender, etc.
Around 2018, questions wereraised about what the Friendship
House could continue to do andwho this community could
(05:51):
continue to be faithfully andfruitfully within the context of
trying to live as the body ofChrist in a particular way that
involves theological educationand vocational discernment.
So, born out of these questionsand the discussion that
followed, the Friendship HouseFellows Program came to be.
(06:16):
The program introducedintentional theological
education, formation andvocational discernment for
residents with intellectualdisabilities and placed the
emphasis on spiritual formationrather than independent living
skills alone.
In a way, the Fellows Programwas born out of a desire to say
that it's not only the seminarystudent or the individual
(06:38):
registered for a degree programwho has a call from God, but
rather anyone living together inthe name of Jesus, who is being
mutually formed by other peoplewho are siblings in the faith,
has a vocation that expressesthe love of God for the world
(06:58):
and Christ's redemptive plan.
In short, we as a seminaryrecognize our responsibility to
partner in God's work and tobegin shaping the vocation and
offering tools for vocationaldiscernment, regardless of the
diverse background that someonemight come from.
That's, in fact, what enrichesa community that reflects the
(07:20):
body of Christ.
So in part, I came to theseminary as a doctoral fellow as
part of the Nowen FellowsProgram.
To help facilitate thistransformation in the Friendship
House and itsself-understanding in relation
to the seminary, I have sincejoined the faculty as the
Assistant Professor of ChristianMinistry and Disability
Theology.
I serve as the Director of theFriendship House and the
(07:43):
Director of the Friendship HouseFellows Program housed therein.
Life in the Friendship Houseresembles a mutually shared,
intentional Christian communityembedded in a seminary context
and, to the extent that this ispossible, everyone in the house
and even in the seminary areinvolved in intentionally
(08:04):
committing to the cultivation ofmutual discipleship in the
context of the community, thehouse that we call home.
Some of the more formal waysthat formation begins to happen
revolve around our commitment toreading scripture through the
lens of Lectio Divina, twice aweek at Bible study.
(08:26):
That draws all the members ofthe community and some of the
broader seminary communityaround the study of scripture
and conversations aroundpassages and what the Spirit may
be teaching us.
And there are options toparticipate in evening vespers
or evening prayer that's guidedby an adaptation of the North
American Anglican Church's Bookof Common Prayer, and this is an
(08:48):
option Monday through Thursdayin the lounge in the house.
And then we have communitydinner together once a week and
we celebrate birthdays and otherholidays around these same
rhythms.
So the house as it exists nowis much more intentionally and
formally embedded in a kind ofmonastic rhythm of doing life
(09:12):
together, praying together,worshiping together, and
revolves around the reading andthe recitation of the word
together, because we are alldisciples of Jesus, members of
the body of Christ, tasked withdiscipling one another in Christ
and living together so that wecan become more like Christ.
(09:32):
It's not contingent on whetheror not we believe socially that
someone has the capacitiesneeded to do that individually.
We believe that life and workare contingent on God's calling
people into these kinds ofspaces so that we can belong to
Christ and, through Christ,belong to one another.
(09:54):
It's in this belonging, then,that we learn to befriend one
another, that we teach oneanother and that we learn from
one another, giving to oneanother and receiving from one
another.
So in this context, fellows dolife alongside of other seminary
students and founding membersof the community who have since
(10:17):
matriculated out of the programand, as a founding member, have
transitioned into moreindependent housing, no longer
on the seminary campus.
Now all the founding memberslive independently in their own
apartments down the street andremain very involved as members
of the Friendship Housecommunity.
And we have residents who livethen in the Friendship House
(10:42):
part of the fellows program, andother seminary students, and
then they live within this sortof broader community of people
who no longer live in theFriendship House, and this
includes the founding members.
We are part of a community thatis committed to growing in our
faith together and we gathertogether out of a commitment and
(11:06):
a desire to make this househome, gather together out of a
commitment and a desire to makethis house home.
So within the Friendship HouseFellows Program there's a set
curriculum that Fellows areinvited into alongside of other
seminary students, a series ofblended classes.
One of those classes is calledLiving into Community.
It's a class that I teacharound forming or giving
(11:28):
students the tools to begin toarticulate a theology of
community, where students areinvited to read a series of
texts from the Christiantradition and then the biblical
text and then conversationallyflesh out a theology of
community that considers thiskind of mutual diversity as an
(11:49):
expression of a gift fromdivinity, rather than assuming
that diversity or difference isjust a sign of deficiency.
Diversity or difference is justa sign of deficiency.
Understanding what it is to beconnected to the body of Christ
is a place where fellows canbegin to tease things out
theologically alongside of theirfellow students and co-learners
(12:10):
as equals in the classroom.
This is a mutual space wherethe learning and formation that
begins to happen for theseminary student is shared as
something that every student,fellow or seminary student
without a disability arewelcomed into for a mutual good
(12:40):
conversation where we are allequal contributors forming one
another carries over intoconversations about scripture
that then influences our eveningBible studies, our evening
prayers, and is discussed veryorganically around the dinner
table when we gather in thelounge.
Many of those conversations,though they're not formally
scripted, they are veryindicative of the foundational
values that govern how we'vecommitted to doing life together
(13:04):
.
So we listen to and we learnfrom and we enrich one another
in the spirit.
And this sort of formalemphasis on mutuality and
stability and of being committedto being with one another is
the shift that has given birthto the fellows program.
(13:25):
After that six-year mark, whenthings kind of level out
relationally, socially andlikewise, then it's reasonable
as a seminary to ask questionslike where do we go from here?
Where do we go to move forwardfaithfully in the face of the
fact that we are a seminary andwe want to give birth to all
(13:48):
that aligns with God's intentionfor the world and not simply
settle for what's comfortable orfamiliar to us?
How should we commit toengaging people regardless of
gender, ability or perceivedcapacity?
And as we start asking thesequestions in humility and with
(14:09):
gentleness, then our hopesexpand and our convictions allow
more space for us to live inreally beautiful ways that are
uncomfortable, new, innovative,but they also reinvigorate space
to ask questions around.
What does it mean for us to bea part of the body of Christ and
(14:29):
an expression of the presenceof Christ to one another, for
the good of the world and theglory of God.
I hope that you've enjoyed thisintroduction to the house that I
love, this place that I havethe honor of calling home.
Remember that a house is a homebecause of the people that
share it and further, a home isa home through the continual
(14:53):
practice of reconciliation,forgiveness and the extension of
grace.
I want to let you know thatthere will be subsequent
episodes where we begin to hearfrom members of the founding
group and the fellows programand we'll have more intentional
space to engage questions likewhat does it mean to have a
vocation in Christ?
What is it like to live day today in the friendship house?
(15:16):
How does a communalunderstanding of this kind of
interior life and what it liketo live day to day in the
friendship house?
How does a communalunderstanding of this kind of
interior life and what it meansto be a Christian inform how you
understand your purpose in lifeor how a person might come to
know what it means to even be aChristian in the first place?
How does living in a space likethis impact your understanding
(15:37):
of the importance of communityin relation to how you
understand what it even means tobe a member of the body of
Christ.
But if you're anything like me,this sort of conversation spurs
some further interest and youwant to do some further reading.
There will be additional linksunderneath that point you into a
(15:57):
direction where you can beginto tease out and learn about
some of the earlier days in thefriendship house and what burst
the initial vision for thefriendship house.
An article that was written byme was.
It can be found in commentmagazine and it's titled the
beauty of belonging and it'sbased on a series of
conversations that I'mreflecting on between myself and
(16:20):
one of the founding members ofthe community named Seth
Vanderbrook, who you'll meetlater in other episodes.
There's also another articlethat you can read that's found
in the Journal for Disabilityand Theology and it's an article
that takes a bit of time toread but it's kind of critiquing
theological education ordisabling theological education
(16:42):
and engaging some of what mighthave been some of the missing
points in the earlier days ofthe vision of the Friendship
House, and it helps to explain alittle bit more of how the
Fellows Program came to be byemphasizing a more formalized
structure that gave birth tointentional theological
formation.
Then, as a result of a seriesof conversations with founding
(17:07):
members of the community over along period, some of these
articles came to be and we'llbegin to reflect on some of how
that impacts, even still to thisday, our daily functioning as a
community.
A series of things you can readif you want to enter into a
conversation gently and wait asyou kind of learn how to develop
(17:29):
a vernacular for any of theseconversations can be found in
these articles.
But by no means is it acomprehensive way to enter this
conversation.
So I hope that you willcontinue to listen to subsequent
episodes and, as always, it'sgood to be with you.
I look forward to being withyou.
May God bless you.
May God keep you and my friendsuntil next time.
(17:52):
Be blessed.
Intro (17:58):
This has been a Center for Disability and Ministry
production.
Join us next time for anotherinsightful episode.
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