p–ISSN: 2723 - 6609 e-ISSN: 2745-5254

Vol. 5, No. 8 August 2024 http://jist.publikasiindonesia.id/

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 5, No. 8, August 2024 2978

Disability Inclusion in Church Service:

Realizing God's Mission of Mercy and Justice

Luosje Treesje Luas

Universitas Kristen Indonesia Tomohon, Indonesia

wants to state that the church should not be a place for people who only want to show

their religious achievements or piety. Rather, the church should be a place for education,

coaching, education, and devotion for people with disabilities (Widharsana, 2018). The

Church is not limited to spiritually mature people. Instead, it should be open to everyone,

including those who are immature in the faith and those with disabilities, such as people

with disabilities. As the executors of God's mission, the church must concentrate on the

process of growth and learning, not only improving their appearance but especially

guiding those who continue to fight for their faith. The church becomes an inclusive,

loving, and focused place on self-formation and development.

developing inclusive services for people with disabilities. There is still an attitude of

separation, rejection, and negative stigma that appears in the congregation against them.

In addition, physical facilities and service programs in many churches are often not

friendly and accessible to people with disabilities. This is certainly contrary to the

church's call to be a means of God's mercy and justice for all people.

integral part of the body of Christ and have the same rights and opportunities to participate

in the life and ministry of the church. The Church is called to embody a vision of

inclusivity, where all people, including people with disabilities, can be engaged and

understanding challenges, best practices, and theological grounds.

This research aims to:

1. Identify the challenges the church faces in developing inclusive services for people

2. Describe best practices that can be applied by the church to realize disability inclusion

3. Examine the theological foundations that support the church's call to be a welcoming,

and emphasizes meaning rather than generalization. For Margono, this qualitative

research method will use a descriptive approach, because qualitative research is a research

procedure that produces descriptive words in the form of written or spoken words from

being studied is more suitable for this method. Through this qualitative research method,

it is hoped that a deep understanding of the practice of disability inclusion in church

service can be obtained as well as the identification of strategies to realize God's mission

of mercy and justice for all.

Disability Inclusion Theology

limitations. All are the same in God's eyes, but different because they were created as

sin. Disability is a means of declaring the glory of (Porayouw, 2019). Therefore, the Bible

shows that God invites everyone, including people with disabilities, to come to Him. In

contrast to the tradition of the church in its history, it views disability as a disgrace and

then emphasizes care and service for those with special needs (Manafe, 2019).

Inclusion sees differences as normal, ordinary, and valuable, not to be contested. This

means that all people, including those with disabilities, have the same rights and

opportunities to participate equally and fully in various aspects of life (Kasinda, 2022).

As such, inclusion seeks to remove barriers and provide the necessary facilities for

everyone to be involved (Simanungkalit, 2020). Changes and adjustments to systems,

wrote about inclusion referred to educational activities in schools, these notes were very

useful for enforcing in church institutions. According to them, inclusion works best, if the

stakeholders whether it is a teacher in a school or a teacher in a congregation/church who

in this case are special ministers, able to understand and demonstrate effective teaching

disabilities in a regular class by making adjustments and ensuring each student is fully

involved in all classroom activities. For this to be successful, a high level of intellectual

and emotional commitment is required (Daming, 2016).

adopted and applied with varying degrees of success in various countries outside the

West, including in Asia and developing countries such as Indonesia, although it must be

acknowledged that its application is and continues to be carried out, especially in the areas

of education and access to public services. This concept is increasingly accepted and

adopted in many countries due to the global commitment to create inclusive and

accessible societies for all, including people with disabilities.

embrace and integrate the congregation with disabilities

groups, including those with disabilities. In this view, the church is called to fight against

all forms of oppression and discrimination against people with disabilities.

divine dignity and has the right to be equally accepted, loved, and served in the church

community. This theological view became the foundation for the church to realize God's

mission of mercy and justice for all people.

Theological Understanding of Disability

structures of the body are limited, such as physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental

limitations, limitations in doing things, and obstacles to participation Limitations – these

limitations result from the interaction between health conditions (such as disease or the

presence of abnormalities), environmental conditions (such as behavior, physical access,

and the availability of technology), and personal conditions (such as confidence and self-

shortcomings, and this is no longer in line with the modern perspective that considers

disability as an interaction between the individual and his or her environment

Protection of the Republic of Indonesia No. 10 of 2011 concerning Policies for Handling

Children with Special Needs, including its attachments, as well as Law of the Republic

of Indonesia Number 35 of 2014 concerning Amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002

concerning child protection article 1 paragraph 7, the definition is contained as noted by

Aritonang, namely: Children with Disabilities are children who have physical limitations,

mental, intellectual and sensory in a long period in interacting with the environment and

attitudes of the community can encounter obstacles that make it difficult to participate

of 2011 concerning the Policy on the Implementation of Education for Children with

Special Needs, it states that "Children with special needs are children with special

characteristics that are different from children in general without always showing mental,

emotional, or physical disabilities. Article 2 paragraph (1) also explains the types of

children with special needs, which include: children with visual impairment, deafness,

blindness, disability, impairment, children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity

Disorder (ADHD), children with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD), the disabled, slow

learners, children with learning difficulties, children with communication disorders and

children with potential intelligence and/or talent special.

and application in Indonesia. Indeed, the definition of disability for me, as Arulang et al

said, is not without problems, because disability is considered to reduce personal value to

be able to participate in various life situations. Of course, participating here, the intention

is to match the measure of normalism that is built. Individuals with disabilities are

considered unable to participate according to these normal standards, so the concept of

to serve as a slave, namely Douleuein, to serve for money, namely Leitreueien,

Leitourgein which means to serve in general for the welfare of the people and the state,

and Therapeueien which means to serve as best as possible which is often synonymous

with healing and efforts to serve about work. In the New Testament, Stephen Tong says

that diaconia, which means service or service, is often associated with Jesus Christ's

ministry to the poor, sick, and marginalized. Diaconia is not only related to social work

but also connected to the service of Christ's love, without expecting anything in return.

Consequently, diaconia becomes an essential component of every Christian's vocation In

the context of the church, diaconia refers to the calling and commitment to serve others.

because there are approximately 100 times this word is used mainly for service to the

people, even to those in the lowest positions. Service to others is also understood as

service to God. Jesus Christ gave a new meaning and content to the term diaconia because

He was the Great Theoconos. Thus the term Diaconia or Diaconia gives a broader

meaning, that is, all the work done in the ministry to build and glorify Christ by those

who are called as Special Ministers or members of the ordinary church. In the last few

decades, especially among ecumenism movements, the concept of diaconia has evolved

so that it has undergone a paradigm shift This change is shown by three aspects: First, the

aspect of ecclesial diaconia, which is currently very concerned. If in the past diaconia was

seen as the activity of professional diaconal workers or institutions, it is now emphasized

that diaconia is included in the nature and mission of "churching". Second, diaconia must

be holistic, considering physical, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions, and oppose

practices that tend to sort out sectors of human life. Third, diaconia promotes courageous

diaconal actions, even so to speak, in solidarity with those who need them.

be carried out in the framework of Missio Dei, which is the presence and signs of the

Kingdom of Heaven. The Church in its presence does not build walls, but bridges,

especially for the marginalized, because Jesus the Great Deacon has set an example for

him. The role of the church's diaconia to the deaf cannot be separated from these three

forms of diaconia, namely: charitable, reformative, and transformative diaconia.

Qualitative diaconia is diaconia that boils down to assisting directly individuals or groups

in need without directly changing or overcoming the underlying cause of the problem.

The charitable diaconia approach focuses more on providing volunteer and charitable

assistance, to help people directly; Reformative diaconia refers to services or assistance

that not only provide direct help to individuals or groups in need but also seek to change

Transformative seeks to create a long-term impact by changing the social and structural

dynamics that may be the root cause of the problem. To translate these three forms of

diaconia, the church needs to maximize its role for the disabled community. The Church

needs to create a welcoming and missionary-friendly educational space through programs

that can help sustainably. The Church must strive to create a long-term impact and address

the root of the problem. The church must also be a safe and comfortable main place, a

place where people with disabilities can grow together so that the negative stigma of

society is reduced because they become skilled, dedicated, with integrity, character, and

competitive people.

God`s Mission

activity of spreading the good news and establishing local congregations, which is carried

out based on sending as a continuation of God's mission. A mission is a statement about

what an institution must do to realize its vision. The word Mission is a substantial form

of the verb mittere (mitto, missi, missum) which has several basic meanings, namely: (1)

Messenger. act of sending: sending, sending. So the mission is about the act of sending

out, that a person is sent with full authority for a specific purpose to be achieved. This

refers to the duty of Jesus' disciples to preach the gospel to all the world.

Mission) and Missio Christi which means God's self-revelation as He who loves the

world, and is involved in and with the world. That is why the focal point of God's

involvement in the history of the world is called mission. Christian awareness of history

is a missionary consciousness that recognizes the divine mandate He is God at action in

history and is history itself. The Bible clearly describes God as a person who is active and

involved in the history of man and the world. Therefore we seek God's involvement not

plan and purpose, Israel was always responsible for conveying to others the news of God's

grace. Israel was chosen and sent by God for a purpose that was to be a blessing to other

nations.

The message of salvation that Christ is working on must be preached to all people. The

church as a fellowship of believers is chosen and sent to be the instrument of God's

mission for the world. God is the God who preaches the gospel. Therefore He wills and

commands that the preaching of the Gospel be carried out. Matthew 28:19-20 states, "Go,

therefore, make disciples of all the nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do all the things that I have commanded

you. And now, I am with you always, even to the end of time" This is the main

commandment known as God's Great Commission for His church in carrying out the task

of preaching the gospel. Matthew introduced the Great Commission with a glorious

announcement from Christ, "To me have been given all power in the surge and on the

earth." Thus, the supreme sovereignty, perfection, and absoluteness of Christ in all

Christ alone, but in Christ Himself and what He says and tells. The words of Christ do

not create new obligations, but reveal eternal obligations, the basis upon which all the

words of all things and the facts of life lie.

Without it, we cannot imagine God from the point of view that allows us to preach the

gospel. Therefore, if the Christian faith does not reach its peak and perfect itself by the

act or act of introducing Christ to the whole world, then it is utterly unreal and

meaningless, poor in power in life, and unconvincingly proven to be true, Peters says in

his view of Speer's writing in Christianity and The Nations and Philips Brooks' opinion

in the same book.

evangelism and spiritual development but also includes the diaconia aspect which is not

only charitable but transformative for the implementation of disability inclusion.

Disability Inclusion in Church Ministry: Realizing God's Mission of Mercy and

Justice

be an example of practicing inclusion for congregations with disabilities. In the church,

everyone without exception must be treated equally, accepted, and supported to be able

to participate fully in the life of the church. Some things can be practiced by the church

in supporting the inclusion and empowerment of people with disabilities in their ministry

(diakonia) according to Thomas Ogletree, including:

1. Accessibility of Church Facilities