Family & Friends
Spiritual Support and Faith Community Resources
Last Updated:
Chances are you have not found this web page by accident. Chances are you or someone for whom you care has been in an accident that caused a brain injury. Other information on this site will provide resources and information on the physical trauma of brain injury, as well as the cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional losses. This page focuses on the critical support and pastoral care that can be offered by clergy and congregations.
One of the neglected ministries in faith communities is healing. Healing comes through participation in service and worship. Many are surprised that re-entry into their faith community is not always easy, and can feel awkward. Our goal is to provide you a brief introduction and resource guide for spiritual resources you may find helpful.
The support offered from one’s community of faith can be an important source of hope. Hope is often realized through companionship and compassion, presence and prayer. Hope and faith can sustain you as you ask unanswerable questions. A faithful community walks alongside you even when the answers are not immediately clear. Chances are this is the kind of hope and support that you seek from your community of faith. This crucial support from people of faith is needed for the long and complex journey that those with brain injury must travel.
The people in your community of faith may not understand and be immediately able to provide this support. They may have never related to someone with a brain injury or may be afraid to discuss the injury or accident. Nonetheless, the vital and essential role of congregations is that of facilitators of healing. Many in your faith community want to respond with loving, compassion, and support. Most importantly, do not be afraid to talk about your injury and help them know how to best support you.
One of the most meaningful aspects of spiritual support is prayer - a simple act of faith. Prayer for one who has been traumatized by brain injury is challenging. In other types of injuries, the way of prayer is often a request for healing to “fix” the broken or injured body, make it through rehabilitation and return to life as normal. With a brain injury, there is no clear way to fix a life that is likely forever changed. Sometimes that change is manageable while at other times the change is overwhelming. One may find it difficult to know what to pray.
You may be overwhelmed with questions—What are the chances for a good quality of life? How can I go on living? What are the choices of institutionalization? What about suffering? What about finances? Why did this happen? These and other difficult questions you may fear asking aloud but may be expressed in your prayers and your feelings toward God. Ask your faith community to pray for you as you struggle with difficult questions.
At times, you may wonder, Where is my hope? We often first seek hope in the “miracle working power” of medicine. The medicine offered for a brain injury is often much needed support for the body while awaiting the brain to heal. Healing does come to many but the journey to healing is neither quick nor complete. Usually there is no point at which one is pronounced cured after a brain injury. Hope is often realized in your personal stamina to take this journey.
Many congregations or parishes may not be familiar with brain injury and how it affects a family or their participation in religious activities, such as worship or social activities. The following link will assist you in educating your congregation and reminding them of their vital pastoral role. Don’t be afraid to help your faith community know the kinds of support that you need.
Michael Moore is Chaplain at Shepherd Center where he has served for the past 16 years. His ministry there includes providing a Spiritual Support Group for the persons in the Shepherd Pathways, a post-acute, residential brain Injury program. Pastoral Services at Shepherd Center focus on providing useful spiritual resources and supports for rehabilitation and in returning to the community.
Spirituality / Religion & Disability Resource Guide
This list of national and regional resources from faith communities and traditions has been prepared by pastoral services at Shepherd Center. Atlanta resources are marked by an asterisk. For additional resources in your area, consult your local congregation, denominational offices, and seminaries. Your local school of theology library will have resources of a more academic nature to address a theology of disability. If these resources are not available to you, remember to consult local libraries. Most public libraries provide inter-library loans so that you can obtain copies of resources.
Religion and Disability Program of the National Organization on Disability (NOD)
This resource program works with congregations to remove barriers of architecture, communications and attitudes that prevent people with disabilities from participating in their congregation. Interfaith guides entitled, That All May Worship, Loving Justice, and From Barriers to Bridges help identify and remove barriers to a life of faith for people with disabilities. Order information is available on the website, including information on "That All May Worship" conferences.
Brain Injury: When The Call Comes. A Congregational Resource
A resource booklet of information, strategies, personal stories, faith journeys, and resources designed for congregations. Edited by The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey and The Boggs Center. 2001. 28 pages. Cost: $5.00.
Southeastern United Methodist Agency for Rehabilitation (SEMAR)
SEMAR provides United Methodist Churches in the Southeast with the awareness, guidance and technical assistance needed to include people with disabilities and their families in the life of the church and community. SEMAR’s primary mission is for those with developmental disabilities but is also inclusive of persons with other types of disabilities.
Disability Awareness Sunday as celebrated by The United Methodist Church
Disability Awareness Sunday celebrates the gifts and graces of people with disabilities and calls for their full inclusion in the community by creating architectural and attitudinal accessibility in local churches. Disability Awareness Sunday is a reminder that everyone, including people with disabilities, is welcome.
The National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD)
This office promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in their respective parish communities. Pastoral guidance on sacramental access for people with disabilities and documents about church's mission and positions relating to people with disabilities are featured. Included are Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities and Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities.
The National Jewish Council for the Disabled
The National Jewish Council for the Disabled is dedicated to addressing the needs of all individuals with disabilities within the Jewish community. NJCD strives to enhance the life opportunities of people with special needs and to insure their participation in the full spectrum of Jewish life.
The Christian Council on Persons with Disabilities (CCPD)
This web site is a consortium of evangelical Christian organizations working in disability ministry. CCPD provides a means to communicate and interact with other leaders interested in promoting the spiritual well being of people who have physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. The site includes a survey or quiz on “How accessible is your congregation?” Other info as well as disability advocacy is available.
Joni and Friends
Joni and Friends (the disability outreach of Joni Eareckson Tada), is dedicated to extending the love and message of Christ to people who are affected by disability, whether it is the disabled person, a family member or friend. The objective of the ministry is to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of this group of people in practical ways.
That All May Be Welcome
The Unitarian Universalist Association has committed itself to the removal of all barriers —attitudinal, physical, and programmatic — which prevent the full participation of persons with disabilities in the life of our Association. Its religious values affirm the belief that every person is valuable and brings his/her own unique gifts and talents to the community. The Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to begin the task of removing both the physical and attitudinal barriers to persons with disabilities in our congregations, so that all may share their gifts and talents in our religious communities.
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly provides a transcript from a discussion on faith and disability. Each week this news-reporting agency reviews the top news from the world of religion and ethics.
Mariposa Ministry
This is an international, multi-denominational, bilingual (Spanish/English) Christian fellowship that explores all aspects of what it means to live with a physical disability. The ministry seeks to empower peer counselors who have lived the experiences to reach out into the community.
Interfaith Disability Network (IDN)
The IDN advocates for the inclusion of people with disabilities in their faith communities in metro Atlanta. Their web site includes a list of local congregations that are accessible as well as resource information on congregations, organizations, and individuals who have expertise and experience in helping congregations learn to include people with disabilities.
Friends of Disabled Adults and Children
Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC), a faith based outreach ministry, provides medical equipment and computers to disabled people in the metro Atlanta area who could not otherwise afford it (no shipping).
Sacred Text Resources. . . That All May Read
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a part of the Library of Congress, provides alternative access to the printed Bible. Large print, Braille, audio and electronic versions are available. Many resources are free for those with disabilities. This web site aims to provide program users, librarians, and the public, a wide range of access to NLS publications, program information and bibliographic data.
Disability and Spirituality
This link is designed to allow for the exchange of ideas about disability and spirituality. Signing up to be on a listserve to discuss these issues is encouraged.