Sunday, September 16, 2007

Down Syndrome Carnival

I am hosting the fourth edition of the Down Syndrome Carnival this week.

Our church recently decided to teach the nursery kids Scripture verses in sign language. I am so excited because our 2-year old (who has Down Syndrome) loves sign language. This is just one small way that our church makes our family feel welcomed and included regardless of our abilities and disabilities. We also recently purchased Let All the Children Come to Me:A Practical Guide to Including Children with Disabilities in Your Church Ministries for our children's program coordinator. So, I thought that I would highlight some posts dealing with the issue of churches and disabilities. McNair at Disabled Christianity has a post called Child Find that encourages churches to find children and other people with disabilities in order to welcome them into our church families. I also found a great article at the Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability website, The Body of Christ has Down's Syndrome: Theological Reflections on vulnerability, disability and Graceful communities by John Swinton. This a theological paper, so it's not exactly light reading, but it is very good.

In addition, here are a couple of other posts that were submitted: The Least of These, where Michelle brings our attention to a news story about 2 dozen Iraqi boys with special needs who were rescued from an orphanage, and Father's Day Reflection: Special Needs, Special Love, an article my husband wrote for BeNotAfraid.net, an online outreach to parents who have received a poor or difficult prenatal diagnosis.

I am not certain who will host the next Down Syndrome Carnival. Please send any posts or articles you would like included in the next Down Syndrome Carnival to Leticia .

2 comments:

Tee/Tracy said...

Teaching the kids sign language - that is awesome! :)

Leticia said...

Ellen, you did a wonderful job on the Carnival! Thanks for hosting.