Tune in as Joni and Friends’ newest president, Shawn Thornton talks about his passion for disability ministry in the church locally and internationally.
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JONI: You’ve got to know that 1 Corinthians 12 is one of my favorite scriptures! Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and just let me read it for you. “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable and those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow great honor.” I love that portion of Scripture and here to explain it is my good friend Shawn Thornton, President of Joni and Friends and he has pastored for 30 years back east in the Appalachia region, and also down the freeway at Calvary Westlake. Shawn, thank you for coming to the program.
SHAWN: Thank you for having me again.
JONI: Now, this is a tough portion of Scripture, but I’ll tell you why. And I want you to answer it. We receive letters from pastors who say, “Well, you know, I appreciate that we welcome people with disabilities, but frankly, they’re a distraction. I want people to hear the Word of God. And it’s hard for them to when there are other folks in wheelchairs, whatever who are guffawing or singing.” How would you answer that pastor?
SHAWN: When you are inclusive and you make sure everybody belongs, it becomes living proof of the Scripture. It’s the living proof of 1 Corinthians 12; that everybody is a part of the body. I had a couple recently who said they were visiting for the first time, and I said: “Well, how’d you get to know about us?” And they said, we watched online; they heard a voice while the singing was going on online on the YouTube video that was out of sync, and they could tell was someone with a disability. But that the church encouraged that, and received that, and welcomed that voice as a part of that chorus of praise to the Lord – they said we’ve got to go to that church. And they showed up, because they heard that voice and that that voice was included as part of the body – might look weak to others but is a vital part of our church.
JONI: Well, I love that the Scripture says though as parts of the body that “…seem to be weaker.” They only seem to be weaker because we look at a person’s appearance. Their cerebral palsy, their mental disorder. But disability ministry is about something big, isn’t it? It’s about changing the culture of a church because we’ve got the Emily Post picture view of churches that everybody sits and stands at the same time. Everything is regulated, and rule keeping, and tidy, and nice, and disability ministry creates something different, doesn’t it?
SHAWN: Yeah, in my years of pastoring, our focus was not that it’s a department, or wing, or program, it’s a part of who we are. When I first got to Calvary Westlake, disability ministry was in the outreach part of our church. And I said why would that be an outreach? These are people who are a part of our family. So, we put them into family ministries as a part of our ministry to say this is who we are as a church. And even though it may seem weak, it makes us strong.
JONI: Make us strong.
SHAWN: In the body of Christ.
JONI: Absolutely. Strong churches are churches that recognize every part of the body – has a role to play, even those who seem weaker. Shawn, how do you move a church from point A to point B where it’s inclusive?
SHAWN: I think it does start with teaching the scriptures of the congregation. And then being modeled by senior leadership. Whether it’s the senior pastor, the pastor, the elders. Even before you begin a program; before you maybe hire someone; or get a volunteer to lead that ministry, it starts with leadership. Understanding what 1 Corinthians 12 says that even those that seem to be the weak part of the body are the strong part of the body and need to be included. So, I think it starts with leadership.
JONI: When I moved to California 1979, I attended John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church. And I watched as after the sermon, John would come down from the pulpit and greet everybody in wheelchairs. He’d hug them; he asked them questions; he spent time with them. John modeled what the church then was able to emulate.
SHAWN: That’s key.
JONI: Thanks so much for tuning in and I’ll see you next time on Sharing Hope.
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