Deaconing? by The Rev. Pat Hendrickson
So what do you do when you are not deaconing? That is a question I hear often. The answer is two fold. Yes, because most deacons are non-stipendiary, we do need a day job (or paying job). However, we are always deacons. In other words, I am not a recreation leader who serves as a deacon at my parish. I am a deacon who holds a job as a recreation leader. The difference is subtle but important. Put another way, The Rev. Pat Hendrickson is who I am. Recreation Leader is one of the things I do.
About 20 years ago, I answered an add in the local paper asking for volunteers to help with the local Special Olympics track and field program. That was the defining moment in my life which led me on a 20 year journey to where I am today. I discovered a gift and a joy in working with people with developmental disabilities. Shortly after my first volunteer experience, I was hired as staff for the Conejo Recreation and Park District where my duties ranged from coaching Special Olympic sports, to training volunteers and coaches, to designing and implementing a variety of social and recreational programs for individuals of all ages with developmental disabilities.
At the same time that I was gaining experience working in this field, I was feeling a need to share what I had learned and to make the community at large more aware of how much more ability than disability there was in this population. I was sharing their frustration at not being given the opportunities that most of us take for granted and I saw this as a call to ministry. I became involved in a coalition of people from local churches who wished to bring disability awareness and disability ministry into our parishes. Through this same organization, I began spending one or two weeks each summer working as a volunteer at their Family Disability Camps. Our job as volunteers was to take care of the children, with and without disabilities, while the parents had an opportunity to attend workshops and rap sessions. For many this was the first time that they had been able to attend a retreat and know that their disabled child was being taken care of . It was at these camps that I would hear stories about how the churches were not serving their needs.
It was following a trip to Romania, where we distributed 200 wheelchairs, that I knew it was time to answer the call that I had been hearing for some time and began the process of discerning exactly what it was that God was calling me to. As I explored the role of the Deacon in the church it became clear that was what I was being called to and for the past 5 years I have pursued the process which led to my ordination as a deacon in the Episcopal Church.
I feel in some ways that I have gone full circle. I have returned to my former job as a therapeutic recreation leader where I once again coach Special Olympics track and field and bowling, as well as supervise a number of social programs. Another of my duties is to develop quarterly family outings such as bingo nights and camping trips. In addition to those duties, I have begun spending several hours each week at the local United Cerebral Palsy Homes. One night a week we play games and/or do craft projects and on Sunday afternoons I have been conducting a grief group. This is a very close knit community, some of whom have been together since the homes opened about 12 years ago. This past year was a devastating one, with 3 of their member dying and 2 having to move away because their health had deteriorated to a point where they could no longer be cared for in this facility.
Since joining St. Augustine's, I have been involved with both the disability committee and the hospitality committee. What has emerged is the realization that the question is not, "How do we minister to those with disabilities?" but "What does it mean to offer a radical hospitality that welcomes everyone?"
Beginning the 30th of March, I will be offering a 5 week program exploring the world of persons with developmental disabilities and the churches role in making them welcome. We will begin by having the opportunity to experience in a small way what it feels like to have a developmental disability and share those feelings. Rather than either lecture or a book review, I plan to let those attending help shape the class as we go. The goal is to come away with a better understanding of what the barriers to full participation are and develop a plan to eliminate those barriers. For those who would like to do some reading on the subject, below is a short bibliography. I will have these and some others available to borrow during the course of the class as well as a more complete bibliography.
Copyright © 2003 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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