December 3 - International Day of People with Disability

December 3 is the 'UN International Day of People with Disability'. There are many Deacons and Deaconesses who work with people with disabilities - physical and intellectual. (Would love to hear about your stories and experiences!)

Rev Andy Calder (Deacon) is a Uniting Church in Australia Minister, in the role of Disability Inclusion Advocate with the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Andy has be​​en an ordain​ed Uniting Church minister for 22 years. Prior to ordination in 1995 as a Uniting Church Deacon, Andy worked in a range of community and government contexts in program delivery, policy development and advocacy with people with disabilities. His current role is to broadly encourage and promote inclusion of people with disabilities within the life of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

Andy has undertaken social action research as part of Ph.D. studies, exploring the spirituality of adults with intellectual disabilities. He has partnered with the Victorian advocacy body VALID (Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with a Disability), and interviewed 14 people. His recently completed doctorate is titled: ‘Adults with intellectual disability and their spirituality: voices to be heard by faith communities and the disability services sector in Victoria, Australia’. 

Arising from Andy's research, he developed a ‘Statement of Spirituality’ which has been adopted by VALID. It reinforces the importance and value of people's expression of their particular spirituality, which includes participation in religious communities. This is the first known time a non-faith based disability organisation has proclaimed such a public statement. 

In 2019, Andy was honoured with the Henri Nouwen Award in recognition of his work with people with disabilities. The award is named after Catholic Priest Henri Nouwen, who served as a pastor at the Canadian L’Arche Daybreak community for people with intellectual disabilities and their carers and loved ones.

Andy is the first person outside of North America to accept the award, which is given by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) Religion and Spirituality Division. 

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)

Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest who became an esteemed professor at both Yale and Harvard, but then followed the path of “downward mobility” in his pursuit of Jesus. He left the public eye to work among those struggling to survive in Latin America and then joined the work of L’Arche Daybreak Community in Canada. He was a “wounded healer” whose restless seeking for God has left a legacy to the world through prolific writings on the spirituality of brokenness and vulnerability.

He died suddenly on this day in 1996.

Here's a great quote from Henri:

"In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile. Their ability to torture is in me, too; their capacity to forgive I find also in myself... when someone murders, I know that I too could have done that, and when someone gives birth, I know that I am capable of that as well."

A thoughtful insight for diaconal ministry. 

(source: Shane Claiborne's Facebook post)