Have you ever been the recipient of a “white elephant” gift? It might be amusing, but nobody at the party really wants it. Have you ever felt like the white elephant? In different cultural settings, the value of gifts and the stigma of struggles can vary greatly.
Before I go further, let me address the (white) elephant in the room: I am absolutely Euro-American, living in the midwestern United States with my husband, son, daughter, dogs and a cat. I am literally Mrs. White. Who am I to write about cultural contexts?
I am what all of us can be: a learner. As Director of Church Services at All Belong Center for Inclusive Education, I head up a cohort called the Circle of Congregations for Teaching and Learning. Leaders from the participating congregations are thinking together, creating incredible resources for churches. And we are learning. One focus for this year has been learning about cultural contexts for inclusive worship supports. As we think about people of all abilities worshiping together, we are eager to support those who struggle in a corporate worship setting. However, we cannot let our eagerness push into the trap of believing that we who are Euro-American church-goers and church leaders know what support, or even inclusive worship, means in different cultural contexts.
David Smith, in his books, Learning from the Stranger says,
“The temptation to prioritize our ability to contribute to other cultures over their ability to speak to us, the temptation to always elevate our perceived competence over their perceived need ….suggest the need to question common assumptions” (p. 5).
To battle the temptation of this cultural arrogance, our Circle of Congregations set out to question common assumptions. Like I did as a youth living in Europe, we have listened to people from other cultural backgrounds, and as I did then, I feel now like Euro-American culture is the white elephant at the party. That is to say, there are so many rich gifts at the party to be unwrapped, explored and shared! In the Circle of Congregations, we have heard from voices like my colleague, Associate Director of Church Services for All Belong, Rev. Dr. LaTonya Penny. She co-led a webinar series with Dr. Lamar Hardwick and Dr. Luchara Wallace on the Black church and disability. She stated then how the Black church has historically been a community hub for support in many areas, but not in the area of disability. She reflected during the first panel discussion, “if we can get past the shame, we could be [a hub for disability support]. Where else is a better place for support but where the human rights movement started?” In her following presentation, she unpacked the reasons for this shame mentality and the relationship between the Black community and disabilities.
I pondered her words with others in our Circle of Congregations as we also learned from Dr. John Swinton in a Q & A session and from his book, Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges. Here I will sample a droplet from the deep well of all that he shared and all that is in that book. Pair Rev. Dr. Penny’s words with this thought from Swinton’s book:
“Culture has much to do with how we respond to voice-hearing” (p. 138).
He explains how cultures in Africa and Asia have many positive responses to voice-hearing, whereas the American DSM diagnosis of schizophrenia and Western culture in general stigmatize mental health conditions such as voice-hearing. Swinton urges for a healing method of interpreting mental health challenges at a pastoral, liturgical and theological level. That, he says, “may be the key beginning point for developing communities within which everyone has a sense of belonging” (p. 211).
Photo credit: cottonbro on Pexels.com.
While one aspect of our learning as the Circle of Congregations focused on cultural context, another aspect focused on the areas of trauma and mental health. From that lens, we listened to Dr. Swinton admonish the church to focus on mental health challenges and advocate for people with them. Dr. Grcevich in his book Mental Health and the Church shares this idea as well. With all of that input, we discussed the need for an addition to All Belong’s Best Practices for Building Belonging in Congregations (a free resource): the role of mental health liaison. Tips and tools for that role include Key Ministry and Dr. Grcevich’s book, Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries and Swinton’s book.
In his webinar with Key Ministry in January of 2021, D.J. Chuang spoke of a great reason for why Asian American communities have not yet become the hubs of support they could be. He said, “we don’t talk about mental health because we don’t know how to talk about it.” This echoed in words I heard from Kai Ton Chau of the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, when he allowed me to ask him questions about Asian and Asian-American worship and belonging for persons of all abilities. He says in Chinese culture, “people with disabilities stand out…to have someone who has mental illness or physical disability, we don’t want to talk about it. That is not honorable. I suspect, however, that is not unique to the Chinese culture.” He is so right!
In a variety of cultural contexts, it is clear that people are not talking about mental health or disabilities nearly as much as they should. Latin American culture is no exception. As I learned from Dr. Mariano Avila who is the Director of Latino/a Ministries at Calvin Seminary, it can be a stunning revelation to think about ourselves and others in terms of belonging, rather than being the unwanted discount item. He says, “we are all made in the image of God, regardless of color or mental abilities…and require respect and support…People are always surprised to learn those lessons.” He agrees with my colleague Elizabeth Rodriguez who operates Ministerio Amistad that Latin American ministries need resources designed for people with varied abilities in order to minister well, but even more than that, the culture needs to recognize the value of each individual.
In my work for All Belong, I resonate with that idea, and want desperately to see communities all over the world creating belonging for people of all abilities. We have much yet to learn about what belonging looks like in different cultural contexts and communities for individuals, as they bring their gifts to their communities. Each cultural context values certain attributes above others, but in the Body of Christ, no one is a white elephant.
Victoria White is the Director of Church Services for All Belong Center for Inclusive Education. All Belong equips congregations and schools to glorify God through purposeful, innovative inclusion of persons with varied abilities.
