Over the years I have come to know many people with various disabilities who are living at or below the poverty line. Several have literally been waiting for over 10 years to get onto section 8 in order to receive housing benefits. In the community where I live, a small apartment is about 1300$ per month. If you consider that social security is a little over a thousand per month, you can see the difficulties people face just making ends meet. And you also realize that as you work your financial benefit decreases. So, these are people in desperate need of assistance that the government do ..read more

 Jeff and Kathi McNair have been facilitating an adult ministry that particularly includes adults with intellectual disabilities. They have published 3 curricula for this ministry on Psalms, Romans and Hebrews. With each of these curricula, Jeff wrote the lessons, taught them, and then revised them such they are in the final form you see.  They have just released a new curriculum on Philippians as a FREE download. The download is available here. Lessons from the Light & Power Company: Philippians We hope you will enjoy trying out this curriculum! McNair ..read more

It has been interesting over the years of ministry with adults with intellectual disabilities, that there have been several occasions, only a few, where those with higher functioning disabilities have manipulated those with a bit less intellectual abilities. One happened about 10 years back when two women got into a sequence of altercations. The higher functioning woman seemed to instigate the confrontations. Because she had a better command of language, she would typically frustrate the other. This happened repeatedly until ultimately the woman with less command of language in frustration pus ..read more

  Years ago, I believe I shared this pictorial presentation of the gospel message. I have used it literally for decades to teach about the plan of salvation to persons with intellectual and other disabilities. I draw the picture on the whiteboard and then go through it with our group.    -First picture of sad face shows that we are all sinners, we all do bad things. We are NOT right with God. Romans 3:10-12 As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous – not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, no ..read more

  Galatians 6:7 -  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. A farmer was having trouble with a crop that he was attempting to grow. In desperation, he called the county agricultural office who promptly sent an expert to help him solve his problem.      “Thank you so much for coming!”      “We are here to help. What seems to be the problem?”      “Well, it’s like my field isn’t producing the right crop. I plant the seeds, but never get exactly what I have planted.” The farmer rubbed his chin. “I don’t’ know w ..read more

 I was watching a TV show last night. In it, a couple was separated. As children, there was a scene where they were hiding from school authorities by lying on their backs in a field. At a poignant moment, the boy reaches over and holds the girl's hand. Later, they are best friends. When they are separated from each other, each lays in bed thinking of that event of holding the other's hand. Each  reaches out their hand to a space next to them and thinks of the other but no one is there. They are each completely helpless. As I watched that, I felt sad. There was nothing they could do b ..read more

 I recently had the opportunity to do a sermon at my church. My topic was God's sovereignty, particularly in the context of disability.  I talked about how we support or "carry" others for whom the sovereignty of God is difficult, and also how to respond when it is difficult for us our selves.  Should you be interested in watching the sermon, here is the link. Responding to God's Sovereignty McNair ..read more

 I recently had a conversation with a friend who was doing research on issues surrounding disability ministry. In the midst of the conversation he asked, "Do you think that disability is the result of the fall of man?' Well, he knows who I am. I am not a theologian or pastor, but just a person who reads his Bible and thinks a lot about disability issues. So on some level I am not sure what kind of a response he was expecting. But as I thought about it I responded in the only way I could think of. "It doesn't matter" I replied. That isn't the response a theologian wants. And sure, on many ..read more

 It has been a while since I have posted here! I am hoping to get back into posting so cross your fingers! Recently, I have been thinking about a Wolfensberger idea regarding the prophetic presence of persons with disabilities. He talks about in in his writing a bit. I am working on expanding the idea.  I have a friend and colleague, Dr. Keith Walters, and we have become kind of political foils to each other. Our conversations are just the type that people should have with those with whom they don't completely agree. Our talks are deep, at times contentious, but always friendly and a ..read more

Back in 1997, I wrote an article about networks supporting adults with disabilities in the community. A form of it was published in a journal but is no longer available. I had published this actual article on a website I had at the time in 1997 called "The center for the study of religion and disability." Later, I made it available on my website jeffmcnair.com I am citing the article in some writing I am currently doing, so I thought I would make it available here in case people would want to see it. Even though it is old, I believe it is still relevant. Particularly as we think about the cont ..read more