[Faith-talk] Complaints

Tue Sep 6 04:34:41 UTC 2016

Hi, Linda.

Why are you being so hostile? Perhaps some of these people have never had 
the opportunity or felt they had permission to admit there was a problem in 
the first place. I would like to help you understand that some of these 
problems in churches can't always be confronted in the ways you are 
proposing. If I asked the NFB to contact my church, it would make tensions 
between me and certain people much worse. There are important reasons for 
this. Some have to do with the church, some have to do with me being in a 
place of leadership and expected to practice good conflict management, and 
some also have to do with me and the NFB. If I'm part of an organization 
that works for change but I don't do any of the work myself, then I'm not 
working this out very well. People are at different places figuring out how 
to do this. It's not good if we can't listen to each other's woundedness in 
the process of helping each other learn how to be strong self-advocates.

In any case, I'm sorry that you're learning so much about people's 
disappointing experiences and that it seems to be unnerving to you. These 
things don't have quick fixes like employment problems. That isn't a 
complaint. It is a fact. This is something I have had lengthy discussions 
about with people within my denomination who are involved with deaf 
ministry, women's ministry, and race reconciliation. There are many 
similarities with all of these areas. This is why I am now back in school so 
that I can teach in the seminary and help to educate the church--that is my 
long-term proactive strategy to reach beyond my immediate personal need.

While you have had a negative response to the discussions today, the posts 
have been very enlightening for me about what has been going on for people 
who I don't know well. I have appreciated the opportunity to learn from 
everyone on the list about their experiences.

Sarah Blake LaRose, M.Div., accessible instruction in biblical languages
Personal mail: sarah at sarahblakelarose.com
http://www.sarahblakelarose.com
Info for seminaries and faith communities: http://www.night-light.org
-----Original Message----- 
From: Linda Mentink via Faith-Talk
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2016 5:05 PM
To: Faith-talk
Cc: Linda Mentink
Subject: [Faith-talk] Complaints

Hi All,

I feel as if some of you are attacking the division for not
stepping forward and getting your needs met.  Please stop.
Please write to Tom Anderson, or call him, tell him what the
trouble is, and give him contact information for the church or
publisher you are unhappy with.  But don't do it until you have
tried yourself to get what you need.  Up until now, we were not
aware, so please don't attack the division leaders.  We're not in
your churches, so we don't know your needs aren't being met.

Give us the contact information for your Pastor, head deacon,
church secretary, and tell us what is happening with you.  Or
contact Ken or Theresa Taylor.  I took a lot of time late last
night to put helpful information on this list.  I've given you
some tools; please use them, and don't holler at us because we
haven't done anything.  Like I have said before, but I'll say it
in a different way, we can't go to bat for you if we don't know
where the ball is.

I'm very sorry to hear of the struggles many here are having with
churches, and I understand that it is tiresome and discouraging
to keep going from church to church, and still you can't find one
that .  accepts you.  God knows all about it.  If you'd like to
worship at, and eventually join a particular church because you
agree with its teachings, and you've tried to no avail to be
accepted by the leaders, let it be known to someone who can help
you by advocating for you.  Know your Bible well enough to give
some verses about worship and church membership, quote them, and
ask the leaders to look them up as you quote them.

Another thing you can do is give them my church website, where
they'll see me singing in the church choir and occasionally
singing a solo, using my BrailleNote Apex.  If they can see the
congregation, they'll see three blind ladies using our Braille
note takers to sing along with the hymns and read our Bibles
along with the rest.  There are probably other sites, too, where
blind people can be seen involved in the ministry during worship
services.  Our site is bbccolumbus.com.

Blessings,

Linda

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