Resource Review: Believing and Belonging
An Accessible Anabaptist Membership Curriculum
Believing and Belonging: An Accessible Anabaptist Membership Curriculum by Jeanne Davies, director of the Anabaptist Disabilities Network, is an excellent resource for adults with intellectual disabilities who are considering baptism. It tells the stories from the Bible and of the church in a beautiful, accessible format. In the introduction to the teacher’s edition, Davies explains,
The most important lesson that your students will learn about Jesus is their experience of the church, including you. This is an experiential curriculum. Knowing Jesus is not the same thing as knowing things about Jesus. Our hope is to have our students encounter the living Christ and want to follow him.
In religious education with both youth and adults, we too often focus on talking about Jesus rather than embodying his message. This curriculum was a breath of fresh air in this regard, and I felt that it could easily be adapted for use with all young people and young adults who are considering baptism.
The stories are simple and powerful, featuring persons from the Bible who showed bravery and love amid adversity and misunderstanding—something people with intellectual disabilities can relate to. The reflection activities were equally appealing, such as going outside to look at the night sky after hearing the story of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky and giving food to a food pantry after hearing the story of Ruth.
The curriculum also incorporates ideas and practices that help connect with concrete thinkers, offering suggestions like connecting with people’s feelings in each story and connecting the story with the students’ experiences and the world around them.
Believing and Belonging also emphasized that many people with intellectual disabilities do not get to make many, if any, decisions about their lives, while baptism is a decision for each person to make for themselves. The curriculum offers alternative ways to celebrate people who choose not to be baptized or cannot choose, welcoming them into full belonging in the congregation. It encouraged students to participate in leading worship, such as a prayer or a song or sharing their experiences.
Mario and Jon Lehman were two of the student testers. Their mother Tracey Lehman shared their experience: “They sit, listen, and seem to understand much of the content. They like to do one or two of the activities. That’s saying a lot because they aren’t often interested in reading stories with me.”
Believing and Belonging is a thoughtful, lovely curriculum that introduces people to baptism and the church in an inclusive and welcoming way.
Learn more about Believing and Belonging on our resource page. Purchase a copy at Brethren Press.
This article is reprinted with permission from the Central District Connector.
