It has been indicated through research and by personal testimony that
although some barriers for inclusion for those with special needs have been broken down
since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, one of the most
significant barriers still remains - negative and often subtle attitudes. Positive attitudes
toward individuals with special needs have been shown to facilitate inclusion while
negative attitudes hinder inclusion. Since the ADA law exempted churches from the
mandates for inclusion, many have found participating in churches a significant
challenge. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitude measurement score of
senior pastors as it relates to awareness of special needs populations, types of special
education ministries in the churches, previous life experiences with persons with
developmental disabilities, and the pastor's training through formal and informal courses
of instruction related to developmental disabilities. The research explored potential
factors which shape pastoral attitudes and result in either barriers or facilitators to
intentional special needs ministries.
Data was collected through an online survey format and the results were used
in a statistical analysis to facilitate the answering of the research questions. The sample
population for the research included the 1296 senior pastors of Southern Baptist churches
in South Carolina who have published church and/or personal email addresses in the
South Carolina Baptist Annual Report 2008.
Through statistical analysis of the survey results, precedent literature
review concepts concerning the value oflife experiences with individuals with
developmental disabilities can have a positive impact on positive attitudes. The pastors
overall had positive attitudes toward individuals with developmental disabilities, but most
significantly in the realm of the behavioral domain. Strong statistically significant
correlations could not be drawn between having a positive attitude toward individuals
with special needs and special needs ministry among the pastor's surveys. There were
definite trends which support the important roles of experience and education being made
available to pastors in order to potentially bring positive changes concerning inclusion in
local churches.
Keywords: attitude measurement, special needs ministry, pastoral attitudes, individuals
with developmental disabilities, church special education ministry
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:SBTS/oai:digital.library.sbts.edu:10392/3819 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Howard, Bobby |
| Contributors | Richardson, Brian C. |
| Source Sets | Southern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Detected Language | English |
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