The Church and Persons with Handicaps

G.A. Rawlyk is a history professor at Queen’s University and the
author of Champions of the Truth: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and the
Maritime Baptists.

In the brief preface to this book, Professor Ohsberg cogently summarizes his volume: it “is an attempt to arouse the conscience of the church regarding ministry to persons with disabilities” as well as “an attempt to suggest some guidelines to those in the local church who feel the burden to begin a ministry to the disabled and their families.”

This is not a highly theoretical work filled with incomprehensible sociological or theological jargon. Nor is it overwhelmed by the trappings of so-called academic scholarship. Rather, The Church and Persons with Handicaps is a lucidly written, well-organized, straightforward, and helpful study aimed at the ordinary interested and concerned reader. It should be required reading not only for all concerned Church leaders and Church members, but also for those who are strongly indifferent and apathetic to the special problems facing the handicapped.

The book is superbly produced. There is a helpful bibliography, a list of American agencies concerned with the handicapped (a Canadian list could have easily been included as well), and a brief discussion of some relevant curriculum materials.