CHURCH COMMUNITY AS AN INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENT FOR MENTALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

The present thesis, entitled Church Communities as Inclusive Environments for People with Disabilities, seeks to map the possibilities of integration and inclusion of people with disabilities into church communities. The necessary introduction is followed by a brief description of intellectual disability so that it becomes clear why these persons are disabled, its definition, diagnosis and manifestations. The work continues with a reflection on the treatment of persons with disabilities in Scripture and a characterization of the new discipline of "disability theology". The thesis then seeks to describe the approach of church communities to persons with disabilities (dignity, spirituality, pastoral care, diaconia), their needs, and the possibilities for integration and inclusion in these communities, as well as the problems of inclusion in church communities. The final part of the thesis discusses research on the issue of intellectual disability and its relationship to church organisations and the actual qualitative research using a phenomenological approach in the form of a semi-structured interview