Presence and Bewilderment: Faith-based

Nashville is...

-the heart of a number of Protestant Christian denominations (United Methodist, Southern Baptist, etc.), bringing a unique wealth of resources (communal, spiritual, ethical, financial) that come with the deep, rich history of communities of faith

-the home of both long-standing and budding intentional and new monastic communities, proving that Nashville is fertile ground for developing new ways of living in community

...sampling of faith-based intentional communities in Nashville:
Castanea
http://www.castanea.org/

Belle H. Bennett House, Scarritt-Bennett Center
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Belle-H-Bennett-House-at-Scarritt-Bennett-Center/183966258344808

Edgehill Intentional Community

About Jessica

From Texas, via Arkansas, Chile, and DC, I completed a Master of Divinity program at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2010. I am now a provisional Deacon in the United Methodist Church in the Tennessee Conference.

After a year and a half of work as a Live-in Companion with 2 men with intellectual disabilities through a secular agency in Nashville, sharing life and being formed by L'Arche communities in Jacksonville, FL and Mobile, AL, I am now sharing life as House Coordinator in our newly founded L'Arche Atlanta.

What are intellectual and developmental disabilities?

Intellectual disability: formerly known as mental retardation, is characterized by impaired intellectual functioning and limited adaptive behavior.

Developmental disability: a condition that is significant and ongoing, begins before age 22, and substantially limits functioning in daily activities of living (may or may not include intellectual functioning). Some physical disabilities would fit in this category. So does autism (primarily social adaptive), though it can be accompanied by intellectual disability.

Examples of developmental disabilities include autism, brain injury, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, spina bifida, and Williams syndrome.