Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509110027
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BRIGGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the Middle Ages, rituals, music, stained-glass windows and other devices were the major ways a largely illiterate population was helped to experience the Christian faith.
The Enlightenment led a move toward a more rational religion where faith and sacraments were tied to intellectual assent. But today, particularly as greater sensitivity is paid to people with disabilities, religious groups are showing greater openness to the mystical elements of faith.
A task force on sacramental practices in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America proposed allowing infants to receive Communion, and U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops recently held up the right of church members with mental disabilities to receive the sacraments whenever feasible under church law.
A new study published in the Journal of Religion in Disability & Rehabilitation finds that incense and music can enrich the worship experience of severely mentally retarded people.
In the study, 17 severely retarded people with an average mental age of less than 2 were observed reacting to various stimuli during 15 weeks of Wednesday worship services at a residential center in North Carolina. The participants were selected because of their lack of response during regular chapel services.
What researchers the Rev. Ingram C. Parmley, Rodney E. Realon and Deborah L. Frye found was that when dramatic classical music was played, a 47 percent increase in the amount of attention paid to the minister was noted. When incense was used, a 31 percent increase was noted.
What the researchers also observed on videotape was a greater calmness, focus on the service and looks of pleasure when the incense and classical music were introduced.
The researchers said it is difficult to know precisely how the mentally retarded individuals were affected, but the project suggests the addition of extra sounds and smells to the worship service enriches their experience.
``The bottom line is we can't prove anything, if you want to be cynical,'' said Parmley, former director of research and training on disability ministry at The Covenant Center in Morganton, N.C.
``As a person of faith, I say this is confirming what we knew all along: God communicates with us in a number of ways.''
The Rev. Fred Reed, chairman of the religion division of the American Association of Mental Retardation, said the findings appear reasonable.
Reed said he thinks the severely mentally retarded can develop worship skills and music is a key factor.
``You communicate through music,'' Reed said.
In many ways, the liturgical experiences that help the mentally retarded are part of a long tradition.
``Part of what we were doing was as old as worship itself ... restoring music and lights and smells,'' said Parmley, of St. James Episcopal Church in Lenoir, N.C.
When you observe a typical church service today, Realon said, you notice different devices, such as standing and sitting at various intervals and music used to keep the attention of worshipers.
In the case of the severely retarded, he said, ``Sometimes, it takes unique sorts of interventions.''
Both Realon and Parmley said it is the church's responsibility to find creative ways to assist the retarded, just as it would for other people with special needs.
``God's house is either big enough for everybody,'' Parmley said, ``or it's not big enough for anybody.''
by CNB