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How do we include people in what we do? How do we invite others to include people they find it hard to include?
I think that community should be a place of inclusion. We invite people into community so that we can share with them and they with us. Community therefore is inclusive by nature. But problems always arise. We have groups within our communities. One group is included in the whole community but struggles to be inclusive of an individual or another group within the community. What is worse is when those who are not included do not realise they are not included. People with mental health issues, or lacking the social skills to recognise that other people seek to not include them.
I do think there is a difference between excluding people and not including them. It is a fine line. It would be easy to say that exclusion is when we actively seek to stop people from being involved. But what about excluding people by not being sensitive to their needs? Holding a meeting in a building with a flight of stairs stops people in wheelchairs from attending. The choice wasn't made actively to exclude those people, but the choice of venue is certainly not inclusive of people with varying needs.
I believe in Christian community we should provide an inclusive environment for people who struggle to be included elsewhere. But how do we handle people who feel included themselves but wish others to not be included? It is not as easy as saying 'You should include them because they have no friends, just like you have no friends.' It is the challenge of creating real community rather than just a group of people who gather together to receive something (friendship, acceptance, etc.)
What is your experience?
Interesting that you should bring this topic up. I was thinking about this after dinner last night. The question that resounds with me is how do we create an inclusive community not just one where everyone congrgates together.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if we can do this with a wider group until we can do this ourselves. It's actually easy to be welcoming on a surface level and make people feel ok, but it is much harder to allow people to be welcomed in more deeply.
Maybe we can't do this... I'm not sure... It's something I'm still contemplating.
Melissa