Saturday, December 5, 1998

Chaplain enjoys challenge of ministering to the mentally disabled

By Matthew Brady

Knight Ridder Newspapers

DENTON, Texas -- It is a crisp, cool Sunday morning at the Denton State School.

The grass and trees on the parklike campus shimmer beneath a clear October sky. Against that backdrop, a ragged line of wheelchairs slowly wends up the hill to a small, A-frame chapel.

As the line draws closer, the details of the convoy emerge, and one can see that each wheelchair is as unique as its owner.

One lies flat like a portable bed. Another is customized to make allowances for a twisted spine and a feeding tube discreetly tucked beneath a blanket.

In the rear, pushing the last wheelchair, is the Rev. Dennis Schurter, a thin, angular man of 56.

Schurter's Sunday morning routine has changed little in more than two decades as chaplain at the school, one of 11 state-run schools for the severely mentally retarded.

To the casual observer, Schurter's task may seem hopeless.

Higher-functioning residents long ago moved to group homes in the city. Of the 600 who remain, about 60 attend chapel. Few of them will understand much of the Gospel beyond "Jesus loves me."

Yet Schurter is undeterred.

"It's not the kind of place where you grow in numbers," he said. "Yet I see growth in caring and relating with love to one another. The people here have a simple faith, a faith that is expressed in their love and acceptance of one another -- many times without questioning, 'Why did this happen to me?' "

Schurter's chapel messages are short and simple. He walks up and down the aisle as he preaches, making eye contact with each person, touching them on the shoulder, calling them by name, asking them simple questions.

The personal contact communicates more than any message.

"You can't use ideas and words," he said. "You have to use your own presence, your own person."

During the week, he leads Bible studies and coordinates services for Catholic and non-Christian residents.

Nancy and Jerry Ward of Fort Worth, Texas, are convinced that Schurter's ministry makes a difference in the life of their daughter, Dianne.

She is 37, the youngest of three children.

Dianne's brain was damaged while she was still in the womb, the victim of a time when doctors prescribed medicine to pregnant women with little knowledge of the consequences to the babies.

Although Dianne's body has matured, her mind has not.

She has an IQ of eight and the functioning abilities of a 16-month-old infant.

But she can hum along with the church music, and bow her head for prayer. And she likes getting dressed up for the service and having ribbons put in her hair.

"Whether she understands about God, I'm not sure," Nancy Ward said. "But I feel like the chapel really does provide for all the residents something that is normal, and I am thankful they have the opportunity to worship."

Schurter said that God's power in the lives of his people is apparent to anyone who takes the time to look.

He sees God's love in people such as Robert, a resident who cannot sit up or use his hands. But he can use a reclining wheelchair and propel himself with his feet.

"He can't say words, but he hails me and he gives me a hug by coming up to me and putting his legs around my leg," Schurter said. "The outsider looking at this person says, 'Oh, isn't this terrible that this person is so disabled.' But as you get to know the person, then that person draws you out of yourself to relate to him or her in a personal way. It is not an 'Oh, you poor thing' kind of mercy. It is a compassion that draws us out into the life of the other person."

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(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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