The Catholic faith is as familiar to Charmaine Austin as breathing out and breathing in.

But it wasn’t until her second child was born, a beautiful baby girl named Camille, that her faith was really tested.

When she was six months old, Camille (“Cammie”) was diagnosed with cerebral palsy; two months later Austin’s husband moved out of their home. Now more than ever Austin needed God in her life, but for a time it seemed no church—Catholic or otherwise—was ready to embrace her family.

Then one Sunday about four years ago Charmaine, Cammie and seven-year-old Royce Austin found themselves at Mass in the tent Divine Savior Parish was temporarily using until construction on its new church was complete.

“The people were accepting,” she said, recalling the warmth of parishioners’ encouraging smiles. “We found ourselves very much at home.”

Austin, who now serves on the parish’s special needs committee, said there was a whole environment of welcoming—from a wheelchair accessible ramp around the altar to parishioners’ encouraging words of greeting.

Divine Savior parishioner Megan Mikitka, left, and Amanda Ira raise hands in praise during the Our Father at Mass. Estrella Bibbey/ Herald photo

“They were examples of the purest of God’s teachings to ‘love one another as I love you,’” she recalled.

Charmaine Austin’s praise is music to the ears of Michelle Hendricks, the Sacramento Diocese’s consultant for catechesis for persons with special needs. Hendricks said that her ministry focuses on the faith needs of people with disabilities at the parish level.

Building on the effort of the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities, Hendricks wants “to encourage parishes to open their doors…to ask what can we do to help you become a member of our local community.”

That challenge, she added, is rooted in the U.S. bishops’ 1978 statement on persons with disabilities, titled “Open Wide the Doors to Christ,” and echoed in Pope John Paul II’s Jubilee Year 2000 invitation to welcome people with disabilities.

“It is a challenge to the body of Christ to recognize the face of God in their brothers and sisters with special needs,” Hendricks said. “This touches every aspect of church, but the parish is the door.”

Hendricks brings both expertise and personal experience to her ministry. She worked for several years as a special education teacher and program consultant for 22 school districts in the greater Los Angeles area. After moving to Northern California, she served as coordinator of religious education at Holy Trinity Parish in El Dorado Hills.

But the real eye opener came when doctors informed her a few years ago that a tumor on her spine would require major surgery. Wearing a back brace and in chronic pain, Hendricks found her perspective about people living with disabilities significantly altered.

“I have a tiny bit more understanding what it is to go through something that touches your very core, changes you forever and calls on you to reach inside for your faith,” she said.

After experiencing some of the negativity that can accompany having a disability, to have fellow parishioners at Holy Trinity reach out in countless acts of kindness—one parishioner sent her 10 get-well cards—was a revelation.

“To be in a place where you have to accept and let the body of Christ minister to you—that’s powerful,” she said.

To foster inclusion at the parish level, Hendricks encourages parishes to establish advocacy teams or special needs committees. She says such teams send a clear message to people with special needs.

“They say we’re a community that is looking for you; you have a right to develop as a Catholic Christian—journey with us,” Hendricks said.

At Divine Savior Parish in Orangevale, reaching out to people with special needs is an integral part of parish life. A most tangible example is the very design of the new church facility, which features a state-of-the art sound system for the hearing impaired and access to the altar for the disabled.

“We do faith mainstreaming here,” according to Salvatorian Father Thomas Tureman, pastor of Divine Savior. “There is very little a person who is handicapped cannot do in this parish.”

In fact, one of the first questions Father Tureman was asked when he was being interviewed for his current assignment was, “Are you open to people where they are?”

One who knows the answer to that question is Evelyn Crain. Crain, a regular lector at the 11 a.m. Mass and an active member of a parish Bible study group, is a quadriplegic. While it is true that her ride to the altar is made easier by handicapped access and a special microphone amplifies her voice, it is the parish community that has deepened her faith.

“When I speak God’s word, people are not looking at my handicap, they are listening to what I say,” she said. “At Divine Savior, you come to family.”

John Groce, pastoral associate at Divine Savior, directs the parish’s religious education program. Components of the program include sensitivity classes for young people and their parents regarding children with special needs, a parent support group and instruction in Bible stories that illustrate inclusion.

“We remind children and young adults we’re all children of God, we’re all different and from our differences we can learn from each other,” Groce said. “We don’t all come into this world with the same gifts.”

He points to Megan Mikitka, one of the brightest lights in Divine Savior’s youth group. From the time Mikitka, 18, a senior at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale who has cerebral palsy, went to a youth conference in Los Angeles with young people from her parish, the youth group was never the same.

“The kids got to know her and formed a bond,” said Megan’s mother, Cathy Mikitka.

It’s gone way beyond the young people getting together for the youth group on Sunday night.

Christiana Luza, a senior at St. Francis High School in Sacramento, is a member of the group. She and Megan have taken to “hanging out” at places like Jamba Juice and Baskins Robbins and going to movies together. Luza says becoming friends with Megan has been a positive growth experience for everyone.

“Megan is just so full of life. She kind of sets an example for us,” Luza noted.

Hendricks said that the formation of small Christian communities also offers tremendous opportunities to include families with special needs.

“I see small Christian communities as giving people with special needs a chance to grow in their faith and see the compassion of Jesus in the people around them,” she said. “It’s a journey they don’t have to take alone.”

Barbara Agnell, a member of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Carmichael, has formed a small faith-sharing group for people with mild disabilities and many gifts.

Called the “Faith and Friendship Group,” the members meet weekly for Gospel readings, discussion, prayer and socializing. Agnell was inspired to start the group because she felt her brother James Parsley, who has a disability, was not fully experiencing the satisfaction of being part of the parish community.

“People are able to share their beliefs and appreciate one another’s strengths,” noted Agnell, who sees members enjoying the friendships they are developing. “They bring many gifts.”

Her goal is to expand the small faith-sharing group to include a more diverse membership with both non-disabled members and those with special needs.

More good news for special needs ministry is growing parish support for Camp ReCreation, the Sacramento Diocese’s summer program for people with developmental disabilities.

Over the past two years Camp ReCreation, has received substantial support from several parishes in pre-planning activities. Parish volunteers and Cub Scout packs enrich the camping program with a variety of projects from liturgical art to puppetry shows and special “Oscar Awards” presentations.

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