Dementia
Dementia

Author: John Swinton

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2017-01-31

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0334049644

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Winner of the Michael Ramsay Prize 2016 Dementia is one of the most feared diseases in Western society today. Some have even gone so far as to suggest euthanasia as a solution to the perceived indignity of memory loss and the disorientation that accompanies it. Here, John Swinton develops a practical theology of dementia for caregivers, people with dementia, ministers, hospital chaplains, and medical practitioners as he explores two primary questions: • Who am I when I’ve forgotten who I am? • What does it mean to love God and be loved by God when I have forgotten who God is? Offering compassionate and carefully considered theological and pastoral responses to dementia and forgetfulness, Swinton’s Dementia redefines dementia in light of the transformative counter story that is the gospel.

Alzheimer's & Theology
Alzheimer's & Theology

Author: Thomas Liu D.Min

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2021-06-17

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 1665527315

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The fact that Americans are living longer, healthier lives coupled with his own aging motivated the author to write this book. As Baby Boomers age, more than one in five Americans will be over 65 years old. This increase in the average age of Americans will have a widespread impact on every aspect of society, and is already beginning to be felt. This impact has inspired Dr. Liu to write this book in an effort to relieve the sufferings of those who have been diagnosed with this dreaded brain disease and their caregivers who suffer along with them. The author affirms that it is God’s love through Christ which encourages him to provide reason of hope in God’s remembrance: hope that is from an informed theological perspective, a sense of purpose in the face of this disease. Because of the author’s godly motive and desire to offer help for sufferers, the author provides comfort through assurances that the sufferer’s conditions are not leading to the end of their lives.

Ministry with the Forgotten
Ministry with the Forgotten

Author: Bishop Kenneth L. Carder

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2019-09-17

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 150188025X

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Dementia diseases represent a crisis of faith for many family members and congregations. Magnifying this crisis is the way people with dementia tend to be objectified by both medical and religious communities. They are recipients of treatment and projects for mission. Ministry is done to and for them rather than with them. While acknowledging the devastation of dementia diseases, Ken Carder draws on his own experience as a caregiver, hospice chaplain, and pastoral practitioner to portray the gifts as well as the challenges accompanying dementia diseases. He confronts the deep personal and theological questions created by loving people with dementia diseases, demonstrating how living with dementia can be a means of growing in faith, wholeness, and ministry for the entire community of faith. He also reveals that authentic faith transcends intellectual beliefs, verbal affirmations, and prescribed practices. Carder asserts that the Judeo-Christian tradition offers a broader lens, defining personhood in relationship to God’s story and humanity’s participation in God’s mighty acts of creation and new creation; thereby contributing to hope, community, and self-worth. Pastors and congregations will be better equipped to minister with people affected by dementia, receiving their gifts and responding to their unique needs. They will learn how people with dementia contribute to the community and the church’s life and mission, discovering practical ways those contributions can be identified, nurtured, and incorporated into the church’s life and ministry.

Forgetting Whose We are
Forgetting Whose We are

Author: David Keck

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 9780687020881

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Alzheimer's disease - a degenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized especially by premature mental deterioration - is the most publicly visible and widely discussed form of a range of disorders known as senile dementia. The nature of Alzheimer's disease, especially its progressive debilitation of the memory, raises key theological issues. What does it mean to be truly human? Does our ability to remember define who we are as persons? When the mind loses its ability to remember, what happens to the life of the soul? When we forget God, does God still remember us? Forgetting Whose We Are offers a Christian understanding of and response to the difficult theological, spiritual, and pastoral problems raised by Alzheimer's disease. Filling an important gap in existing literature by directly confronting the theological challenges of Alzheimer's disease to victims, caregivers, and their communities, the book affirms the classic Christian doctrines that witness to the reality of grace and the promises of salvation even for those who can no longer remember themselves, their families, or their relationship with God.

Second Forgetting
Second Forgetting

Author: Dr. Benjamin T. Mast

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2014-09-23

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 031051388X

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There is hope in Alzheimer's disease, but it isn't where most people look for it... Any form of dementia is terrifying and lonely for both the one suffering it and for those close to them. How do our relationships with those we love change with loss of memory or clarity of thought? What happens to our relationship with God? For those suffering from early-stage Alzheimer's, for their friends and family, community and church, this book will help you understand the disease itself, how to love and care for those affected by it, and how to see the hope that's greater than it: we may forget, but God always remembers. With pastoral tenderness and gospel confidence, Dr. Benjamin Mast shares his expertise on the subject and displays the power of the gospel that remains intact even when memory fades. Second Forgetting provides: Up-to-date answers to common questions about the disease and its effect on personal identity and faith. Personal stories of those affected and the loved ones who care for them and what their experiences were like—where they found hope and how they most needed support. Practical suggestions for how the church can come alongside families and those struggling or hurting. When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they face great uncertainty, knowing that they can expect to live their remaining years with increasing confusion and progressively greater reliance upon other people to care for them. Dr. Mast will help you see how Alzheimer's disease cannot have the final say on God's unforgotten children.

What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia?
What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia?

Author: 'Tricia Williams

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2021-01-25

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1725272156

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What happens to faith when Christians get dementia? Here, the unique voices of Christians who live with this illness bring insight and prompt theological reflection on the profound questions that dementia asks of faith. Within the boundaries of a biblical agenda, these questions are explored using a model of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation (reminiscent of Brueggemann's scheme), to seek deeper understanding of faith experience and practice. Arising from the research, fresh theological insights and challenges for the church call for new, creative practices to enable the faith nurture of disciples of Jesus living with this disease. Counterintuitively, the study reveals a growing, positive experience of faith in the light of dementia highlighting the significance of Christian hope. Faith does not end with diagnosis of this illness.

Entering the New Theological Space
Entering the New Theological Space

Author: John Reader

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-06

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1317142748

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This book presents theological reflections on the changing nature of church mission and Christian identity within a theology of 'blurred encounter' - a physical, social, political and spiritual space where once solid hierarchies and patterns are giving way to more fluid and in many ways unsettling exchanges. The issues raised and dynamics explored apply to all socially-produced space, thus tending to 'blur' that most fundamental of theological categories - namely urban vs. rural theology. Engaging in a sharper way with some of the helpful but inevitably broad-brush conclusions raised by recent church-based reports (Mission-shaped Church, Faithful Cities), the authors examine some of the practical and theological implications of this research for the issue of effective management and therefore church leadership generally. Speaking to practitioners in the field of practical theology as well as those engaged in theological and ministerial training, key voices encompass dimensions of power and conflict, and identify some of the present and future opportunities and challenges to church/faith-based engagement and leadership arising from blurred encounters. Contributors - practitioners and theorists - cover a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary professional contexts and academic/denominational interests. Contributors include: John Atherton, John Reader, Helen Cameron, Martyn Percy, Malcolm Brown, Karen Lord, Clare McBeath and Margaret Goodall.

Do This, Remembering Me
Do This, Remembering Me

Author: Colette Bachand-Wood

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2016-03-10

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0819232513

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Memory loss should not be spiritual loss. “What do I do to help?” Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, almost everyone knows someone with some form of dementia, yet few know how to answer that question, and very little material exists on providing spiritual care to adults with dementia-related diseases. Even seminaries rarely provide training or clinical pastoral education in this field. This book is an answer. It provides a hands-on manual that will give clergy, spiritual care providers, and family members an understanding of the ongoing spiritual needs of individuals with dementia, as well as practical tools such as how to create a religious service in a memory care unit and how one might plan a nursing home visit. Accessibly written, with real life applications and sample services for a variety of settings. More than just useful, the book inspires with shared stories that are tender, sad, funny—and sometimes all three at once, encouraging readers to develop spiritual care ministries for people with memory loss in congregations, homes, nursing facilities, or other communities—a ministry that will only gain in importance in the coming decade, as Baby Boomers age and the number of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia skyrockets.

What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia?
What Happens to Faith When Christians Get Dementia?

Author: 'Tricia Williams

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2021-01-25

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 172527213X

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What happens to faith when Christians get dementia? Here, the unique voices of Christians who live with this illness bring insight and prompt theological reflection on the profound questions that dementia asks of faith. Within the boundaries of a biblical agenda, these questions are explored using a model of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation (reminiscent of Brueggemann’s scheme), to seek deeper understanding of faith experience and practice. Arising from the research, fresh theological insights and challenges for the church call for new, creative practices to enable the faith nurture of disciples of Jesus living with this disease. Counterintuitively, the study reveals a growing, positive experience of faith in the light of dementia highlighting the significance of Christian hope. Faith does not end with diagnosis of this illness.

Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia
Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia

Author: John Dunlop, MD

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1433552124

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There Is Hope . . . When a patient is diagnosed with dementia, it impacts not only the patient but also those who care for them. It can be devastating to watch loved ones lose the independence, personality, and abilities that once defined them, knowing there is no cure. How should Christians respond to a diagnosis of dementia? Experienced geriatrician Dr. John Dunlop wants to transform the way we view dementia—showing us how God can be honored through such a tragedy as we respect the inherent dignity of all humans made in the image of God. Sharing stories from decades of experience with dementia patients, Dunlop provides readers, particularly caregivers, with a biblical lens through which to understand the experience and challenge of this life-altering disease. Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia will help you see God's purposes as you love and care for those with dementia.