Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 2/26/04)

All of us have a story to share in our walk with God. Most of us have the opportunity to do this within a community of faith. However, there are a few who need friends to help them articulate their story and to walk with them on their journey of faith. SPRED provides that opportunity for people with developmental disabilities.

Special Religious Development (SPRED) is a program in which persons who are developmentally disabled come together with a spiritual friend/catechist to share a one-on-one relationship and form a small faith community. SPRED fosters and nourishes spiritual and personal growth by helping those with developmental disabilities discover God’s action and presence in their lives. SPRED gives developmentally disabled parishioners an opportunity for celebration and worship and prepares them for the sacraments of Initiation and Reconciliation. Special liturgies during the course of the year are also celebrated as a community.

SPRED serves age groups from children to adults (6-10 years old, 11-16 years old, 17-21 years old and 22 years and older). Current SPRED centers in the Arlington Diocese are in four of the six deaneries: St. Ann, Arlington (22 years and older); St. Luke, McLean (22 years and older); St. Mary of Sorrows, Fairfax (22 years and older); Holy Spirit, Annandale (22 years and older); Holy Family, Dale City (11-16 years old and 17-21 years old). All Saints, Manassas and St. Raymond of Penafort, Fairfax Station are in the process of opening SPRED centers and Holy Family is adding a new age group.

SPRED’s history extends over a period of 40 years and originated in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It came into being through the collaboration of Father Euchariste Paulus, priest psychologist of the Diocese of Sherbrooke, Canada; Father Jean Mesny of the Diocese of Lyons, France; and Father James McCarthy of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Today, SPRED is national and international in scope. Through the efforts of Fran Campbell, former diocesan SPRED director, SPRED became affiliated with the Arlington Diocese under the Office of Catechetics in 1982 and the Diocesan Observation and Training Center, formerly located at St. John Parish in McLean and currently located at Holy Family Parish, Dale City, was dedicated by former Arlington Bishop John R. Keating in 1985. Through the years SPRED has met the needs of over 300 catechists and persons with developmental disabilities in the diocese.

The SPRED Advisory Committee, with Father Paul deLadurantaye as chairman, was established to assist and advise the SPRED directors and volunteers and is committed to following and implementing the statement of the Catholic Bishops of the United States in their 1978 pastoral statement on persons with disabilities (revised in 1989): "Jesus revealed by his actions that service to and with people in need is a privilege and an opportunity as well as a duty…Recognizing that persons with disabilities have a claim to our respect because they are persons, because they share in the one redemption of Christ, and because they contribute to our society by their activity within it, the Church must become an advocate for and with them…In touching the lives of disabled men, women and children in this way, we come closest to imitating Jesus’ own example which should be before our eyes"(Lk. 4:17-19, 21).

An informational meeting on the services of SPRED will be held Thursday, March 4, at St. Mary of Sorrows Church, Fairfax Station, at 7:30 p.m. All who are interested are invited to attend.

To learn more about starting a SPRED community in your parish, contact Nadine Hallums, SPRED director or Joanna Yohe, assistant director, at the SPRED office at St. Bernadette, Springfield (703/569-2428). No previous experience in working with persons who are developmentally disabled is required or necessary to participate in the ministry of this program.