Resources on L'Arche

Faith Communities and Inclusion of People with Developmental Disabilities

Resources on L'Arche

L'Arche is an international federation of intentional faith communities where people with and without disabilities live together in life-sharing situations. Founded in 1964, in France by Jean Vanier, today over 104 L'Arche communities are found in 25 countries around the world. Also connected with L'Arche are Faith and Light communities which bring together people with disabilities, their families, and their friends for times of sharing, prayer, and celebration. L'Arche communities were the first intentional life-sharing communities to outwardly welcome people with disabilities. In this sense, the numerous writings on L'Arche which focus more so on life in a faith community, personal spirituality, and inclusion of people with disabilities in the Church can be insightful for those working toward inclusion. However, it is also important to point out that life-sharing situations within intentional faith communities are a unique and specific way in which some people can choose to enact their faith lives and are by no means 'the' only way in which people with disabilities should be allowed to enact their faith. Below are annotations of writings on L'Arche that relate specifically to the roles and places of people with disabilities in the church, inclusiveness in the church, and the support of people with disabilities in their own spirituality. A catalogue of a full list of resources on L'Arche can be ordered through Daybreak Publications at:

Daybreak Publications
11339 Yonge Street
Richmond Hill, ON L4S 1L1
CANADA
1-800-853-1412

More information on L'Arche can be found at the following Internet web site:

http://www.larchecanada.org

The following three books are from a new L'Arche Collection published by Novalis. This collection is designed to help readers integrate the spirituality of L'Arche into their everyday lives and to acquaint the whole church with the experience of L'Arche communities.

TITLE: An ark for the poor: The story of L'Arche

AUTHOR: Vanier, J.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 1995

Novalis
49 Front Street, East, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON M5E 1B3
CANADA
(416) 363-3303

In An ark for the poor, Jean Vanier documents the history of L'Arche. Starting with the founding of L'Arche in 1964 by Vanier and two men from a local institution, Vanier traces the history of L'Arche, in five-year periods, as it grew from a single family home into what is now an international federation of over 100 communities. Specifically, he looks at: the founding, the expansion, growth of family, growth in maturity, structuring L'Arche, and questions today facing L'Arche and faith communities that support people with disabilities in their spirituality. Also included, in Appendices, are the Charter of L'Arche as written and adopted by the General Assembly of the L'Arche Federation in May of 1993 and a list of L'Arche communities around the world.

TITLE: The heart of L'Arche: A spirituality for every day

AUTHOR: Vanier, J.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 1995

Novalis
49 Front Street, East, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON M5E 1B3
CANADA
(416) 363-3303

In this second book of the Novalis series on L'Arche, Vanier describes in detail, for those familiar and unfamiliar with L'Arche, the spiritual philosophy behind L'Arche. Included are discussions on the mystery of faith in the start of L'Arche over 30 years ago; what is meant when L'Arche refers to itself as being centered on a spirituality of the poor; the spirituality of, and life in, an intentional faith community of people with and without disabilities; trust, insecurity, and openness in community life; and the spiritual relationship of L'Arche to the church and the community at-large.

TITLE: Body broken, body blessed: Reflections from life in community

AUTHOR: Mosteller, S.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 1996

Novalis
49 Front Street, East, 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON M5E 1B3
CANADA
(416) 363-3303

In Body broken, body blessed, Mosteller, who is pastor at the L'Arche Daybreak community in Ontario, Canada, speaks candidly about 'real' life in a faith community. She does this by talking about her 24 years of living at Daybreak, the joys and the sorrows she has experienced there over the years. Mosteller takes a somewhat unique approach in writing her story by relating it to the life experiences of the people with disabilities with whom she lives, thus, telling both her and their stories. She talks about L'Arche as a place: that is home, of safety, of individuality, where history is enjoyed, where fears can be confronted and beauty discovered, to hold loneliness, to surrender control, and to die.

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