Much of the church has forgotten that we worship a disabled God whose wounds survived resurrection, says Amy Kenny. It is time for the church to start treating disabled people as full members of the body of Christ who have much more to offer than a miraculous cure narrative and to learn from their embodied experiences. Written by a disabled Christian, My Body Is Not a Prayer Request shows that the church is missing out on the prophetic witness and blessing of disability. Kenny reflects on her experiences inside the church to expose unintentional ableism and cast a new vision for Christian communities to engage disability justice. She shows that until we cultivate church spaces where people with disabilities can fully belong, flourish, and lead, we are not valuing the diverse members of the body of Christ. Offering a unique blend of personal storytelling, fresh and compelling writing, biblical exegesis, and practical application, this book invites readers to participate in disability justice and create a more inclusive community in church and parachurch spaces. Engaging content such as reflection questions and top-ten lists are included.
Jesus and Disability provides a blueprint for how churches and their leaders can become disability friendly, serving those in the church and in the broader
Going to a new church as a disabled person is a brave act.
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Title: Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion By: Lamar Hardwick Format: Paperback Vendor: InterVarsity Press Publication Date: 2021 Weight: 9 ounces ISBN: 0830841601 ISBN-13: 9780830841608 Stock No: WW841608
The inclusion of people with disabilities in the church isn’t merely a pro-life issue. It is also a Biblical one.
American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism?not lack of ramps, of finances, or of accessible worship?is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America. In From Inclusion to Justice, Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God?s ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. | Author: Erin Raffety | Publisher: Baylor University Press | Publication Date: Sep 01, 2022 | Number of Pages: 238 pages | Language: English | Binding: Paperback | ISBN-10: 148131694X | ISBN-13: 9781481316941
Disability ministry is not about a program, but about honest and genuine relationships, and any church can love the people who walk through its doors.
"People with disabilities are not problems to be solved; they’re relationships to be embraced."
Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ.
The church generally seeks to be a place of acceptance and care; we want to ensure that we look after all God’s children. But we must go further than caring for , we must acknowledge and encourage the gifts and talents that God has given to all His children, and that includes those with learning di
I suppose many of my cartoons are seen as advocacy for those who are marginalized by the church. My disabled friends have asked for more cartoons advocating for them. Here's another one.
Lesson Plans and 12 confirmation and faith development lessons. They are written at a 3rd grade level to use with people who have intellectual disabilities.
Does your church have a special needs ministry or want to form one? Discover what one congregation is doing to support families.
At our church, our special needs ministry’s goal is to communicate the gospel to every child in a way they understand and in an environment where they feel comfortable. Because every child is unique, we have developed ISPs for each one—individualized spiritual plans! Similar to what the students have at school under their IEPs, our ISPs...
Religious entities are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, which includes accessibility requirements for public spaces. Nonetheless, most have made their buildings accessible in some fashion.
Bible Disability and the Church is an inspiring and challenging study that rethinks the Bible's teaching on disability. The Bible has plenty to say about human disability; most of it is negative. Yet Amos Yong -- a theologian whose life experience includes growing up alongside a brother with Down syndrome -- argues that it is the way we read biblical texts, not the Bible itself, that causes us unthinkingly to marginalize those with disabilities. Applying a "hermeneutics of suspicion" to traditional methods of interpreting the Bible, Yong rereads and reinterprets texts from the Old Testament, John, Luke-Acts, and Paul from the perspective of people with disabilities. Revealing and dismantling the underlying stigma of disability that exists even in the church, he shows how the Bible offers good news to people of all abilities -- and he challenges churches to reorganize their practices as they strive to become more inviting, healing, and reconciling communities of faith.
Do churches make special needs families feel welcome? Dr. Erik Carter answered that question at the Summer Institute of Theology and Disability.
The Orthodox Church is a Church of words and images. But how can a nonverbal child have a relationship with the Logos, the Word of God?
Draws On Themes Of The Disability-Rights Movement To Identify People With Disabilities As Members Of A Socially Disadvantaged Minority Group Rather Than As Individuals Who Need To Adjust. Highlights The Hidden History Of People With Disabilities In Church And Society. Proclaiming The Emancipatory Presence Of The Disabled God, The Author Maintains The Vital Importance Of The Relationship Between Christology And Social Change. Eiesland Contends That In The Eucharist, Christians Encounter The Disabled God And May Participate In New Imaginations Of Wholeness And New Embodiments Of Justice. Author: Nancy L. Eiesland Publisher: Abingdon Press Published: 09/01/1994
Katie E. Steed, the Disability Specialist Manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught a class on supporting Church members with disabilities as part of BYU's Education Week on Monday, August 15th.
Have you ever thought about whether or not your church is accommodating to those who have disabilities? If a family who had a child with disabilities tried to come to your church, would they be able to get in the door without getting weird looks, or having to drag a wheelchair up some stairs?
The Church listens to people with disabilities to provide them with helpful resources
Emmalyne Kwasny, the author of this blog, served as one of our Corporate Interns this summer. Disability ministry is a unique blessing which teaches many invaluable lessons. It blesses not only the families affected by disability, but the church as a whole. Children can be especially blessed by the introduction of disability into their lives; it
The disabled, says religion writer Mark Pinsky, “are not just people who need help, but they are people who can help."
Here are some of my hypotheses as to why over 20% of U.S. kids meet criteria for at least one mental disorder…
Recently, I’ve been preparing for a presentation titled “Learning inclusion from the Early Church” in which I cover some of the earliest Christian perspectives on disability. Looking at how the post-apostolic church viewed and incorporated people with disabilities has been illuminating, and there is
Make the World a Better Place: A New Workshop for People with Disabilities. Find out about it in our monastery blog. We have been writing about Christianity, church history, church products and crafts, the lives of the great ascetics, etc.
You are 7 questions away from getting your church in the right direction to being more accessible to people with disabilities! Have you ever wondered about people with disabilities in your church? Can they get where they need to go easily? Can they access the message? Are there ministries in place for them? […]
I am new to this journey. My daughter Faith is only 5 years old. She is mentally and physically disabled, still small enough to carry, quiet . . . mostly, and has not developed the larger, louder, and strange movements and sounds that many older people who are mentally and physically disabled seem to develop […]
When we serve in grace and humility, Christ is exalted as we esteem others better than ourselves.
Your compassion not only reaches those who have never heard the Gospel message – it also reaches Christians with disabilities in the most remote areas of the globe. These brothers and sisters in Christ lack simple mobility that would enable them to work, to attend school and church, to live with dignity and purpose. We
People with disabilities tend to be highly agile because they must navigate physical and social structures that are created by and for people who do not have disabilities.
