Disability and the Church

Disability and the Church
Author: Lamar Hardwick
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2021-02-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 083084161X

Download Disability and the Church Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Pastor Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. This revelation prompted him to reconsider the church's responsibilities to the disabled community. Insisting that the good news of Jesus affirms God's image in all people, Hardwick offers practical steps and strategies to build stronger, truly inclusive communities of faith.

Disability and the Gospel

Disability and the Gospel
Author: Michael S. Beates
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2012-07-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433530481

Download Disability and the Gospel Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Michael Beates's concern with disability issues began nearly 30 years ago when his eldest child was born with multiple profound disabilities. Now, as more families like Michael's are affected by a growing number of difficulties ranging from down syndrome to autism to food allergies, the need for church programs and personal paradigm shifts is greater than ever. Working through key Bible passages on brokenness and disability while answering hard questions, Michael offers here helpful principles for believers and their churches. He shows us how to embrace our own brokenness and then to embrace those who are more physically and visibly broken, bringing hope and vision to those of us who need it most.

Disability and the Way of Jesus

Disability and the Way of Jesus
Author: Bethany McKinney Fox
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2019-05-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0830872388

Download Disability and the Way of Jesus Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

What does healing mean for people with disabilities? Bridging biblical studies, ethics, and disability studies with the work of practitioners, Bethany McKinney Fox examines healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts. This theologically grounded and winsomely practical resource helps us more fully understand what Jesus does as he heals and how he points the way for relationships with people with disabilities.

The Disabled Church

The Disabled Church
Author: Rebecca F. Spurrier
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0823285545

Download The Disabled Church Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

How do communities consent to difference? How do they recognize and create the space and time necessary for the differences and disabilities of those who constitute them? Christian congregations often make assumptions about the shared abilities, practices, and experiences that are necessary for communal worship. The author of this provocative new book takes a hard look at these assumptions through a detailed ethnographic study of an unusual religious community where more than half the congregants live with diagnoses of mental illness, many coming to the church from personal care homes or independent living facilities. Here, people’s participation in worship disrupts and extends the formal orders of worship. Whenever one worships God at Sacred Family Church, there is someone who is doing it differently. Here, the author argues, the central elements and the participation in the symbols of Christian worship raise questions rather than supply clear markers of unity, prompting the question, What do you need in order to have a church that assumes difference at its heart? Based on three years of ethnographic research, The Disabled Church describes how the Sacred Family community, comprising people with very different mental abilities, backgrounds, and resources, sustains and embodies a common religious identity. It explores how an ethic of difference is both helped and hindered by a church’s embodied theology. Paying careful attention to how these congregants improvise forms of access to a common liturgy, this book offers a groundbreaking theology of worship that engages both the fragility and beauty revealed by difference within the church. As liturgy requires consent to difference rather than coercion, an aesthetic approach to differences within Christian liturgy provides a frame for congregations and Christian liturgists to pay attention to the differences and disabilities of worshippers. This book creates a distinctive conversation between critical disability studies, liturgical aesthetics, and ethnographic theology, offering an original perspective on the relationship between beauty and disability within Christian communities. Here is a transformational theological aesthetics of Christian liturgy that prioritizes human difference and argues for the importance of the Disabled Church.

My Body Is Not a Prayer Request

My Body Is Not a Prayer Request
Author: Amy Kenny
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2022-05-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493437097

Download My Body Is Not a Prayer Request Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

"With humorous prose and wry wit, Kenny makes a convincing case for all Christians to do more to meet access needs and embrace disabilities as part of God's kingdom. . . . Inclusivity-minded Christians will cheer the lessons laid out here."--Publishers Weekly 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, this book 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.

Of Such is the Kingdom

Of Such is the Kingdom
Author: Summer Kinard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2019
Genre: Church work with people with disabilities
ISBN: 9781944967611

Download Of Such is the Kingdom Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Disability is not a boundary to holiness, because God is with us. But it can sometimes be an obstacle to full participation in the life of the Church, simply because many do not understand what is needed to help people with disabilities overcome any physical, mental, or interpersonal challenges they may face in church and in leading an Orthodox Christian life. This book addresses the question from theological, practical, and experiential perspectives, giving individuals and families with disabilities the opportunity to voice their needs and suggest some things the rest of us can do to make them welcome in the household of God.

Leading a Special Needs Ministry

Leading a Special Needs Ministry
Author: Amy Fenton Lee
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2016-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1433647125

Download Leading a Special Needs Ministry Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

What do you need to lead a special needs ministry? Leading a Special Needs Ministry is a practical how-to guide for the family ministry team working to welcome one or 100 children with special needs.

Living Fulfilled Lives

Living Fulfilled Lives
Author: Sue Sutton
Publisher: Sarah Grace Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-08-08
Genre: Learning disabilities
ISBN: 9781910786369

Download Living Fulfilled Lives Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Do you want to make a positive difference to the lives of those with a learning disability? In Living Fulfilled Lives, Sue Sutton draws together skills and knowledge from different disciplines and helps make us all aware of the hopes and dreams of those with a learning disability and empower them to live the fulfilled lives they deserve.

Why, O God? (Foreword by Randy Alcorn)

Why, O God? (Foreword by Randy Alcorn)
Author: Larry J. Waters
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2011-07-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433525836

Download Why, O God? (Foreword by Randy Alcorn) Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

With two in seven American families affected by disability, the body of Christ has a great opportunity for ministry. This new anthology uniquely points the way, training churches, caregivers, pastors, and counselors to compassionately respond. The book's contributors—ranging from Joni Eareckson Tada and others living with disabilities, to seminary professors, ministry leaders, and medical professionals—do more than offer a biblical perspective on suffering and disability; they draw from very personal experiences to explore Christians' responsibility toward those who suffer. The volume addresses various disabilities and age-related challenges, end-of-life issues, global suffering, and other concerns—all the while reminding readers that as they seek to help the hurting, they will be ministered to in return. This unprecedented work, which includes a foreword by Randy Alcorn, belongs in the hands of every Christian worker and caring individual who is seeking a real-world, biblical perspective on suffering.

Mental Health and the Church

Mental Health and the Church
Author: Stephen Grcevich, MD
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310534828

Download Mental Health and the Church Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The church across North America has struggled to minister effectively with children, teens, and adults with common mental health conditions and their families. One reason for the lack of ministry is the absence of a widely accepted model for mental health outreach and inclusion. In Mental Health and the Church: A Ministry Handbook for Including Children and Adults with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, and Other Common Mental Health Conditions, Dr. Stephen Grcevich presents a simple and flexible model for mental health inclusion ministry for implementation by churches of all sizes, denominations, and organizational styles. The model is based upon recognition of seven barriers to church attendance and assimilation resulting from mental illness: stigma, anxiety, self-control, differences in social communication and sensory processing, social isolation and past experiences of church. Seven broad inclusion strategies are presented for helping persons of all ages with common mental health conditions and their families to fully participate in all of the ministries offered by the local church. The book is also designed to be a useful resource for parents, grandparents and spouses interested in promoting the spiritual growth of loved ones with mental illness.