A video of the talk I gave in September 2019 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville on "Disability Advocacy and the Demands of Justice" can be seen HERE.
Today, I want to talk about how our culture and communities—and specifically the Christian community known as the Church—are problematic with respect to how we treat disabled people. Just as the Church is sometimes unwelcoming of people that are different than us in other ways,…
This past weekend my family was on the road with . me, as I had a number of speaking engagements in another state. We visited a church near where we were staying. During the Sunday morning service, the congregation sang "O for a Thousand Tongues…
I've been critical, both in my book and on social media, of churches that marginalize, stigmatize, or ignore those with disabilities. I think that's appropriate as a way of calling the Church to be better.But it's also appropriate to celebrate churches that get things right.…
According to a recent news story, Kenneth French, a 32 year-old non-verbal man with an intellectual disability, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer while at Costco. There are a lot of details that we don't yet know about the incident, but the…
A few weeks back, I posted that my friend Blake Hereth and I had just submitted the manuscript for an edited collection to our press. It took a few weeks for us to finalize the title with the press, who initially preferred to go with…
Here's the first of a number of short videos that I did with Calvin Press about Disability and Inclusive Communities. "...incomplete without them..." Part of Christianity is the commitment to reach out to those and to love those who have been marginalized, ostracized, who aren't…
A few months back, when asked by the staff of the high school what I hoped for in his high school experience, I told them: "I want Jameson to finish his senior year having gone to prom. And not one of those Tim Tebow night…
Tomorrow starts the 2019 Summer Institute of Theology and Disability. Last year was the first SITD I went to, in North Carolina, and it was a great experience. This one is closer to home over in Holland, MI. The full program for this week can…
A mutual friend made sure I say what Darren Wood wrote on FB. Darren is autistic and rightly sees that the Church fails in its mission when it fails to welcome autistics in. I have a message for the church.If you know me, you know…
Last week, a co-editor and I sent in a book manuscript to our publisher. (I plan on doing a post about this book, but the end of term with its giant mountain of bluebooks and final papers to be graded keep getting in the way.)As…
Today was the last day of the theology and disability course I've been teaching this semester at Calvin Seminary. (I know I'm behind in my posting on Clifton's book, which my students and I walked through. We finished the book, but I've been swamped and…
A friend of mine who's a pastor is going to preach, as part of a larger sermon series, on what it looks like to minister with (his emphasis, which I appreciate) and welcome those with disabilities into our churches, homes, and communities. Below is an…
(This post is part of a series on Shane Clifton’s book Crippled Grace. Earlier post on chapter 1 can be found here, chapter 2 can be found here., and chapters 3 and 4 here. This post is on chapter 5.) In this chapter, Clifton aims to…
Some friends of mine are running an exciting new project on free will among Latin American scholars, called LATAM. I was in Colombia for a conference a few years ago and I'm really excited to go back as part of this new project. I'm traveling…
(This post is part of a series on Shane Clifton’s book Crippled Grace. This posts focuses on chapters 3 and 4. The post on chapter 1 can be found here, and chapter 2 can be found here. In chapter 3, we turn to Clifton's engagement with…
(This post is part of a series on Shane Clifton's book Crippled Grace. This posts focuses on chapter 2. The post on chapter 1 can be found here.) It is very common for individuals, especially if they do not have personal experience with a disability…
I'm teaching a course on theology and disability this semester at Calvin Theological Seminary. We've been exploring a wide range of issues during the first part of the course: some general issues in disability studies, how some influential theologians have thought about disability, disability and…