Benjamin Conner: The Changes Church Leaders Can Make To Learn From and Support People With Disabilities

“‘Ableism’ is the idea that everything is oriented towards a certain body/mind. So curriculums, buildings, all these things are oriented towards this standard sort of way and being in the world.”

“The sort of the metaphors that we use even in religious stuff—deaf to the voice of God, blind to the truth—it tends to cast disability in a negative light.”

“People with disabilities have to become expert life hackers to navigate a world that’s not designed for them.”

“So many people with disabilities, much of their life is being self-advocates. And it’s exhausting. They’ve had to be self-advocates at school. Self-advocates for services, self-advocates at grocery stores. Self-advocates to find parking. It’s just that it can be a very tiring life.”

“One of the ways that churches can immediately be involved and endear themselves to this community as one of the largest non-profits around is provide respite for parents.”

“Your church can go where people with disabilities are hanging out—buddy sports, Special Olympics.”

“The goal is that everyone would be able to share the same space together [in church].”

“Many of my friends on the autism spectrum like to have a schedule ahead of time to know what’s coming up and if there is going to be something loud, they have some headphones.”

“Oftentimes these churches will say, ‘Oh, someone with a disability, you can do a children’s program, or we’ll have a special program that’s separate for you as much as you want.’ You want to have people together so they can encounter each other and get to know each other in deep and meaningful ways.”

“If you come across a healing narrative, I would make sure I check out commentaries that are written and blogs that are written by people with disabilities about that healing narrative because having a disability in many instances then provides a hermeneutical advantage.”

“What do we do with the wounds of Christ that are still there post-resurrection? The fact that Jesus still has the holes in the hands, in his side—and for many people with disabilities, that’s an important affirmation.”

“Deaf people are the least evangelized people group in the world, with probably under 3% claiming to be Christian.”

“I think there’s just so many different ways we can think through received biblical translations and theological doctrines when we do it in community with people who have different perspectives.”