Jeremy P. England

hardwickDisabilityChurchVision2021

23 min read

Cite

Hardwick, Lamar. Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2021.

Jeremy

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FirstAuthor:: Hardwick, Lamar
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Title:: Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion
Year:: 2021
Citekey:: hardwickDisabilityChurchVision2021
itemType:: book
Publisher:: IVP, an imprint of InterVarsity Press
Location:: Downers Grove, Illinois
ISBN:: 978-0-8308-4160-8

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Abstract

“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”— .

Notes

# Notes and Highlights: Disability and the Church

Bill Gaventa

Founder and Director Emeritus of the Institute on Theology and Disability

“The irony, sometimes tragic, is that the discussions about diversity in faith communities and seminary education usually do not include disability in that human rainbow, just as many of our society’s advocacy initiatives related to multiculturalism also stop at the door of disability.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.2)

“…growing awareness sometimes paralyzes individual and communal commitment to change, simply because one does not know where to start or feels so limited in comparison to the complexity of what is needed.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.2-3)

“Change, then, is not either a personal or systemic process. It is both. The two must dance together in facing racism, ableism, and other isms that judge and divide. But great pastoral leadership is also a process of encouraging and training those once considered “other” to be leaders in response to their own answer to Gods call, to live out their vision of who God has called them to be.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.5)

INTRODUCTION | A LOVE LETTER TO THE CHURCH FROM AN AUTISTIC PASTOR

“It is no secret that the church has had its issues over the centuries, so when people share their reservations about the church, I don’t deny their right to feel the way they do about it. The church is full of people, so the church is full of flaws.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.7)

“I am extraordinarily fortunate, and it is because of my good fortune that I am often oblivious to the struggles of others in the autism community who have yet to find true community in the local church, let alone the opportunity to lead in the church.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.8)

“because I am devoted to the church and all of the ideals that it represents, I cannot miss the opportunity to assist the church and the Christian community to which I belong with insight into how we might find the faith to move beyond one of our greatest flaws: our fear of being human.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.9)

“We are most like God when we determine that being with God is enough.

When what God says about me is no longer good enough, when how I am created by God becomes a condition by which I am judged, then we all become like the ancient Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.10)

“I do not believe the fact that I am autistic is an offense to God. I do not believe I should seek to be anything other than human. This is who I am and how and how God created me.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.11)

“The disability community is the most unique community, the largest minority group in the world. Yet it is still the most inclusive group in the world, because anyone from any walk of life can join the disability community” (Hardwick, 2021, p.12)

“If you currently leverage any equipment, medication, or other support measures, such as corrective lenses, to assist your body in functioning, then by the broadest definition, you are already a member of the disability community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.12)

“After months of this battle, and the burden that it had become on my mental, emotional, and spiritual health, I took a deep breath, looked myself in the mirror, and uttered four simple words to myself that would change my life forever: Everyone can’t be wrong.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.15)

“In a time of social, civil, and racial unrest in our country, I believe that the church has lived with the same silent struggle that I experienced until a few years ago. Like me, the church has excelled despite her difficulties. She is indeed a great institution. She has grown up and had a lot of success, but she has still struggled, and many of her self-taught coping strategies are no longer working. I believe that, much like my story, her story of success has finally driven her into the spotlight, and with that spotlight comes the need to address some deep internal struggles.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.17)

“What do people experience when they experience me?

It is time for the church-as great as she is-to find the courage to ask the questions that I had to ask myself: What do people experience when they experience church? What part of what they are saying is true?

According to a religion and disability study conducted in 2018, there is an increased chance of families declining to attend religious services based on their child’s disability. In likely to never attend religious services due to a felt lack of fact, families impacted by autism are nearly 84 percent more inclusion. Similar studies report that 46 percent of families impacted by disability have never been asked how their child and family could be included in the life of the church.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.18)

ONE | BORN THIS WAY

“Where we belong in life is just as important as what we do with our lives. God demonstrates this by creating the best environment for us to engage in relationship with him and to live out the hope of his promises. We must have a place to belong.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.23)

“Even with the rise of the rugged individualism that is so readily apparent in the way we perceive our personal rights and responsibilities, we still hear the faint cry for community in the way we try to connect to others through social media.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.24)

“When we answer the question, Who’s missing? we find our mission.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.27)

“The diversity discussion begins by asking questions about who’s missing from our communities, our classrooms, our boardrooms, and most importantly our churches. Next, we need to ask, where are they? Where are the people who don’t look like us, and how can we place them at the center of the story and raise our sense of awareness about the lives they live and the value they have in the eyes of God? How can the church dive headfirst into the responsibility of creating communities where missing sheep are valued and pursued with the same passion and persistence as the wealthy-but-risk-taking shepherd? What effort can the church make to ensure that their community is not comfortable with being insensitive, in- effective, and incomplete?” (Hardwick, 2021, p.29)

“Diversity, then, is more than desegregation; diversity is rooted in full integration. The difference between the two is as distinct as merely being allowed in versus being whole-heartedly included. The outcome of true diversity is found in the ability to create something new that complements the unique contributions of all groups and their distinct differences, without modification, so that the newly formed group is at full strength and full capacity to live out the truths of Christ-centered community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.30-31)

“the five key components of a prescription for and a description of biblical diversity: peace, unity, individuality, reconciliation, and sacrifice.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.31)

“It is in the unified body of the triune Godhead that peace is found. Diversity reflects divinity, and the peace needed to achieve it is not just personal-it is communal.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.32)

“Equality is necessary for the gospel to be taken seriously. We cannot seek diversity without unity, and we cannot seek unity without equality” (Hardwick, 2021, p.33)

“Distinction is the measure of diversity. A group cannot define itself as truly diverse unless each person’s individual identity is allowed to stay intact.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.34)

“Diversity can only be truly achieved when distinct peoples or groups are truly willing to live close to one another in ways that promote the exchange of ideas, perspectives, cultures, and values. This can only happen when each group involved has the conviction that they can receive something of value from those outside their own context and culture.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.35)

“Because of this limited perspective of sacrifice, we have often celebrated it only when we can demonstrate that the shedding or separation from an activity or a relationship has led to other more desirable benefits” (Hardwick, 2021, p.36)

TWO | BEGIN AT THE BANQUET

“Jesus begins a scathing critique of the priorities of the Pharisees. He challenges them to resist the need to create environments where they take up all the important spots, spaces, and seats. Instead Jesus tells a story about how to build a better banquet. In the story a master wants to throw a party, except all the people he initially invited declined his invitation. When the master realized that he was building the banquet backward, he instructs his servant toreprioritize the guest list. ““Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the larme. After the servant had done this, he reported, “There is still room for more” (Luke 14:21- 22 NLT).” (Hardwick, 2021, p.42)

“Pastors will ultimately want to feel assured that using church resources to create new ministries will bring in new members and in turn bring in more money that can be used to continue the mission of the church.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.45)

  • This may be true, but I also think pessimistic. Not everyone falls into dollars and cents, or if it does, it’s not about how much will be gained, but how much will be lost in other areas. Perhaps that’s equally as pessimistic, but it is different

“unless persons with disabilities have full access to participate fully in all that your church offers, then the church is not functioning as the church should.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.48)

“Why should the church look to invest in disability ministry beyond simply providing access to the building and having the right attitude? Because intentional inclusion of the disability community is what it means to be the church. The early church did not see it as inclusion. They saw it as an obedient response to the teachings of Jesus himself.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.50)

“Culture is the ultimate place setter. The culture of the church is expressed in how the table is set, how the seats are arranged, and who receives an invitation to the table.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.50)

“If we are going to set the right culture for disability-inclusive churches, we must understand that there is an enormous difference between being invited and being included.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.51)

THREE | A BETTER QUESTION

""As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him” (John 9:1-3).” (Hardwick, 2021, p.61)

“Like many of us, the disciples wanted to know why the man was born with a limitation. The question is ultimately about why the man cannot see, but Jesus redirects the conversation away from defining the man by his deficits and toward defining the man by his destiny. Jesus has a simple response.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.61)

“What began as well-intentioned sessions designed to empower me to succeed ultimately started to feel more like a criticism of my fundamental personality. The fact that I needed “fixing made me feel even worse about myself.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.62)

“Jesus did not heal everyone, therefore healing has to be evaluated as but one of the tools that God uses to reveal his glory to the world.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.63)

“Over the years I have learned that you can discover a lot about what people think of you while listening to them pray for you.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.66)

“Most of our theology about suffering is anchored in milestones. We believe that there is a place out there that we need to get to. We strive for it. We preach about it. We pray about it. We write books about getting to the all-elusive “there.” More often than not, our hope in healing is actually about getting there because here is where we don’t want to be.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.68)

“Perhaps that’s why the church struggles with disability inclusion. Our avoidance of suffering has taught us to reach for milestones, for places beyond our current burdens, and in doing so, we have created a faith that cannot stand up under the weight of the here and now.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.68)

“Here is far from heaven. It is inconvenient, inconsistent, inconvenient, inconsistent, and uncomfortable. Jesus gets to go there, where it is actually heaven and perfect and there is no pain or suffering, and he chose to leave us here.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.68)

“I believe that what the disability community most needs from the church in order to feel welcomed and valued is a church that intentionally includes them in being image bearers of God. This is the primary reason for the mission of diversity. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them” (Genesis 1:27).” (Hardwick, 2021, p.71)

“One of the largest reasons our culture is beating the drum of diversity and inclusion is because of the ongoing exposure of the lack of inclusion in many areas of politics, entertainment, sports, and faith. Diversity is a matter of respect.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.74)

“In the midst of one of the greatest social movements of our nation, the church missed an important opportunity because of its exemption from the ADA. While businesses, schools, and other organizations were required to create equal access and opportunity to persons with disabilities, the church had no outside agency influencing its need to do the same. In many ways the church’s silence on issues of disability rights sent avery clear message to the disability community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.75)

“When it comes to the church and the disabled, they have become a people without a place, and a people without a place carry their identification on their person. It is the paradox of disability. On one hand, the prevailing view of many wellmeaning Christians is that individuals with disability are more than their disability. They are more than their body. On the other hand, their displacement from the church has left them with their body as their identifier.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.77)

FOUR | BARRIERS TO INCLUSION

“If passage into our eternal home does not require the relinquishing of our distinct cultural identities, then what should we make of those living with disabilities? Does entry into the eternal require them to remove the bodies they were given in an effort to be worthy of the eternal worship of God? - Rev. 7:9” (Hardwick, 2021, p.80)

“If the foundation of our faith is anchored in our belief about heaven and about the renewing of our physical body, then there are several reasons why our biggest barrier to disability inclusion in the church is actually our belief about Christianity itself.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.84)

“Stephen Grcevich, MD, is an award-winning child and adolescent psychiatrist located in Ohio. He is also the president and founder of Key Ministry, an organization that provides resources and training for church members and leaders to create welcoming environments for individuals and families with special-needs and mental health issues.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.93)

“As a pastor who is learning to navigate life with my own autism diagnosis as well as lead a church, I am often asked by special-needs families how to find a church that can help meet their spiritual needs. What are some of the ways that families can determine if the environment is right for the development of a healthy, Christ-centered ministry to the special-needs/disability community?” (Hardwick, 2021, p.95)

“Churches that value people over programs have an environment that is conducive to creating a great special-needs ministry.

Churches that value the voices of all types of people tend to have a strong value for acknowledging and celebrating the image of God seen in all people.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.96)

“When relationships, friendships, and discipleship are a larger focus than Sunday worship, churches tend to be more open to developing a ministry that includes special-needs families in their overall vision for creating Christ-centered community.

Churches that have a great environment for building a ministry for special-needs families are churches that have the pastor’s public approval and not just the pastor’s private acknowledgment of the need to care for the spiritual needs of the disability community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.97)

FIVE | BUILDING A LEARNING CULTURE

“There are three key ideas that Jesus presents in the parable that we must take into consideration. One, there is a lack of understanding. This is defined by a disconnection between what is heard and what is understood. Learning must first begin with listening. Second, unlike the other barriers, there is profound spiritual opposition at work. The “evil one” comes only to this group, creating a significant challenge for the seed. What we can learn from this observation is that the “evil one has a target. Building a learning culture will require targeted action. Finally, we see as a result of the “evil one’s” target, the heart is left empty. Building a learning culture will require filling the void left by a lack of understanding by using actionable intelligence. If the church has no heart for the disabled, there will be no home for them either.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.100-101)

  • parable of the seed sower

“Reference - “5 Statistics We Can’t Ignore: Disability and the Gospel,” The Banquet Network, September 4, 2018, https://www.thebanquetnetwork.com/blog/2018/8/28/5-statistics-we-cant-ignore?rq=statistic” (Hardwick, 2021, p.102-103)

“According to this data, approximately 20 percent of the United States population lives with a disability. What percentage of our churches reflects the nation’s average of persons with a disability?” (Hardwick, 2021, p.103)

“People with disabilities live in a world that is not built for them. And the vast majority of churches are not built with disabled bodies in mind.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.105)

“For years we have used the stories of disabled people in the Bible to symbolize our universally acknowledged brokenness. Yes, we are all universally and spiritually broken, but God doesn’t use people with disabilities to teach us this. Disabled people in our churches should not be reduced to a symbol or a system only useful for teaching people about their spiritual brokenness.

When you are living with a disability, your body makes choices for you that you may not be able to control. Paul didn’t have a choice about where he landed, but he did make the choice to use his time there to share the gospel. - Gal 4:12-13” (Hardwick, 2021, p.110)

“Inspiration porn is defined as “the portrayal of a person with a disability as an inspiration solely based on their disability."" (Hardwick, 2021, p.111)

“Our churches need to be environments where learning about disabilities and learning from people with disabilities is normal and seen as something that is needed for the health, strength, and vitality of God’s ever-expanding kingdom.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.112)

“Preaching that helps our church become disability focused should begin with painting a picture that asks, Who is missing from our church? With one simple question we can invite our congregations to broaden the borders of our community.

Robert Lupton, author of Toxic Charity, explains, “For some reason healthy people with hearts full of compassion forget the fundamentals when it comes to building relationships with those they attempt to serve. Forging ahead to meet a need, we often ignore the basics: mutuality, reciprocity, accountability: In doing so, relationships turn toxic."" (Hardwick, 2021, p.114)

  • Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those lp (New York: Harper Collins, 2012), 57.

“Keep in mind that the sermon itself does ot necessarily have to include a Scripture text involving a disabled person.The goal should be to hear the text preached through the lens of someone livig with a disability.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.116)

When the pastor and leaders preach and teach about disability, it not only encourages learning, it communicates that including people with disabilities is an important part of the mission and vision of the church. Preaching is important to building a learning culture because it communicates that it is important to the pastor, and the truth is nothing happens in our churches that isn’t important to the pastor.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.118)

SIX| BUILDING A LINKING CULTURE

“one of the primary concerns for families affected by disability and special needs is the need to find a faith community where they can put down roots.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.120)

“Pastoring a church can be challenging for me for a number of reasons, but the reality is that it is not just challenging fox me. It is also challenging for the congregation. The reason that it can be so challenging for the church is not necessarily hecause of my disability but because it challenges the community to reimagine the role of the pastor.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.122)

“Pastoring families affected by disability will require a certain disposition that is tempered with patience. When I advocate for patience, I am not using the term ina paternalistic sense. The role of the pastor in the life of the special-needs family is not to patronize but rather to synchronize.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.125)

“Ministry in the local church is often paced for progress and not for presence.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.125)

“Grief in the lives of many special-needs families is like an emotional and spiritual tax for loving and wanting the very best for their child. … I under stand the role that grief can play, not because there is a loss of life but because of the loss of an ideal.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.127)

“In the grand scheme of all things eternal, how big a deal is it that they missed a deadline or showed up to church after check-in time for children’s ministry? Don’t add to their decision fatigue by placing demands on their lives that are equal to or greater than the pressure they are already under.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.130)

“A great way to provide support for families impacted by disability is to develop a prayer team tasked with praying for the specific requests of special-needs families in your congregation and community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.132)

“One of the main ways the church becomes spiritually and emotionally unsafe for people with disabilities is through the continued use of disabling theology and language in our church services, sermons, prayers, and songs.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.133)

“Disability ministry is more than creating sensory rooms and providing buddies for special-needs children These are needed and necessary, but shepherding requires guidelines, policies, and procedures that make sure special-needs participants are not only physically safe but spiritually and emotionally safe as well.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.134)

SEVEN | BUILDING A LEADERSHIP CULTURE

“Most churches are not struggling to be more disability inclusive be cause they are unloving or even unwilling. It has been my experience that most churches struggle with this because they are unaware of how to make the change.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.143)

“Creating a more disability-inclusive church will require creating a path for disabled persons to have real leadership.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.145)

“I believe that persons with disabilities are often prime candidates for leadership in the local church because they live in a reality that should be seen as an illustration of one of Christianity’s most important ideals—the contest between spirit and flesh - how is this different from “sacred suffering”?” (Hardwick, 2021, p.148)

“There are often times when my body is in direct conflict with my faith. Sensory overload, social anxiety, and other neurological issues associated with autism sometimes compete with my inner hopes, dreams, and faith for a favorable outcome.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.149)

“Your church should take an honest evaluation of its leadership selection process to ensure that it doesn’t exclude people with disabilities because of the perceived potential cost.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.151)

“When we include those who are traditionally excluded, Jesus explains that a blessing from God is inevitable.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.152)

“People living with disabilities experience the world in such a radically different way that they bring a type of diversity to the church that extends beyond racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and generational differences.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.155)

“At some point, addressing the lack of disability leadership in the local church will be based solely on the choice to become more fruitful and not simply on an attempt to create more followers.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.159)

“Perhaps the lack of disability inclusion currently seen in the church, especially as it relates to leadership, is due to a deep sense of comfort and complacency in the church when it comes to the disability community.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.161)

EIGHT | THE FUTURE OF FAITH

“The Christian faith believes deeply in the doctrine of imago Dei or the image of God. The church believes that humanity bears the image of the Creator. All of humanity. If people with disabilities are to understand their value in this world and their value to God, the Creator of all, that message to be communicated by the church.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.169)

“Asking people with disabilities to deny who they are for the sake of belonging to a community of faith just as problematic as approaching race relations by claiming to see color.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.170)

“Affirmation of people with disabilities in the church begins with making the type of accommodations necessary for them be able to pursue their God-given calling” (Hardwick, 2021, p.172)

  • .

“Becoming more diverse by becoming more disability inclusive means that the church must learn to stop making the disabled believe that they have to choose disability or Christianity” (Hardwick, 2021, p.173)

“Real inclusion and acceptance take place when the church moves from admiring persons living with disabilities to being an advocate for and with them. Advocate not because I need a voice to speak for me, advocate because my voice has inspired you to join with me and so many other voices speaking on behalf of the autism community” (Hardwick, 2021, p.175)

“It’s important to understand that the placement of dis abled persons in active leadership roles should not betal<en opportunity for tokenism.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.176)

“When you lack the knowledge and language to explain your experience, you run the risk of explaining it away. I spent years explaining away my experience, and with each excuse I gave for not being extroverted enough to meet society’s expectations, I mortgaged away my own humanity. Eventually, you learn to stop being yourself and to stop being human.” (Hardwick, 2021, p.184)

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