Disability Imagination

continuation from Part One: Disability Ministry with InterVarsity and Part Two: Disability Justice and Theology

Some ways I've been looking at the world differently.  

1. God created people with disabilities on purpose as part of human diversity. Disabilities reflect the glory and beauty of God.
2. A common secular disability justice view: My body/disability isn't the problem. Inaccessibility is the problem. For example: a staircase without a ramp or elevator is the problem. Lack of listening or caring is the problem. 
3. We need to listen to and learn from disabled people who are willing to share. They have a view of the world and a voice that shares God’s truth that we often overlook. (And not as “inspirational overcoming” stories.)
4. Building the world for disabled people benefits everyone. There’s even a term for it: the Curb Cut effect. (Curb cuts were made for wheelchairs, but they help carts and strollers too. Disability designs help people who are temporarily disabled due to injuries, and they help people even in a moment of situational distraction! (More history on this 99% Invisible podcast episode.)

Ira, Joan and Ginger in an audio recording space

Disability Justice & Disability Theology

...continuation from  "Disability Ministry with InterVarsity"

Access had a book club this spring, and read  "My Body is Not a Prayer Request" by Dr. Amy Kenny.  She was interviewed by Brandi Miller on the podcast, "Reclaiming my Theology" I've also been reading "Disabling Mission, Enabling Witness" after hearing the author Benjamin T. Conner speak at Urbana. I want to share some extensive quotes from both books.

I highly recommend both- Dr. Amy shares deep personal experiences and convictions from her own life and Bible perspectives as disabled person.  Dr. Conner shares from deep research, many scholarly writings, and the positives and negatives of Christian missionary work.

Image description: book cover, a wheelchair is covered in flowers of all colors with a yellow background. Bold white text on top reads: "My Body is Not a Prayer Request."

Quotes from the first chapter

"I wish I was whole in their minds- enough to exist without needing a prayerful remedy to cast out my 'demons,' a full human who has something to offer other than a miraculous narrative. I wish I could be more than my diagnosis, more than a problem in need of fixing, as if my disability is only valuable if converted into a cure. I wish prayerful perpetrators were free from the lie that I am worth less simply because my body works differently. In each of these encounters, I come away feeling like my stomach has just dropped out on a roller coaster. I am confused by the way people interpret my disability as in need of "fixing" without knowing anything else about me. I am troubled that my body becomes public property they feel they have the right to control. I am indignant that this takes place under the veil of Jesus-following, as though they are the bouncers to God's table. I am hurt that I must justify my own existence at church.

"Belonging shouldn't have the admission price of assimilation."

Disability Ministry with Access InterVarsity

Access InterVarsity is an accessible and disability inclusive space for all to belong, grow closer to Jesus and use their God-given gifts. Learn more about Access with this great video from 2020: 

Urbana '22 Resources

This year, InterVarsity had our national missions conference with around 5,000 college students in Indianapolis, IN. After two years of online Zoom meetings with the national Access InterVarsity team, we finally got to meet our friends in person! We were especially joyful to spend time with Deb, who runs Access and has been mentoring us in many ways. 

Ginger, Deb and Ira, arms wrapped across shoulders and grinning at the camera.