Alt txt: Image of our guest, Dr. Amy Kenny, next to an image of part of the cover of her book, My Body Is Not A Prayer Request, as well as images of the co-hosts on the episode from The Two Cities: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stephanie Kate Judd, Dr. Madison Pierce, Rev. Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Kris Song.
In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Amy Kenny, a disabled scholar and Shakespeare Lecturer, to talk about her book, My Body Is Not A Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church (published by Brazos). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Kenny shares with us her lived experience of disability and marginalization in the church, and the pain of unwanted prayers that essentially want to rid her of her disabled body. Instead of thinking in terms of healing, Dr. Kenny wants Christians to approach disability with the realization that God has always been at work in disability, since many biblical characters had a disability of some kind, and that, at the eschatological banquet in Luke 14, people with all sorts of disabilities will be present with their disabilities. Indeed, as she affirms, there’s even something we can learn about disability from the broader community of God’s creation, where nature resists the straight and orderly design of ableist structure. This conversation is rich with powerful testimony, witty one-liners, and incisive reflection on some of the problematic aspects of the church’s approach to disabilities. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stephanie Kate Judd, Dr. Madison Pierce, Rev. Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Kris Song.
Series Disclaimer: We know that this space is fraught, and we don’t speak for every PWD. We may inevitably get some things wrong in this series, but we ask for your patience in advance since we think it’s more important to have the conversation than shy away from it out of fear of saying the wrong thing. At the same time, this is a learning process for all of us, and we want to maintain a posture of learning throughout the series and beyond. Thanks for listening!
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