Publications

Volume Description: How might someone’s disability shape not only their view of God, but of the church? Turning to the lived experiences of people with disabilities and caregivers for children with disabilities, this book provides theological reflections on their images of the church. Attuning to these often ignored voices provides thought-provoking insights into what the church and other religious communities can do and have failed to do for and alongside its disabled members and their caregivers. Embracing disability theology enables a generative image of faith communities built on various forms of spiritual care. Over three broad sections (Disabling Images of the Church, Themes in Healing the Church with Disabilities, and Intercultural Insights for Disability Theology), theologians explore the themes and images emerging from alternative views of the church and other religious communities presented by disability studies.

Heather Renée Morgan, “Groaning Withness: A Theological Response to Adverse Prenatal Diagnosis” in Karen O’Donnell and Claire Williams, Pregnancy and Birth: Critical Theological Conceptions London: SCM Press, July 2024

Volume Description: Pregnancy is a period of time that institutes great change in the lives of those who are pregnant. Regardless of whether a pregnancy concludes with the birth of a live child or not, there are experiences that are common for many people who are pregnant. Yet as a site of theological reflection pregnancy is underrepresented. This landmark book seeks to begin the conversation within theology about pregnancy, the positive and negative experiences, and the potential for pregnancy to be understood theologically. Chapters consider a number of avenues in this exploration, from early pregnancy loss to trauma in labour, from adoption to the end of reproductive years at the onset of menopause. Throughout, this book seeks to understand the resources that theology brings to the experiences of pregnancy as well as the situations of oppression and underrepresentation that currently exist. Allowing for intersections of race, parenting, childlessness, and disability, this book approaches pregnancy from different theological perspectives in order to complexify the theological response and engagement as well as produce constructive resources for both the academy and the church. Contributors include Chine McDonald, Julie Gittoes, Margaret Kamitsuka and Rachel Mann.

Jon Coutts and Heather Renée Morgan, Looking Back, Leaning Forward: Wrestling with a Church’s Story Saskatoon, SK: New Leaf Press, December 2023

Description: Through a collection of essays and responses, Looking Back, Leaning Forward explores the context of a Canadian church by wrestling with the past story in light of the current realities.

On one hand, this book is for a denomination. It is structured in two parts; first, it revisits issues related to the “fourfold gospel” and then it offers a look at crucial conversations in this specific context. At another level, this book is for more than just a denomination. It is for those in (or on the margins of) other churches across Canada, and even for eavesdroppers beyond. The gospel is universal in scope, but this universality is not mediated by abstract principles. It is mediated by a living Lord Jesus Christ who engages with us in context.

Afterword by David E. Fitch

Contributions by Ray Aldred, Christina Conroy, Christopher Smith, Cynthia Tam, Jon Coutts, Heather Morgan, Alexandra Meek, Wendy Lowe, Mardi Dolfo-Smith, Frances Kim, Joanne Beach, Ric Strangway, and Colleen Jantzen.

An Asynchronous Peer Support Group for Parents of Children with Complex Disabilities The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability – April 2023

Abstract: This Asynchronous Peer Support Group was originally designed as a project for a course on Mental Health and Theology at Emmanuel College in the summer of 2022. My interest in this work flows from my own experiences with caregiving for multiple children with severe disabilities. It was in this context that I first encountered the PAL (Parent Advocacy Link) group, and was blown away by the unique level of support these families gained from one another on everything from very practical answers to questions such as what to do when your child grows out of the biggest size diaper at the grocery store, to medical questions when new medications or surgeries are proposed, to tangible supports provided to one another during hospital stays.

Autism and Purity Culture The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability – November 2022

Abstract: This commentary offers reflections on the intersection between autism and purity culture, specifically focusing on the vulnerabilities of those on the autism spectrum to the messages of suppression of self and sexuality, and the negative impacts this exposes them to. The author uses first person experience and primary source documents in dialogue with published sources to explore the issue personally and theologically.

No Body Without Our Bodies: Disability and Gregory of Nazianzus’s Oration 14 The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability – November 2021

Abstract: This paper offers a reading of Gregory of Nazianzus’ Oration 14: On Love of the Poor through the lens of disability theology. Though it initially served as a fundraising speech to build one of the first ever Christian hospitals, this Oration is much more than that. Amongst his plea for donors, Nazianzus calls for a new theological understanding of those with abled and disabled bodies within the life of the Church. Interleafing modern disability experiences with this early Christian text, this paper invites readers to embrace a counter-cultural model of disability and ability, and our mutually interdependent membership in the Body of Christ.