Podcast appearances and mentions of erin raffety

In this episode, Zen speaks with Melody Escobar about her new book Revelations of Divine Care (Baylor University Press: 2024). You can learn more about the book at this link: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481320559/revelations-of-divine-care/ Melody Escobar is a research associate with the Collaborative on Faith and Disability in the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities at Baylor University. Other Episodes You Might Like Autism and Worship with Léon von Ommen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RWXSNpgDHR4bd5UfMLiDj?si=OtB2a6X-RPWOkZ2K99M6kQ Inclusion, Justice, and Disability in the Church with Erin Raffety: https://open.spotify.com/episode/76ivqvdHBVoM0XBI32uGZw?si=s5lmHcSWT96tVIDpZ69wrg An Era of Soft Eugenics? with Devan Stahl: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ukJKPza94WEu0MVAPzv9P?si=Hg6XEPQvSc2E5JcmcvE51g

In this episode, Zen speaks with Elise Edwards about her new book Architecture, Theology, and Ethics: Making Architectural Design More Just (Lexington Books, 2024). Dr. Elise Edwards is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Baylor University. You can order the book by clicking here. Other Episodes You Might Like Feminist theology and the arts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/natalie-carnes-on-feminist-theology-and-the-arts/id1648052085?i=1000583436666 On inclusion and justice with Erin Raffety: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/should-we-abandon-inclusion-erin-raffety-on-disability/id1648052085?i=1000594272809

Erin Raffety on Disability, Theology, and Ethnography by Center of Theological Inquiry

In this episode, Zen speaks with Neil Messer, who has recently come to Baylor as Professor of Theological Bioethics. The discussion considers Neil's work in neuroethics. The episode also includes a plug for Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology by Armand Léon van Ommen. This new book is out now from Baylor University Press. Related Episodes: Interdisciplining Theology: How the Psychological Sciences Help Theology Should We Abandon Inclusion? Erin Raffety on Disability and the Church An Era of Soft Eugenics? Devan Stahl on Disability's Challenge to Theology

Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes speaks with Erin Raffety about her ethnographic and practical theological research into what it looks like for congregations to move away from an “inclusion” model for people with […] The post Erin Raffety – From Inclusion to Justice first appeared on OnScript.

Episode: In this episode, co-host Amy Hughes speaks with Erin Raffety about her ethnographic and practical theological research into what it looks like for congregations to move away from an “inclusion” model for people with […] The post Erin Raffety – From Inclusion to Justice first appeared on OnScript.

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

American Christianity tends to view disabled persons as problems to be solved rather than people with experiences and gifts that enrich the church. Churches have generated policies, programs, and curricula geared toward "including" disabled people while still maintaining "able-bodied" theologies, ministries, care, and leadership. Ableism―not a lack of ramps, finances, or accessible worship―is the biggest obstacle for disabled ministry in America.  In From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership (Baylor UP, 2022), Erin Raffety argues that what our churches need is not more programs for disabled people but rather the pastoral tools to repent of able-bodied theologies and practices, listen to people with disabilities, lament ableism and injustice, and be transformed by God's ministry through disabled leadership. Without a paradigm shift from ministries of inclusion to ministries of justice, our practical theology falls short. Drawing on ethnographic research with congregations and families, pastoral experience with disabled people, teaching in theological education, and parenting a disabled child, Raffety, an able-bodied Christian writing to able-bodied churches, confesses her struggle to repent from ableism in hopes of convincing others to do the same. At the same time, Raffety draws on her interactions with disabled Christian leaders to testify to what God is still doing in the pews and the pulpit, uplifting and amplifying the ministry and leadership of people with disabilities as a vision toward justice in the kingdom of God. Bingwan Tian is a Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo interested in the study of special education and citizenship education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China (Rutgers UP, 2022) traces the movement of three Chinese foster children, Dengrong, Pei Pei, and Meili, from the state orphanage into the humble, foster homes of Auntie Li, Auntie Ma, and Auntie Huang. Traversing the geography of Guangxi, from the modern capital Nanning where Pei Pei and Meili reside, to the small farming village several hours away where Dengrong is placed, this ethnography details the hardships of social abandonment for disabled children and disenfranchised, older women in China, while also analyzing the state's efforts to cope with such marginal populations and incorporate them into China's modern future. The book argues that Chinese foster families perform necessary, invisible service to the Chinese state and intercountry adoption, yet the bonds they form also resist such forces, exposing the inequalities, privilege, and ableism at the heart of global family making. Erin Raffety is a research fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, an empirical research consultant at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an associate research scholar at Princeton Seminary's Institute for Youth Ministry. Raffety researches and writes on disability, congregational ministry, and church leadership and is an advocate for disabled people. Shu Wan is currently matriculated as a doctoral student in history at the University at Buffalo. As a digital and disability historian, he serves in the editorial team of Digital Humanities Quarterly and Nursing Clio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many, the term “inclusion” is the end all for social justice efforts. But, in her new book, Erin Raffety suggests that “inclusion” doesn't work, at least in churches with disabled people. Listen to this quote: “The church is called apart from the world to repent of its ableism, disown its power, abandon inclusion, and pursue justice alongside disabled people.” Throughout her book she clarifies why inclusions falters and what justice might look like. She does this by interpreting scripture, drawing from her ethnographic research with congregations in Northeastern America, and engaging with disability activists and scholars. So, you'll get to hear about some of those things in our conversation. I'm excited for you to hear it. Erin Raffety is Associate Research Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary and Research Fellow in Machine Intelligence & Pastoral Care at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. She is the author of From Inclusion to Justice, the book we're discussing today, which is out now through Baylor University Press. And I'm grateful also that Dr. Devan Stahl joined us for this conversation as a cohost. Devan is Assistant Professor of Religion here at Baylor University and author of a new book called Disability's Challenge to Theology (UND Press). You can listen to us discuss Devan's book in our episode "An Era of Soft Eugenics?" Resources for Further Education on Disability Visit Erin's curated list of resources on her website. Browse Baylor University Press's books on the topic.

Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety is back for pt. 2 of her conversation with Lathan on this week's episode of The Other Side of the Church podcast. This time the two get into the weeds of how we can move from inclusion to justice when it comes to how we treat and interact with disabled people. Throughout the episode, Erin and Lathan hit on justice for disabled people in the church, practicing justice on an individual basis, and end with Erin's hope for her book and the adoption of true justice for disabled individuals everywhere. Episode Timeline: [1:05] Clearing the Confusion: Justice for disabled people [6:38] Justice for disabled people in the church [13:54] Practicing justice one-on-one [19:21] How to show disabled people the love of Jesus outside of the church [25:41] Erin's Hope Holler Resources Mentioned: From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership Social: Follow Erin on Twitter at @ErinRaffety 

On this week's episode of The Other Side of the Church podcast, Lathan continues the month's theme by welcoming Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety to the table. Erin is an anthropologist-minister and disability advocate whose story of growing up around disabled individuals—and then walking through her own daughter's diagnosis—has shaped her passion for inclusion and justice for all people. In pt. 1 of Lathan's conversation with Erin the two clear the confusion when it comes to disability ministry, talk about making space for disabled people's pain, and redefine disability as a divine embodiment of the human experience, not the tragedy it's so often made out to be. Episode Timeline: [1:05] Erin's passion for disability [5:14] Clearing the Confusion: Disability ministry [12:48] Welcome signs versus real inclusion [18:23] Making space for disabled people's pain [21:47] If disability isn't a tragedy, what is it? Resources Mentioned: From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership Social: Follow Erin on Twitter at @ErinRaffety 

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Erin Raffety (MDiv '08), PCUSA pastor and researcher, about her work with persons with disabilities in the church, and how she seeks to use her research to inform deeper, richer pastoral care and conversation within congregations. Erin's goal is to take seriously the voices, experiences, and contributions of people with disabilities in order to enable the church to connect with, learn from, and better minister to people with disabilities.Dr. Erin Raffety (she/her) is a practical theologian who uses ethnographic research methods to study congregations. At the Center of Theological Inquiry, Erin is the Research Fellow in machine intelligence and pastoral care, where she studies how artificial intelligence and video game technology can support spiritual connection for people with disabilities and congregations. She is also the Empirical Research Consultant for the Imagining Church Project and the Associate Research Scholar for the Institute for Youth Ministry, both at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her book, From Inclusion to Justice: Why Christian Congregations Need Disabled Ministry and Leadership, will be published this year with Baylor University Press. Erin is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Princeton University, and is a proud parent of a daughter with multiple disabilities. 

"For the past six months, I, like many of you, have missed gathering for worship in person – singing, touching, visiting, breaking bread. Yet now more than ever, I can worship with people from all over, take in a variety of preachers – all without worrying if my wheelchair can get in and around the building. Most weeks though, my mom and I settle in on the couch with a Zoom screen full of familiar faces. As if we are invited into each other's homes, we admire artwork and backyard decks. We smile as we look at another's eyes or hear another's voice extending Christ's peace. Yet with an inequity of resources, there are faces we miss, people who can't sign on. We look forward to the day when our whole community can gather together. COVID-19 has exposed disparities for disabled people, people of color, and poor people. Now that we see these injustices more starkly, do we have the imagination and will to begin to address these long-standing struggles? Can we imagine and shape our spiritual practices so that the lives of those on the margins are at the center of the church? And will we create space for disabled people and other marginalized peoples to lead us to that new reality? Last fall, I began my Ph.D. studies examining how people with disabilities offer leadership in ministry and challenging how the church recognizes, uses and/or misuses these gifts. As an ordained minister with cerebral palsy, I am exploring whose voices and stories are imagined or expected in church leadership. I did not anticipate learning from a pandemic. But it's been a master class on how the church can imagine different ways of coming together. Grappling with the sins of ableism I am grateful that so many churches have found ways to offer remote gatherings that help many Christians stay grounded in their faith while also avoiding spreading the virus. But some members of the congregation cannot gather electronically. There are inequities of wealth, ability, and access that affect our communities of faith. In a recent editorial in Theology Today, cultural anthropologist Erin Raffety wondered if the church “might become further attuned to the creative and adaptive gifts for leadership that have come and do come uniquely out of disabled lives and experiences.” She points to a deaf leader who taught the community to pass the peace using American Sign Language. Later, as her teaching assistant, this leader helped her class transition to an online platform, using ASL to register comprehension or concern without speaking over one other. As a Presbyterian pastor, a research fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry studying pastoral care and machine intelligence, and a parent of a daughter with multiple disabilities, Raffety thinks the church has a tremendous opportunity to see ministry offered by and with people with disabilities. She has found that the churches that were weak on accessibility pre-Covid-19 remain so during the pandemic, just as those who have formerly applied a disability-lens in their ministry have continued to live out such priorities." --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

It's really interesting to me that this project that William Tennant did with young people, to me, it's youth ministry. To me, Princeton Theological Seminary's founding was a youth ministry project. And so, I thought, ‘okay, if we're supposed to do something, that's in line with our mission, vision, and values, why not go back to our founding?' Arguably, our founding was via youth ministry. Let's lean into that. -Rev. Abigail Visco RusertPart One—Introducing: Disrupting Ministry(0:00-6:36)Host Megan DeWald introduces the Rev. Abigail Visco Rusert, Director of the Institute for Youth Ministry and creator of the Log College Project, a grant initiative designed to help churches reimagine youth ministry in the 21st Century.Part Two—What is the Institute for Youth Ministry—and Why?(6:37-17:34)Abigail traces the origins of the Log College Project to the origins of Princeton Theological Seminary, which was founded, she suggests, as innovation in youth ministry.Part Three—What is the Log College Project—and How Does It Work?(17:35-31:40)Megan introduces Carmelle Beaugelin, Program Coordinator for the Log College Project, who explains its inner workings and hypotheses. Megan then introduces the Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety, a cultural anthropologist and practical theologian who has served as the Research Advisor for the project.Part Four—The Big Pivot, or The Great Accelerator(31:41-37:29)Abigail and Carmelle reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic and the social upheaval of 2020 have impacted the churches of the Log College Project, along with potential long-term impacts on the practice of youth ministry as a whole.Conclusion & Credits(37:30-39:12)Next week, we feature stories from Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois, and their quest to create a "new normal" in their community.___________________________________Audio editing  and production by Nii Addo Abrahams (Follow @_nickyflash_)Music available at Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com/)The IYM thanks Maiia Avelino, Brooke Matejka, Tamesha Mills, Erin Raffety, & Christine Toto.

Worship Service includes Scripture Reading from Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11Third Sunday of AdventDecember 13, 2020Meditation by Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Welcome to Morrisville Presbyterian Church. No matter who you are or where you are on your journey of Faith, you are invited to MPC.  Education Hour:Contact Pastor Alex Lester-Abdalla at alexlester-abdalla@mpcusa.net  Worship Service: Livestream begins at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday.  Morrisville Presbyterian Church 771 N Pennsylvania Ave Morrisville, Pennsylvania 19067 (215) 295-4191   Website: https://www.mpcusa.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morrisvillepres/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morrisvillepresbyterian/Support the show (https://www.mpcusa.org/give)

Layne and Abigail talk with guests Dr. Erin Raffety and Rev. J.J. Flag about ableism, disability, and the church. Both Erin and J.J. offer a path forward in recognizing and dismantling ableism which will require hard and continual work in ourselves and the church. Layne has trouble pronouncing the hardest name in the Bible and they all want to know why King David is so paranoid. Join them and encounter God in the sick and hAlarious! sickhapodcast.com/connect

Ethnography offers a new posture for learning from one another's differences. In this episode, Erin Raffety draws on her work as an anthropologist, theologian, and pastor. She explores how listening well might lead to a more intimate understanding of each other and God.