Create Worship Spaces Where Everyone Can Participate

If people with disabilities are to fully participate, worshiping communities must go beyond providing physical accessibility. In this groundbreaking book, a diverse group of authors provides resources for churches and individuals to center disability: to take seriously the lived experience of disabled people, learn from their wisdom, and transform how we pray, worship, and speak about faith.

Centering Disability in Worship is a unique devotional resource by and for Christians with disabilities, as well as for non-disabled Christians who desire to learn more about experiences of disability. With prayers, liturgies, readings, and song lyrics written or informed by people with disabilities, this book provides guidance and creative suggestions for individual use and for those who plan and lead worship. It also includes resources for Communion, baptism, and seasons of the Christian year.

Drawing on the lived experiences and wisdom of disabled people, it offers creative guidance for planning and leading worship in ways that foster belonging, understanding, and deeper connection to God. The authors identify approaches to Scripture, song, and prayer that are ableist and often harmful to disability communities, offering anti-ableist alternatives that reflect a variety of traditions, experiences, and perspectives.

What Centering Disability in Worship offers:



- Prayers and worship elements such as responsive readings and music for both individual and communal use

- Resources for Communion, baptism, seasons of the Christian year, and other occasions

- Contributors from a range of traditions, including Mennonite, Catholic, Black Baptist, RCA, UCC, Episcopal, and PC(USA)

- Contextual information and recommended resources about the field of disability theology

- Findings from qualitative research with disabled people about worship and prayer



Centering Disability in Worship is a gift to the entire church. It aims to help both disabled and non-disabled Christians create and sustain anti-ableist worship spaces that reflect the diverse and dynamic experiences of disability. This book reflects the work of people with disabilities to claim the symbols, words, and practices of their faith as their own. Accept the invitation to embrace inclusion, reimagine worship, and act boldly toward true belonging.

About the Series

Center for Disability and Ministry books explore the intersection of disability and practical theology in partnership with the Center for Disability and Ministry at Western Theological Seminary. Co-edited by Benjamin T. Conner and John Swinton, this series explores key issues in disability theology through the framework of practical theology, aiming to increase knowledge as well as faithfully impact Christian practice.



Rebecca F. Spurrier (PhD, Emory University) is associate dean for worship life and assistant professor of worship at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the author of The Disabled Church: Human Difference and the Art of Communal Worship and numerous book chapters and articles.



Bekah Maren Anderson is a queer and disabled writer, activist, and theologian. She earned her master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary and now serves as the director of pastoral care and community connections for the Julian Way, a ministry offering spiritual care to people with disabilities.



Benjamin T. Conner (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is professor of practical theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, where he is director of the Graduate Certificate in Disability and Ministry. He is the author of Amplifying Our Witness: Giving Voice to Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities and Practicing Witness: A Missional Vision of Christian Practices.



Table of contents forthcoming