Showing results by author "Lamar Hardwick" in All Categories

Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. While this revelation helped him understand and process his own experience, it also prompted a difficult re-evaluation of who he was as a person. And as a pastor, it started him on a new path of considering the way disabled people are treated in the church. Disability and the Church is a practical and theological reconsideration of the church's responsibilities to the disabled community.

As a Black autistic pastor and disability scholar, Lamar Hardwick lives at the intersection of disability, race, and religion. Tied to this reality, he heeded the call to write How Ableism Fuels Racism to help Christian communities engage in critical conversations about race by addressing issues of ableism. Hardwick believes that ableism—the idea that certain bodies are better than others—and the disability discrimination fueled by this perspective are the root causes of racial bias and injustice in American culture and in the church.

Each week, Key Ministry: The Podcast hosts Dr. Lamar Hardwick, Beth Golik, Sandra Peoples, Garett Wall, and Catherine Boyle will cover topics related to disability and mental health. You will deepen your theology of disability, learn ways to reach and support special needs families, and equip your staff and volunteers to make church more accessible to students and adults with disabilities and mental health diagnoses. Find out more at keyministry.org/podcast