Issue 22 Voices of JusticeBlog | Preaching and disability – avoiding stumbling blocks
Preaching and disability – avoiding stumbling blocks
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 10.03.20
Part of my ordination training was Preaching classes, where we studied the mechanics of putting together a sermon. Length, content, style, depth and delivery were the key ingredients. We were dispatched to write a sermon on different passages of scripture, and allocated a different congregation to whom we would be speaking – all age, older people, mixed church traditions… Dutifully we prepared, delivered and then faced peer critique. That was 16 years ago: I’ve been preaching sermons in a variety of churches and settings since then. Recently I realised that every model we were taught assumed we were preaching to a hearing, able-bodied congregation. And assumed we were hearing able-bodied preachers. I have been pondering these assumptions for a while, and more so now that I spend a lot of my Sundays preaching in Deaf churches. Here are a few of my personal observations when it comes to preaching and disability.
It is a viable sermon if the preacher is sitting
1 in 5 adults in the UK live with some form of physical challenges. Those of us who use crutches to walk will usually look for somewhere to sit 1 in 5 adults in the UK live with some form of physical challenges. Those of us who use crutches to walk will usually look for somewhere to sit down when we enter a room! Anyone with levels of fatigue, pain, or physical disability expends a lot of energy moving around and functioning. Sitting down to preach enables us to concentrate on the sermon, and allows energy levels to increase again. If I am expected to stand and preach, I will spend my valuable thinking space trying to make sure I don’t fall over or get too tired. An able-bodied preacher in a pulpit is not more authentic than a wheelchair user preaching from the floor.
