What on earth have environmental issues got to do with disability? Actually, more than you might think! In this article, I want to explore practical ways churches can improve access to nature and environmental campaigning, and theological issues raised by the intersection of disability theology and eco-theology. I write as a privileged ‘able-bodied’ white male, yet with immediate family experience of living with both physical and mental health challenges and of pastoring a church with a high percentage of disabled adults.
There is increasing public attention to ‘intersectionality’: how different areas of social concern (race, gender, environment, disability) relate to each other. As Christians, we should welcome this both because we believe in a God of justice who welcomes all the marginalised, and also because Jesus modelled a way of seeing and including people in their entirety rather than identifying them by society’s labels.
In late 2021, a major academic survey on Disability and Climate Justice recognised that, ‘For many people with disabilities, systemic exclusion across all sectors of society has led to a focus on immediate priorities, rather than those which are seen as deferrable.’1 In other words, when daily life is a struggle against prejudice and practicality, global issues such as climate change may appear too remote or huge to address. Often, it’s not a lack of interest or awareness, but the sheer effort of overcoming physical or sensory barriers.
