Saturday's conference Just As I Am – Living Theology explored the questions - What does it mean to be disabled, and what might that say about God? Do our stories tell us something of God’s story? Are we living theology?
The speakers included Helen Tyers, Darius Traves, Ali Lyon and Sam Wells, who led a workshop on understanding and models of theology. Working in small groups, with a marketplace and silent space, we shared ideas arising from our experience and considered how we can resource each other and the church.
Conference delegate Philip Dawson tweeted the following reflections:
- Heard an "alternative" interpretation of the life of Charlotte Elliot author of "Just As I Am". She wasn't a weak invalid but a strong woman.
- Should grief or sickness waste away My life in premature decay, My Father, still I strive to say, "Thy will be done."
- A key passage which spoke to Charlotte as a disabled woman was 2 Corinthians 3.18. If we look in a mirror the reflection we see is Christ.
- Helen Tyers suggested many churches still run by those with mindset of Victorian hymnwriters i.e. that disabled are invalids who need to be cured.
- We heard from Sam Wells who drew on his Christian Ethics book & asked us to imagine "church" as a triangle which we were somewhere inside
- The three sides represent the "established" "universal" church, the individual "subversive" church and the broad "ecclesial" church.
- In groups we were asked to think about how the lengths of each side of the triangle has changed over time and where we sit within it.
- Sam Wells suggested "subversive" church could get so caught up challenging the "universal" church that it lacks message of its own.
- Suggested "subversive" trying to bang on door of "universal" to be let in implied we all wanted to be "in" with the universal.
- Perhaps in a post-colonial world where one cannot take Christian theology for granted, we all need to adopt a more "ecclesial" approach.
- Before I had to leave I heard Darius Traves speak about his work with "Just As I Am" in Yorkshire. An inspiring man!
Our Sunday morning service was a special Eucharist and Healing Service liturgy for St Luke’s Day, written by members of our Disability Advisory Group & Healing Team under the guidance of Sam Wells.
In the service we prayed: Creating God, from of old your plans for your people have been faithful and sure. You provide refuge to all and invite each of us, just as we are, to share in your feast of creation’s wonder. In Christ you extended the invitation to your feast to all peoples; you came to human beings and humanity came to you.
Our preacher was Tim Goode, the Disability Adviser for Southwark Diocese and a trustee of Inclusive Church, who is a member of the conference planning team. Tim said:
"I want to take a moment to paint a picture of a mythical nation. If it were possible to gather together all the disabled people in the world into one nation, that nation would number approximately 650 million. That’s more than ten times the population of the United Kingdom. In fact the nation would be the third largest in the world after China and India.
I would like to now share some of the unique characteristics of this mythical nation. It would have the least access to education. It would have the lowest proportion of its population in employment in the world. It would be the poorest nation on earth. It would have the least access to transport and it would be the least evangelised nation with the lowest proportion involved in a church. It would also be the least listened to. It is also true that everyone of that 650 million is being invited this morning to the wedding banquet.
This is why the Disability Conference being held at St Martin’s this weekend is so important. The inhabitants of this mystical country are speaking up and we are speaking out because we belong to each and every country. We are sharing our lived experience because we have important stories to tell. We are not separated from the king’s invitation for we, like everyone in Trafalgar Square and on the Godstone Road, like everyone anywhere, are made in the image and likeness of God and are loved by God beyond all measure."
The service included the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, accompanied by prayers for healing – for individuals, someone else known to them, or the wider world.
Following the service we launched ‘Calling from the Edge’, a beautifully produced booklet celebrating the first five disability conferences that have been held as a partnership between St Martin-in-the-Fields and Inclusive Church. In the booklet you will find stories and reflections that tell the story that underlies this significant series of conferences. The prophetic voices we hear emanating from the conference and booklet are, rightly, challenging for the Church but, as Sam Wells says in his Foreword to the booklet, we need to recognise the sin of how much we have rejected in the past, and celebrate the grace that God gives us back what we once rejected to become the cornerstone of our lives. That’s what prophetic ministry means.
Finally, we enjoyed a special screening of Summer in the Forest, the new feature-length documentary film about the L'Arche community. It follows the life of the original community in Trosly, France, and explores what it means to be human. We were joined by the director Randall Wright for a discussion after the film led by Katherine Hedderly before ending with the chance to meet and talk over tea in the Lightwell.
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Summer In The Forest.
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