Robyn, Stephanie, and returning guest Ian Lasch talk about the sacraments and disability theology. This is the first part of a longer conversation. The Rev Ian Lasch is an autistic priest in the Episcopal Church who takes great joy in living out the priestly vocation to serve as “pastor, priest, and teacher.” He is currently studying for his PhD through the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Autism and Theology, and his dissertation is on autism and the imago Dei. He is married to Loren, also an Episcopal priest, and father to two young boys. Full Transcript Resources: Autism Consecrated Autism and Theology Podcast Hear more from Nathan Leigh who composed our music (link). See more art from the Rev’d Stephanie London who created our title graphic (link)

Stephanie and Robyn continue their conversation with Kristen, turning more specifically to considerations for accessibility in our worship spaces and services. Kristen Tossell Pitts is an Episcopal priest and school chaplain whose vocation focuses on the intersection of spiritual formation and Gospel-centered justice. She currently serves as the Chaplain and Director of Spiritual and Cultural Learning at Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, Maryland. Kristen lives with lupus (SLE) and other autoimmune conditions, as well as ADHD. She and her wife live in Maryland with their toddler, cats, poetry collection, and mildly-chaotic native plant garden. Full Transcript

Stephanie and Robyn are joined by the Reverend Kristen Tossell Pitts for a conversation about how being disabled shapes their leadership. Kristen Tossell Pitts is an Episcopal priest and school chaplain whose vocation focuses on the intersection of spiritual formation and Gospel-centered justice. She currently serves as the Chaplain and Director of Spiritual and Cultural Learning at Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, Maryland. Kristen lives with lupus (SLE) and other autoimmune conditions, as well as ADHD. She and her wife live in Maryland with their toddler, cats, poetry collection, and mildly-chaotic native plant garden. Full Transcript Resources: Universal Design (6 minute video)

Stephanie and Robyn discuss the documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. We discuss our deep love for camp culture, the history of the camp the title refers to, and how a community formed in the 1970's helped shape disability activism and the world we all live in. Significant admiration for Judy Huemann happens. Full Transcript Resources: Crip Camp (film page) Ed Roberts and Independent Living podcast episode  The Power of 504 (Documentary on YouTube, captioned)  504 Sit-In  Camp Jened

Stephanie and Robyn are joined by Sharan to discuss her diagnosis journey and how the grief involved is informing her faith. The Rev. Sharan Knoell is the pastor of Valley United Presbyterian Church in a small-town community that straddles the Pennsylvania - New York border. Prior to 2014, Valley United was three Presbyterian Church (USA) churches. Sharan walked them through the merger, selling a church building, and renovating and newly-constructing the third...across state and denominational borders. She has a Masters of Divinity graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and also has a Masters in Nonprofit Management from Eastern University. Sharan has an autoimmune disease of blood vessel inflammation, GPA vasculitis, that she was diagnosed with in 2018. She almost lost her life to the disease twice in 2018 shortly after diagnosis, but she relies on infusions and her kitchen-counter pharmacy to manage the disease today. A native of the Philadelphia area, she lives in upstate New York with her husband, Ty, and her beagle-Jack Russell rescue, Shiloh. Full Transcript Resources: Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness by Ilana Jacqueline You Don’t Look Sick by Joy H. Selak and Steven S. Overman The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur W. Frank

Stephanie and Robyn are joined by the Rev'd Teresa Kim Pecinovsky to discuss her gorgeous children's book Mother God . They discuss the importance of good theology and diverse representation in the church and in children's literature. Born in South Korea and raised in Iowa, Teresa had a brief stint as an ESL teacher in Japan, then landed in Houston, teaching early elementary and earning a Master of Education from the University of Houston. As a Vanderbilt Divinity School and Disciples Divinity House seminarian in Nashville, one of her most unexpected moments was reading Schleiermacher at 5 a.m. while pumping milk for her 4-week-old infant (don’t ask her what she remembers about Schleiermacher now.) For the past three years Rev. Teresa has accompanied patients, families, and healthcare colleagues through hospice chaplaincy. Mother God is her debut picture book published by Beaming Books. Teresa is also excited to be a contributing writer for the upcoming Shine Story Bible through MennoMedia and Brethren Press. She and her spouse have two adorable and exhausting young children. Full Transcript Links: Teresa's Website (scroll down for the link to the Scripture Guide) Teresa is @tkpcreates on Instagram and Twitter

In this part of Robyn and Stephanie's conversation with the Rev Ian Lasch they talk about the impact of disability theology on Ian's diagnosis process, the implications of diagnosis and diagnostic criteria, and the Bible. Full Transcript Links: University professor appointed as Chaplain to The Queen

Robyn, Stephanie, and Ian talk about what the language in our prayer books says about God and people, identity, and autism . The Rev. Ian Lasch is an autistic priest in the Episcopal Church who takes great joy in living out the priestly vocation to serve as “pastor, priest, and teacher.” His primary areas of interest in ministry include Christian formation and discipleship, virtue ethics, disability theology, and the liturgy or worship of the Church. He is married to Loren, also an Episcopal priest, and father to two young boys. Full Transcript Resources: More than Memory (Spanish) Ian's Earth & Altar article Prayer C from Book of Common Prayer '79 Book of Alternative Services (Prayer 4 begins on page 201 of linked pdf)

Robyn and Stephanie answer some of the questions they've heard from listeners. If we didn't cover a question you have, or you want to hear more about something we talked about, use the contact form or email on our website to send it to us. Full Transcript Resources: Disability models  simpler video option Understanding Disability as a Cluster of Models Who is disabled? Where does Chronic Illness fit?  ADA:  UN CRPD:  ACA:  Why is Disability left out of so many DEI convos? Twitter thread by Gabrielle Peters on why inclusion isn’t enough  Disability Inclusion: missing in the diversity dialogue Disability and DEI: overlooking a group that is everywhere  How does CI/Disability fit in with a good creation? 2012 talk at Summer Institute on Faith and Disability Pretty good notes on that talk More than Skin Deep: The Image of God in People with Disabilities Warrior language: what is it to talk about fighting our bodies?  The Trouble with Medicine’s Metaphors MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: 'BATTLING' CANCER METAPHORS CAN MAKE TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS WORSE  Why Doctors should stop speaking the language of war How do you find conversation partners/start conversations about faith and disability?

Robyn and Stephanie are joined by Kris and talk about myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS, sometimes CFS/ME). Kris shares her journey from athlete to diagnosis and we talk about Church responses to chronic illness, Long Covid, and theology. Kris Rudin is a former software engineer and avid bicycle racer whose life changed completely at age 47 when she developed a “mystery illness”. Thirteen years after becoming ill, she was diagnosed with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome). Despite being treated by experts in the field, her condition continued to deteriorate, and she is now mostly confined to her bed. She lives with her husband of 30 years, who is her primary caregiver. She loves books, opera, Star Trek, and all things sci-fi/fantasy. Her animal alter ego used to be Tigger, but now it’s a sloth! Full Transcript Links: Bishop Steven Charleston Richard Rohr Christianity without the Insanity (Facebook Group) (no link) Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free by Tullian Tchividjian  Resources: #MEAction's 'What is ME?" page Understanding ME/CFS and Long COVID as Post-Viral Conditions