Autism and Worship

A Liturgical Theology

Armand Léon van van Ommen (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

263 Seiten

2023
Baylor University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4813-1990-4 (ISBN)

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In churches today, those on the autism spectrum are often at best overlooked by neurotypical church members or at worst infantilized. Viewed as "other," autistic people who feel excluded from the church community abound, and statistics show that they are less likely to attend church than others. Other autistic people do participate in worship but testify to being dismissed when asking for "reasonable accommodations," and they are routinely given fewer formal roles in the liturgy.

In Autism and Worship, Armand Léon van Ommen offers an in-depth analysis of the absence and ignoring of, but also the presence of, autistic people in worship. Van Ommen recounts the experiences of autistic people and considers how those experiences might reframe liturgical theology and the worship practices of the church. He identifies the "cult of normalcy" as the root of the marginalization of autistic people. Normalcy is boundary keeping, the protective set of dynamics that determines who belongs to the community and who is excluded. The answer to absence and ignoring is found in presence and availability, rooted in kenosis. Through the act of making himself available to humankind by becoming human, Christ participated in humanity. Believers are invited to participate in the life and prayer of Christ in turn and accordingly make themselves available to one another.

The new identity in Christ redefines what is deemed normal and redefines who is "in" or "out." Van Ommen argues that this redefinition results from a kenotic liturgical theology of availability. He illustrates this fresh vision by analyzing the Chapel of Christ Our Hope, a church in Singapore that is centered on autism and provides a paradigm for a renewal of Christian worship. Autism and Worship contributes to liturgical theology and the emerging field of autism theology as well as the practices of worshiping communities.

Armand Léon van Ommen is Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology and Co-Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen. He is co-editor of Disciples and Friends: Investigations in Disability, Dementia, and Mental Health.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Starting the Conversation on Autism and Worship

1. Setting the Scene: Language, Autism Theology, and Autistic Experiences of Worship

2. How Autism Came to Be: The Problem of "Autism Is..."

3. The Tyranny of the Normal: Exposing the Cause of Absence and Ignoring

4. Presence and Participation: Toward a Theology of Availability

5. A Temple Community: A Liturgical-Theological Redrawing of "Normal"

6. Availability in Practice: Autistic Worship in Singapore

Conclusion: A Church That "Gets You"

Erscheinungsdatum	29.07.2025
Verlagsort	Waco
Sprache	englisch
Maße	19 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Gebete / Lieder / Meditationen
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Moraltheologie / Sozialethik
ISBN-10	1-4813-1990-6 / 1481319906
ISBN-13	978-1-4813-1990-4 / 9781481319904
Zustand	Neuware