Overview
Disability and spirituality have traditionally been understood as two distinct spheres: disability is physical and thus belongs to health care professionals, while spirituality is religious and belongs to the church, synagogue, or mosque and their theologians, clergy, rabbis, and imams. This division leads to stunted theoretical understanding, limited collaboration, and segregated practices, all of which contribute to a lack of capacity to see people with disabilities as whole human beings and full members of a diverse human family. Contesting the assumptions that separate disability and spirituality, William Gaventa argues for the integration of these two worlds. As Gaventa shows, the quest to understand disability inevitably leads from historical and scientific models into the world of spirituality - to the ways that values, attitudes, and beliefs shape our understanding of the meaning of disability. The reverse is also true. The path to understanding spirituality is a journey that leads to disability - to experiences of limitation and vulnerability, where the core questions of what it means to be human are often starkly and profoundly clear. In Disability and Spirituality Gaventa constructs this whole and human path before turning to examine spirituality in the lives of those individuals with disabilities, their families and those providing care, their friends and extended relationships, and finally the communities to which we all belong. At each point Gaventa shows that disability and spirituality are part of one another from the very beginning of creation. Recovering wholeness encompasses their reunion - a cohesion that changes our vision and enables us to everyone as fully human.
Full Product Details
Author: William C. Gaventa
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Imprint: Baylor University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 22.60cm
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9781481302791
ISBN 10: 1481302795
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 15 March 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Disability and Spirituality is not a textbook, a thesis-driven argument, or even a manifesto of disability theory. It is a holistic practical theology, written through the lens of pastoral care, for those with physical and intellectual disabilities that should be required reading for pastors, chaplains, spiritual care-givers, and pastoral theologians. -- Brandon L. Morgan -- Reading Religion
Disability and Spirituality is not a textbook, a thesis-driven argument, or even a manifesto of disability theory. It is a holistic practical theology, written through the lens of pastoral care, for those with physical and intellectual disabilities that should be required reading for pastors, chaplains, spiritual care-givers, and pastoral theologians. -- Brandon L. Morgan -- Reading Religion In Disability and Spirituality: Recovering Wholeness William C. Gaventa distills a lifetime of work in care institutions and churches to foster better ways of meeting people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Gaventaas passion is to support people with disabilities and their families while pressing service organizations to address spirituality and to take more seriously the supporting roles faith communities might play. -- Brian Brock -- Scottish Journal of Theology
Disability and Spirituality is not a textbook, a thesis-driven argument, or even a manifesto of disability theory. It is a holistic practical theology, written through the lens of pastoral care, for those with physical and intellectual disabilities that should be required reading for pastors, chaplains, spiritual care-givers, and pastoral theologians. -- Brandon L. Morgan -- Reading Religion In Disability and Spirituality: Recovering Wholeness William C. Gaventa distills a lifetime of work in care institutions and churches to foster better ways of meeting people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Gaventaas passion is to support people with disabilities and their families while pressing service organizations to address spirituality and to take more seriously the supporting roles faith communities might play. -- Brian Brock -- Scottish Journal of Theology William Gaventa's Disability and Spirituality: Recovering Wholeness is a compelling blend of interdisciplinary engagement, robust scholarship and insightful pastoral commentary. Having spent his life in chaplaincy and advocacy roles with disabled people, their families and support workers, Gaventa's book reflects his commitment to building understanding across the health and human services and navigating fresh ways of reflecting on the lived experience of disabled persons -- Coralie Bridle -- Pacific Journal of Theological Research
Author Information
Rev. Bill Gaventa is Chair of the National Collaborative on Faith and Disability and Director of the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability. He is past Editor of the Journal of Disability and Religion and served as President of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).
