In depth | Evangelicals Now

Disability: What do you see?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

I recently saw a social media post from a well-known disabled person. He’d been out for a meal with friends, one of whom was also disabled. They’d sat outside the restaurant for their meal - possibly because that was more accessible for them.

One of the restaurant workers came out and asked them to leave. They’d done nothing wrong; they were just a group of friends enjoying each other's company.

Is your church 'toxic' to a child's faith?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Is church "toxic" to a child's faith?

In answer to my own question, I believe "the church" can sometimes be toxic to a child's faith.

Disability Pride Month: Will your church celebrate?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

July is Disability Pride month - it has absolutely nothing to do with LGBTQ+, although some do try to hijack it a little!

This month is a celebration of what disabled people bring to the world and who we are. It started in America, way before LGBTQ+ had one. It also had a different name, but "pride" was in its descriptors.

disability & accessibility

Not all prayer looks the same - and that's okay

Kay Morgan-Gurr

We’ve all been told stories of the great saints of prayer. You know, those worthy people who got up early in the morning and prayed for hours, without a cup of coffee and before breakfast.

We’ve all, at some point, probably felt guilty that we can’t pray that way. But dig a little deeper into those stories and we will also find lives just like ours - fragile and flawed.

disability & accessibility

A quiet revival - for all?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

You've most likely read or heard about the quiet UK revival, namely the rising interest in Christianity among younger generations as explored in the Bible Society's latest report.

I remember when my husband and I ran Whizz Kids groups for kids at large events. We prayed that if children became Christians, it would be an obvious work of the Spirit. As a result, we have heard many stories of children saying they felt they were woken by Jesus, or He spoke to them in the shower. One even felt God's call when on a funfair ride! A call to faith that only God could take the glory for.

Smiling, serving, and disabled: Why that shouldn’t be surprising

Kay Morgan-Gurr

I smile a lot. I’m known for it.

I wear bright clothes, wacky glasses and glam up my wheelchair. I also receive a lot of comments about being smiley and bright, and living my life ‘out there’. I love life!

'Devastating' disability cuts: what you need to know

Kay Morgan-Gurr

The Government has now released its Green Paper on disability benefits.

You may have been aware of the discussions around this, both from the government and in the press.

'Disabled people feel under attack'

Kay Morgan-Gurr

There’s a large pastoral issue arising that we all need to be aware of.

It’s a hidden pastoral issue that may be flying under the radar in many churches. The people these issues will affect will also often be under the radar too, and often unseen. The issue is this: the anxiety and potential acute depression that disabled people face in light of government plans.

Who dares steal your dignity?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Dignity. The dictionary definition of this word is 'The state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect.'

However, as Christians we use the word dignity in many different ways, and as a result its real meaning has been eroded over the years.

Do you let suffering become a competition?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

'It’s not a competition!' This is a common phrase for me, especially when surrounded by competitive men.

When I ran camps, 'competitiveness' was often an issue with male leaders - often to the point of having to write this into my risk assessment. The desire to win a game often clouded out the need to keep children, and themselves, safe from injury! The risk assessment then became a competition - the win being to be named as a risk in it.

Disability History Month: The dark and hidden past of disability

Kay Morgan-Gurr

It’s Disability History Month. This has happened every year from 16th November to 16th December since 2010.

Has your church ever done events around this, in the same way many do events around Black History Month?

disability & accessibility

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

We often joke about women being the better multitaskers. It’s a sweeping statement, but not without a nugget of truth. So how is the church at multitasking?

When it comes to patterns of looking at who is missing from our churches, in our leadership and in the mission and ministry we do, we often look at one thing at a time. And then, having looked at some other things, we have to revisit what we’ve done before. Again, this is a sweeping statement, but not without a nugget of truth.

A duty to ask to die? Disability and assisted dying

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Have you ever had anyone come up to you and say, ‘I’d rather be dead than be like you’?

I have, numerous times! Apparently, people would rather be dead because they can’t see why anyone could want to be alive if they use a wheelchair. And it’s not just physical disability - there are many people who have the same view of autism.

Churches and accessibility: time to change

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Someone I follow on X posted a picture of a tin opener. The caption read: 'If you're right handed you'll see a tin opener. If you're left handed you'll see an obstacle.'

A very true statement, especially if you’re left handed. The literal thinkers among us would say: 'just go out and buy a left handed one!' But do they even make left handed tin openers?! When I was a nurse we used to send trainee doctors to find the left handed blood pressure machine - insisting they existed. So, I wasn’t sure if this was one of those sort of jokes.

Paralympian or dead? Lessons from Paris for your church

Kay Morgan-Gurr

The 2024 Paralympics has been compulsive viewing for many - myself included. It hasn’t been without controversy in various areas and some of those issues continue to rumble on.

Those of us who use wheelchairs have experienced wheelchair envy as we’ve seen not just the sports wheelchairs, but the everyday wheelchairs that some of the athletes have - that probably cost the same as a family car.

Are people with disabilities excluded from ministry?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Did you know there are different models of disability?

The two main ones are the ‘medical’ and ‘social’ models. I asked AI (artificial intelligence) to sum them up for me and it did a reasonable job of describing what they are:

disability & accessibility

Mission to one of the largest unreached groups in the world

Kay Morgan-Gurr

When we want to reach a people group with the gospel, there are many things we want to be trained in first. We learn the language and the culture. We immerse ourselves in the way of life in order to learn how we can respectfully reach out to them.

Sometimes we take the time to make friends with people from that culture and learn more from them, including the idioms and nuances of their language - you know, the things a classroom lesson won’t teach you and can leave you a little embarrassed and red faced when you say the wrong thing.

I am the product of rape… Here’s why ‘that’ Gospel Coalition article was dangerous

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Trigger warning: this article contains direct language about sex and sexual abuse which some may find difficult.

The Gospel Coalition website (TGC) in the US recently published a controversial article entitled ‘Sex won’t save you (but it points to the one who will)’. The feature attracted widespread criticism from both evangelicals and others. Among them, Michael F. Bird, a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, and author of Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction, wrote: ‘The piece gets cringey and manufactures conditions for misogyny when he equates, literally, Christ’s saving word with a man’s semen! He uses the language of penetration a lot, refers to semen as a sacrificial offering and a holy seed, and describes a woman’s uterus as hospitable and rejoicing… Women are cast as receiving salvation through the man’s sexual fulfilment. The man penetrates and the woman is penetrated, this makes men dominant and active while women are passive and obedient. Sexual release for the man is part of the women’s salvation. The man’s pleasure and penis are christified, while his semen is sanctified as a holy sacrifice – I can’t believe I’m even saying that.’

Do we have a theology of disability?

Kay Morgan-Gurr

We love theology in the evangelical church. We want to know what God says about all sorts of things in the Bible. We soak in what those who have studied theology say, and sometimes we study it ourselves with the books that we read and the podcasts we listen to.

But do we, as evangelicals, have a theology of disability?

Children’s work

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Book Review HOW TO RUN CHILDREN’S CLUBS AND MEETINGS

Read review

In Depth: Kay Morgan-Gurr

Disability: What do you see?

Is your church 'toxic' to a child's faith?

Disability Pride Month: Will your church celebrate?

Not all prayer looks the same - and that's okay

A quiet revival - for all?

Smiling, serving, and disabled: Why that shouldn’t be surprising

'Devastating' disability cuts: what you need to know

'Disabled people feel under attack'

Who dares steal your dignity?

Do you let suffering become a competition?

Disability History Month: The dark and hidden past of disability

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?

A duty to ask to die? Disability and assisted dying

Churches and accessibility: time to change

Paralympian or dead? Lessons from Paris for your church

Are people with disabilities excluded from ministry?

Mission to one of the largest unreached groups in the world

I am the product of rape… Here’s why ‘that’ Gospel Coalition article was dangerous

Do we have a theology of disability?

Children’s work

Book Review HOW TO RUN CHILDREN’S CLUBS AND MEETINGS

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