In Depth:  Kay Morgan-Gurr

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

Smiling, serving, and disabled: Why that shouldn’t be surprising
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

'Devastating' disability cuts: what you need to know
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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'

'Disabled people feel under attack'
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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?

Who dares steal your dignity?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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?

Do you let suffering become a competition?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

Disability History Month: The dark and hidden past of disability
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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?

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?
disability & accessibility

Which 'diversity' do we forget to talk about?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

A duty to ask to die? Disability and assisted dying
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

Churches and accessibility: time to change
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

Paralympian or dead? Lessons from Paris for your church
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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?

Are people with disabilities excluded from ministry?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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:

Mission to one of the largest unreached groups in the world
disability & accessibility

Mission to one of the largest unreached groups in the world
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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

I am the product of rape… Here’s why ‘that’ Gospel Coalition article was dangerous
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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?

Do we have a theology of disability?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
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
Kay Morgan-Gurr

Book Review HOW TO RUN CHILDREN’S CLUBS AND MEETINGS

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