The Accessible Altar Podcast

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

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

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?

Transcript Join us for 5 weeks of a disability informed Bible Study. We’ll look at passages that we consider important in thinking about faith and disability including Leviticus, healing miracles, resurrection stories, and Paul’s writing. Tuesdays, 7pm ET/4pm PT May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 On Zoom (Zoom captions are available) Group size is limited Register here (If spaces are full before you have a chance, sign up for our newsletter to be among the first to hear next time.)

Join us for a lively conversation with Meredith about chronic illness, living a full life, and playing your way into Sabbath. Along the way, we touch on some of the topics Robyn and Stephanie discussed while creating the podcast. The Rev. Meredith H. Crigler, MDiv, CDWF, CDTLF is an Episcopal priest who has lived on both coasts, abroad and now serves as the Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, Baytown, TX and as Mentor with Backstory Preaching. Meredith practices courage, wonder, and wholeness, in proclamation, systems transformation, and mission. She is fond of laughter, candor, DIY projects with her spouse, experimental cooking, sunshine, forest bathing, snuggling with dog Thurgood and occasionally cat Pangur, and conspiring with God. Full Transcript Links: Unfurling Embodiment Backstory Preaching Mother Hen by Lauren Wright Pitman "What if Disability Rights Were for Everyone" NYT article

**We recorded this episode in November, before the omicron wave came to North America and well before various jurisdictions began lifting restrictions. Had we recorded this later in the pandemic we would have spent additional time discussing the complexity of how vulnerable populations are affected by public health decisions.** Robyn, Stephanie, and Gabe talk about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, some of the comparisons with the COVID19 pandemic, and Church responses to both. The Rev. Gabe Lamazares serves as the Associate Rector at St. Phillip’s Church in Durham, North Carolina. Since his ordination as a priest in 2011, he has served congregations in Portland, Oregon, Manhattan, and Queens. He received his Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary and his Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Boston College. Gabe lives in Durham, North Carolina with his husband Terry and their dog Marley. Full Transcript Resources from and related to the episode: A note that Gabe misspoke when he said it's been 30 years since the first cases of AIDS showed up in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; it's actually been 40 (such is the nature of time!). Here's a reference to that report from the 20 years later: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5021a1.htm  The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina ACT-UP NY Historical Info website, Current website St Luke-in-the-Fields NYC For a look at the conversation in popular culture when effective anti-retroviral drugs first became available, see this Newsweek article from 1996 https://www.newsweek.com/end-aids-175200  How to Survive a Plague: The Documentary (for more history of AIDS activism)

The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability by Nancy Eiesland is the foundational work of disability theology.  Robyn and Stephanie talk about the book, the Church's sin of disabling theology Eiesland identifies, Eiesland's vision of the disabled God, and a disability theology approach to the sacraments.TranscriptNY Times ObitThe Accessible God Episodes: The Disabled God and SacramentsI don't tell people what to do with their bodies in worship post The interview with a priest who is a wheelchair userThe Christa Project: Official Exhibition Post and a review by a visitor

We continue our conversation with Pat McKenna.  Pat is the Assistant Division Director at the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He is also an attorney and a long time guide dog handler who lives with his wife and sons in Central NJ.TranscriptLinks related to the episode:Pat and Finn Go-Pro videoThe Seeing EyeThe Seeing Eye's Guide Dog at Work campaignThe National Federation of the BlindThe rideshare (Uber and Lyft) accessibility issue discussed in this episode is so widespread in the US that the NFB legal department is conducting a survey to catalogue incidents for future legal action.CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) 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).

We talk with Pat McKenna about service dogs.  Pat is   the Assistant Division Director at the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He is also an attorney and a long time guide dog handler who lives with his wife and sons in Central NJ.TranscriptLinks related to the episode:Pat and Finn Go-Pro videoThe Seeing EyeThe Seeing Eye's Guide Dog at Work campaignThe National Federation of the BlindThe rideshare (Uber and Lyft) accessibility issue discussed in this episode is so widespread in the US that the NFB legal department is conducting a survey to catalogue incidents for future legal action.CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind)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).

We talk with the Rev. Lindsay Lunnum. Lindsay is a neurotypical parent raising a child who is deeply impacted by autism. She is also a priest and the rector of Zion Episcopal Church in Douglaston (Queens, NYC). Lindsay is the spokesperson for Rhythms of Grace, a ministry of worship and faith formation for children and families with autism. She has introduced ROG in two parishes that she has served and has consulted and guided several parishes throughout the Church to develop this ministry. Transcript of interview  www.rhythms-of-grace.org.Why Johnny Doesn't FlapNot Even WrongHear more from Nathan Leigh who composed our music (link).See more art from the Rev'd Stephanie London who created our title graphic (link).

Robyn and Stephanie talk about why Stephanie said yes to this podcast.  They also talk about future content and their interview practices.Full TranscriptHear more from Nathan Leigh who composed our music (link).See more art from the Rev'd Stephanie London who created our title graphic (link).

In this episode Stephanie and Robyn talk about what in Robyn's history lead to caring about faith and disability and approaching Stephanie about a project that became this podcast.We also talk about how the name of the podcast came about and why we love it.Transcript

Welcome to our podcast!Full Transcript

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

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