Chesterton Perspectives brings you:

“Please Don’t Fix Me. Welcome Me.”: A Christian Reflection on People with Disabilities

A conversation with John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen

May 1, 2025
3 pm EST in person at 111 The Knoll Rd
Or join us via Zoom

Register Here

Let’s be honest: most of us have not spent time formulating a theology of human disability, especially for people with permanent intellectual limitations like schizophrenia, dementia, or Down syndrome. Laden with the modern idea of “equality,” we awkwardly strive to make everyone the same, measuring others’ experiences of life against our own—and unintentionally defining what it means to be human by our own standards. But what if that’s not only unfair, but also wrong and harmful?

Maybe people with disabilities need less energy spent on making them like us, and more effort to welcome them as already fully human brothers and sisters created by God. Maybe it is their differences in our midst that help us understand our own humanity—reminding us that no one is an autonomous owner of their own life or master of their own fate, but rather a beneficiary of God’s gratuitous gift of life, to be given back to Him in gratitude. Reminding us that being human isn’t about subjective or performative metrics, but rather something far deeper. Perhaps there are some (maybe many?) inequalities in this world that aren’t just unavoidable but are actually essential to understanding our humanity and what it means for all of us to become the Body of Christ.

Join us in welcoming John Swinton, Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, and Chair of Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. Drawing from his journey from working as a Registered Mental Health Nurse to studying the theology of disability, Rev. Professor Swinton will share his practical and theological insights to help us reflect together on a Christian theology of disability.

John Swinton; Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care; School of Divinity, History and Philosophy; King’s College University of Aberdeen

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade John worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for a number of years as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain alongside of people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He has published widely within the area of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, end of life care, qualitative research and pastoral care. John is the author of a number of monographs including Finding Jesus in the Storm: The spiritual lives of people with mental health challenges. (Eerdmans 2020) which won the Aldersgate prize for outstanding interdisciplinary work within theology. His book Dementia: Living in the memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing. John is married with 5 children. John is also a musician. His new album– Beautiful Songs About Difficult Things – is now availabe: https://open.spotify.com/album/6TvUBFhAcDH1u8L6dV8web?si=_IxIsyYkTayOBUfTYEsrZw