Jesus and Disability: A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church

by Chris Hulshof

Drawing from his personal, pastoral, and academic interests, Chris Hulshof offers biblical wisdom and comfort to those seeking to understand the topic of disability in the church. He explores how Jesus’s involvement with the disabled can be instrumental in laying a foundation for disability-inclusive church leadership and practice. Ultimately, this book provides a blueprint for how pastors and congregations can become disability friendly in the church and in the broader community. 

 

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

If we wanted someone to guide us into a better understanding of how we in the church can minister to those with disabilities, what might we be looking for in that guide? Certainly someone with a deep knowledge of the Bible, for the Scriptures are the foundation of all we do and believe. Also useful would be someone with academic credentials, who has read and studied broadly in this field. And, ideally, our guide would have firsthand, maybe even familial experience in caring for someone with a disability. Who better, after all, to write a book about agriculture than a farmer, or education than a teacher, or caring for those with disabilities than someone who actually does that on a daily basis?

Such a guide is whom we meet in Chris H. Hulshof. He wrote his dissertation on disability-inclusive leadership. At Liberty University, he regularly teaches a course on the Theology of Suffering and Disability. And he is the father of an adolescent son, born with infantile epilepsy, who, after a functional hemispherectomy when he was about two years old, has half a functioning brain.

Chris Hulshof knows that of which he writes. We do well to sit up and pay attention.

In his book, Jesus and Disability: A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church, Hulshof provides a blueprint for how the church and her leadership can embody and model the inclusion of people with disabilities in every aspect of congregational life.

What better place to find that blueprint than in the ministry of Jesus himself, as he heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, and actively and compassionately wields his word of power and love on behalf of the suffering? Hulshof takes us on an eye-opening tour of the Gospels, pausing here and there, to meditate upon the needs of people that Jesus met head-on.

As you read the book, you are pulled more deeply into the stories themselves. What is the disability? What impact did this have—religiously, socially, emotionally, financially—on this person? How did Jesus respond? How does his ministry inform a model of leadership in churches today? What gaps need to be filled, mistakes corrected, so that we can foster a community where disability-inclusiveness is vibrant?

I closed this book with a deeper awareness of just how embedded the ministry of Jesus was in those with disabilities; a keener perception of where we have fallen short of modeling that in our own churches; and, most importantly, a direct and practical guide on where to go from here.

Jesus and Disability is a gift to the church. As is Chris. He has taught me much, as he has countless others. Read the book. Reflect. Act. There is much blessed work to be done. Thanks be to God that we have an ideal guide for that labor of love.

[Ethan Callison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Hulshof sets forth a very well researched book on how to interpret the scriptures and how they them become applicable for the local church in how to serve those with disabilities. Chapter 10 alone is worth the price of the book. The same could be said about chapter 12.

[Camden Garrett]

Great survey of Scripture. Walks through Jesus’s interactions with the disabled.

[Josh Olds · Rating 3 out of 5]

During his earthly ministry, Jesus was deeply and personally involved in the lives of the disabled. In all four Gospels, from the beginning of his ministry to the end, Jesus heals the disabled—but more importantly, he treats them as people made in the image of God. In Jesus and Disability, Chris Hulshof uses these biblical accounts to lay a foundation for disability-inclusive church leadership and practice. The book is adapted from his 2017 doctoral dissertation “Jesus and the Disabled: Inclusive Leadership and the Disability Effective Pastor” and Hulshof’s academic interest in disability inclusion comes from being the dad of a son with disabilities. That personal and academic passion shines through this book as Hulshof pleads with churches to consider the example of Jesus when thinking about including and serving the disability community.

Ultimately, I found Jesus and Disability: A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church to fulfill half of its titular promises. The Jesus and Disability part the book handles exceptionally well. Eight of the book’s twelve chapters are intentionally focused on a particular biblical narrative and Hulshof interacts with several different commentaries to flesh out his exegesis of those passages. What the book doesn’t do quite so robustly is live up to its subtitle, “A Guide to Creating an Inclusive Church.” While Hulshof touches on the subject by way of giving application from the biblical narratives, that application is often very general and broad. The practical application from the narrative of the paralyzed man at Capernaum is simply that “forgiveness and inclusion be extended to the disabled.” Which…yeah…but this is hardly new or actionable knowledge. In the next chapter, covering the narrative of the man with the withered hand, Hulshof concludes “having a disability does not disqualify or prevent a person from stretching out and taking hold of the gift of God’s grace.” Again, very true, but this doesn’t do much in the way of creating an inclusive church. Rather, it simply tells us that church should be inclusive.

Jesus and Disability does get more practical in its concluding chapter, where Hulshof distinguishes between four different models of ministry. But the derived-from-a-dissertation tone keeps the information from seeing personal or practicable. Instead, Hulshof offers four different ways disability ministry is done rather than advocating for a particular one or providing practical examples of each model. If you’re looking for a biblical theology of disability, Jesus and Disability gets the job done. What it lacks is the practical blueprint for moving from theory to practice.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4 stars because I believe we, the church community, need to be talking about disability and the church. We need to look around the table and ask ourselves, “Who’s missing?” and “What can we do to not only make room but make them feel welcome?” I believe we need to examine the scriptures and see things from a Biblical perspective. This book, read and discussed in community, helps us do that.

The one caveat is the author expanded the book from his dissertation and it read like a long research paper. I would have liked a more personal narrative and more connections between the research and application. The material was good and thought provoking, but I thought the writing was dry.

[Hannah Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning more about the different instances where people were healed with a disability; however, there seemed to be some very harsh judgement statements and assumptions about the feelings and intentions of those with a disability in this book, making me very unlikely to recommend it.

[Karena Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is helpful in setting up a defense on why Jesus cares for those who have a disability and how that should encourage the church to seek ways of inclusion.