Much of this material and a good bit more is being moved to a new location on the Center for Children and Theology’s site. These pages are not being updated any longer. Elizabeth regularly offers courses to the church community through CCTheo.
Our Anchor and Our Compass
When we ponder neurologically different children, we need a theological framework. We need a way to see God’s dreams for this person and enter into a process with God. When we are struggling to connect with the child or even contain our big emotions, it’s helpful to hold the Good Shepherd’s words as given in John 10:10 as our Anchor.
Here are three different translations to ponder:
I have come to give life with joy and abundance.
I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I have come that they may have life – life in all its fullness.
Our goal is to give the child the joyful and abundant life in Christ.
We employ the compass provided for us in Luke 10. This compass involves the engagement of all of our beings.
“Love the Eternal One your God with everything you have: all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind”—and “love your neighbor as yourself.”
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
The body is not left out. The mind is not left out. ALL of our heart, mind, strength, and soul is to be engaged in this process. When we can glimpse our intrinsically loved self as God’s then we can extend the intrinsic love to others.
“We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.” Dorothy Day (The Long Loneliness)
This is the ultimate call to have inclusive spaces rich with opportunities to engage our entire beings in the love of God and partner to contribute to the “order, to the peace, and to the harmony of the whole universe.” (Cavaletti translated into English for the 9-12s Maxims Cards)
As you engage with the materials on the following pages, know that a wide range of denominations are represented here. There are a wide range of applications and evaluations. All theological approaches are decidedly Christian. However, the resources on specific neurodiverse topics may not have a Christian approach or moral framework. They were chosen because they have valuable information for us to ponder.
Neurodiversity and Theology
Neurodiversity Information
Neurodiversity in the Church
Neurodiversity Chat Three
Neurodiversity Chat Two
Neurodiversity Chat One
The Inclusive Atrium 