Disability pride
Photograph by Sangiao_photography on Envato
Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell and Rev. J.C. Mitchell
Pride is an important part of self-esteem and communal connection. Pride is the joy of one’s life, where joy contains the positive feelings over despair and challenges. Pride is deeper than happiness: it can move one to the point of tears. This month our son AJ will turn 17, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will turn 35 years old, and we celebrate with pride that our country has codified what is right. Despite this law, ableist norms continue to influence society, including the church. We shouldn’t be surprised, but even in 2025, we find ourselves disappointed that society and the church have not embraced, included, and accepted people with disabilities. Nonetheless, this month is not about the hardships or difficulty people with disabilities face; it is about pride and the joy it produces.
We often are asked what the church can do to help include people like our son with autism or with other developmental disabilities, and the answer expected is often a quick fix. Leaders want certain programs or certain ways of doing things to make people feel welcome. Teachers want to know what sort of curriculum or sensory toys they can buy. Sometimes we are met with the greeting, “there is a special room in the back where you can hear the service and he can move about,” also known as “the crying room.” While such rooms may be appropriate for young children and families, this is not an appropriate way to welcome or greet someone who is not of that age group. We know the intention is to make us feel comfortable, but it often has the opposite effect. Other times we have been told we are welcome, but no one greets us, no one sits near us, and glances are cast our way every time our son makes a joyful noise or movement. It’s not about programs or curriculum or even how the sanctuary is constructed; it’s about the body of Christ being inclusive.
In contrast, our son is welcomed and included very well in the church we attend, Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Milwaukee. At this church, there were no specific programs; rather, the ethos and theology of the church is clearly that of Jesus. During one of our first visits to the church in a Youth Sunday service, our son bolted out of the pew to run up onto the chancel. He most likely did this to jump off the stage, as he loves to do so after worship in any sanctuary we visit. Two women interceded to help, but the question they asked immediately was “does AJ want to sit up with the youth choir?” There was an assumption that our son’s behavior was appropriate, faithful, and most importantly, an expression of joy; they responded with more inclusion.
Disability pride is having that deep joy that we all are created in God’s image. Even Jesus himself, with the scars on his hands and on his side, shows disability pride in the resurrection.
The women of the church understood Jesus’s teaching: “As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him’” (John 9:1-3, NRSVUE). Perhaps God’s works are being revealed in those among us who have been marginalized due to disability. Since that time, when AJ sometimes makes a joyful noise in the pew or stands up, the pastor will remark, “I hear Brother AJ giving an amen!” Nothing about AJ’s participation in church, even on the few days when he’s like any other teenager and not exactly happy to be there, has ever been seen as negative. Rather, he’s always welcomed by his church family who are glad he is there.
While we parents knew that at that time AJ didn’t want to sing with the choir, we knew this was the church for AJ to grow in his relationship with Jesus, because they accepted and encouraged him exactly as he is. We have also been fortunate that Camp Tamarack, our ABC camp in Waupaca, Wisconsin, has worked to include AJ. It helps that Mindi is Camp Pastor for Sr. High camp, so she can assist AJ as needed, but he participates with the other campers in all their activities.
It’s now been two years since the time AJ bolted onto the chancel. This past Mother’s Day, when the youth were sharing speeches or poems, Mindi asked AJ if he wanted to sing. They went up to the chancel (to be honest, AJ ran across the chancel, very excited), and when it was his turn, we sang together, “I just wanna be a sheep,” a song we learned from camp, and the entire church sang along with us. As the song drew to a close, AJ became overwhelmed for a moment, but then broke into a wide smile, a grin of pride and joy at singing in front of the congregation. The church broke out in applause as they would for any choir soloist.
Disability pride is having that deep joy that we all are created in God’s image. Even Jesus himself, with the scars on his hands and on his side, shows disability pride in the resurrection. Jesus shows his scars to identify himself and proclaim that he is the risen Christ. We ought to proclaim our pride even in this ableist world, a world that still believes people can’t participate because of their disability. We ought to show our pride that despite the shortcomings of a world that focuses on deficits, Jesus sees all of us — including our scars, our disabilities — as part of the image of God. For we are all only temporarily abled. All of us will experience disability as part of who we are at some point in our life. It will be part of our identity. May we take pride and work for a body of inclusion and acceptance of all people, of all abilities.
Rev. J.C. Mitchell is the Program Coordinator for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell is the Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin. They have been married for over twenty years and are the joyful parents of their son, AJ.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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