EMERGENT “encouraging” steps towards fuller inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent clergy suggest a willingness in the C of E to go further, a new report says.
The report, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”: Understanding the wellbeing of disabled and neurodivergent clergy, was published yesterday by Church House. It sets out what the authors identify as barriers to disabled and neurodivergent clergy and those undergoing discernment and training for ministry.
Commissioned by the Ministry Development Team from Dr Alex Fry and Dr Sally Lee, it says: “Encouragingly, there have been some clear steps towards fuller inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent clergy in very recent years. Whilst these are still emerging, they indicate that there is a desire for change in at least some corners of the CofE.”
It is based on interviews with 27 “clergy who are either disabled or neurodivergent (or both)”. These are referred to as “dialogue partners” throughout the report. Of those, women accounted for 56 per cent and men 44 per cent.
Thirty-three per cent are incumbents, 33 per cent are curates, 15 per cent are self-supporting clergy, seven per cent are chaplains, four per cent are senior clergy, and seven per cent hold other positions. Those who have a physical impairment (including neurological diagnoses) are 67 per cent; 18 per cent have a mental-health diagnosis; 56 per cent are neurodivergent; and 63 per cent experience co-occurrence or multi-occurrence conditions.
During the first phase of data collection, the researchers asked the dialogue partners to send a creative personal artefact, “such as sermons or blog posts to highlight the breadth of possibilities. The artefact could also have been something previously created by the dialogue partner.”
To refine the initial findings, 14 of the dialogue partners then attended a focus group.
The report found that “the wellbeing of disabled and neurodivergent clergy can be summarised as under significant risk because of the inherited assumptions and processes in the CofE — i.e., because of structural factors.
“Unfortunately, this is true regardless of when dialogue partners were ordained, spanning those who have been in ministry for decades and those who were only priested the year of their interview. To be sure, these inherited assumptions are not unique to the CofE; they are found in wider society.”
The report lists separate recommendations for dioceses, theological-education institutions, the Ministry Development Board, the Office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Archbishops’ Council, and the House and College of Bishops.
Recommendations include introducing mandatory training for those involved in selection and oversight for disabled and neurodivergent clergy, as well as consistent access to reasonable adjustments, properly resourced support structures, and improved accessibility in churches, housing, and other working environments.
The report says that from the data analysis emerge 11 themes that shape the well-being of disabled and neurodivergent clergy. These include “structural and cultural factors”, such as hidden expectations in discernment and training; narrow models of priesthood; power imbalances that discourage disclosure; and working practices that normalise overwork.
Participants felt that these “expectations can be easily internalised and so dialogue partners reported having expectations of themselves that were unrealistic and damaging.”
The themes were categorised into “theme clusters”, which include: “This is my body broken for you: Threats to and opportunities for human flourishing”; “In the beginning was the Word: Probing language and theology”; “My strength is made perfect in weakness: Ableism and modes of oppression”; and “Enter through the narrow gate: Barriers to discernment”.
The report says that “the theme clusters were labelled with Scripture in a way that is intended to draw the reader’s attention to the jarring experienced by our dialogue partners when Scripture is misappropriated.”
The Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Atkinson, who is the lead bishop for disability, writes in his foreword: “The participation and flourishing of disabled and neurodivergent ordinands and clergy is at the heart of being that Church that God desires. The Body of Christ in which every part is honoured.”
