Borderlands Session 4: "Stairway to Heaven: A Conversation about Christian Spatial Imaginations and the Production of Disabilities"

Stairway to Heaven: A Conversation about Christian Spatial Imaginations and the Production of Disabilities Guest Speaker: Rev. Topher Endress Abstract: In the wake of COVID-19, the virtual turn undertaken by a vast majority of churches highlights the ways in which Christian space changes over time. Given that one commonly held conception of ‘disability’ from within critical disability studies is how embodiment fits in relation to one’s spatial environment, it is worth asking the question of how Christian spatial practices and imaginations intersect with and help produce current understandings of what a disability is - and therefore, what it means. In this talk, I will highlight how the broad genealogy of disabilities can be understood as an expression of Christian space. This will be done first through an overview of the replacement of leper’s colonies with poor houses and ‘madhouses,’ and second, through an analysis of how the spatial logics inherent to Christian theology have produced and enforced particular relationships between bodies and God. This becomes important for the Church today when seeking ethical action regarding how to best address questions of practical and virtual spaces which disproportionately impact disabled bodies. Borderlands: conversations between church and city is associated with the Aberdeen Methodist Church. The group seeks to bring theological reflection in dialogue with public issues. Connect with us on Facebook. Rev. Topher Endress is an ordained minister from the United States, currently tutor at the University of Aberdeen and PhD candidate in Christian Ethics.