Where is God in the Experience of Disability? A Qualitative Study of Pastoral Views

Pastors are regularly asked to respond to disability in ways that are theologically meaningful and pastorally wise. We studied how 25 Christian pastors understood God’s relationship to disability and God’s ongoing care of people with disabilities by examining their responses to hypothetical case scenarios related to acquired disability, prenatal diagnosis, access to sacraments, and disability in heaven. Pastors framed divine care in three main ways: redemptive, general, and particular. Although pastors expressed compassion and hope, their responses often reflected implicit assumptions that position disability in terms of suffering, limitation, or deficit. We address how these theological framings shape pastoral practice and risk reinforcing exclusionary understandings of disability. We suggest how pastoral theology might pursue less deficit-based accounts of disability and divine care.