What do clergy practice and church leadership look like when shaped by disabled embodiment? In Cripping, Miriam Spies offers a groundbreaking work of crip theology and Christian practice. Spies reimagines how an inclusive Christian ministry functions and fulfills its mission, using the lenses of disability and crip theology. Then she reframes core practices--preaching, sacramental leadership, and pastoral care--as sites where crip bodies in church leadership are sources for congregational renewal.
Integrating theological reflection with the lived experiences of a clergywoman, Cripping offers fresh insights about the impact of ableism in the church. It explores experiences of interdependence, access, and embodied diversity from a clergy perspective. Each chapter focuses on a central function of ordained ministry to show how crip embodiment reshapes proclamation, challenges normative understandings of time and space in worship, and reshapes a shared, communal practice. Cripping invites communities of faith to recognize embodied difference as essential to faithful ministry and as a just form of church leadership. This book speaks to seminarians, church leaders, and congregation members alike who seek a more just and imaginative model of ministry.
