Strength made Perfect:
Disability and the church

A six session small group or personal study course
written by the Revd John Beauchamp.

St Paul’s revelation in 2 Corinthians 12 is that God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness.  This course explores what this might mean for today’s church as we strive for recognition and value as an institution within a largely secular world.

Each of the six sessions has a course handout, to be used alongside the audio recordings or the leader’s script.

In six sessions you will explore

• What disability is and how it affects people today
• What the Old Testament says about disability and how the ‘image of God’ is reflected in our human embodiment
• What Jesus says about disability and the Kingdom of God
• How the early church understood disability through the teachings of St Paul
• What the contemporary church is saying to disabled people
• How we might establish a vision for the future as a church where all can belong on equal terms.

Your comments and reflections on this material are very welcome. Contact John Beauchamp, the London Diocese Disability Ministry Enabler, on john.beauchamp@nulllondon.anglican.org

The resources below:

1. Full course handouts – all six sessions in one document – for both the participant and the leader
2. Participants handouts as six individual documents
3. Leader’s script as six individual documents
4. Audio recordings, to be used instead of the leader’s script

Full course handouts

Individual session participants handouts

Individual session leader’s script

Audio Recordings

(To be used instead of the leader’s script)

Session 1: What is disability?

Session 2: Disability in the Old Testament

Session 3: Disability and the Kingdom of God

Session 4: Disability and the early church

Session 5: Disability and today’s church

Session 6: An inclusive church