Want to Read Wednesday: Christianity and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance by Stephen Faller

Introduction: What is “Want to Read Wednesday?”

Hello, Friends!

Welcome to my blog. Here at BeckieWrites.com I am starting a new meme for the year of 20210 entitled, “Want to Read,” Wednesday. The focus of my author blog is to share with you not only information about my own writing, but to also share information faith, books, and disability awareness. For the new year, I thought it would be interesting to give you a peak into my “to be read list.” I enjoy following other writers and bloggers because I love discovering new books. Therefore, every Wednesday I will be sharing a a book from my “to be read,” list for 2020. It is my hope that perhaps you will discover some great new authors or learn about some fascinating new books!

 

What is on my “To Be Read List?”

Christianity and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance

Book Details

Title: Christianity and the Art of Wheelchair Maintenance: A Dialectical Inquiry at the End of the World

Author: Stephen Faller

Publisher: Cascade Books (An imprint of Wipf and Stock)

Publication Date: August 8, 2018

Length: 206 pages

Available in Kindle and Paperback from Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

After twenty years, Stephen Faller shares his journey into seminary and ordained ministry. This book reveals the story of how someone with a lifelong disability, cerebral palsy, might find his way into ministry as a hospital chaplain; there is a certain irony in that. While particular in its own right, this story will speak to anyone in college or graduate school studying one of the many disciplines hoping to make the world a better place.

Through narrative and dialogue, Faller engages philosophers and theologians alike. This is an intimate text that seeks to integrate mind, body, and spirit that situates itself more beyond the margins than as marginalized.

Just as Faller’s own narrative is contextualized by disability, this personal work is contextualized in our polarized and politicized culture, as it considers the meaning of ministry for a contemporary time. His is an embodied text that speaks to a multicultural society, even if that body carries brokenness and even if that society is divided.

About the Author: Stephen Faller is a Board Certified Chaplain and a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor as a Diplomate of the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy at the Center for Pastoral Care at Capital Health in Hopewell, NJ. He is the author of Beyond the Matrix (2004), Reality TV (2009), and The Art of Spiritual Midwifery (2015). He has a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and a Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

 

Why I wand to read this book:

I want to read this book because of my interest in disability theology. I have heard that the author is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church (my denomination), and i’m interested to hear about his journey. Because I currently sit on my district’s District Committee on Ministry (DCOM) I am curious to know what advice he has to offer to others who may be pursuing ordination. It is my hope to use some of the advice that he offers to perhaps help other people with disabilities who are working toward ordination. I also enjoy supporting the work of other writers with disabilities, especially if they are members of my own denomination.

 

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Do you enjoy reading #OwnVoices authors?

If so, please consider checking out my short book of poetry, Through My Good Eye: A Memoir in Verse. My latest book, The United Methodist Church and Disability, is also available.

What books do you recommend? Let me know in the comments below! Also, please don’t forget to subscribe so that you never miss a post! Just type your e-mail into the “subscribe.”