Paper Presentation Proposal—The autistic Christ: Introduction to neuroqueer liberation theology

Hi all.  I just finished drafting a paper proposal.

Thought you might be interested what is cooking in my mind: 

The autistic Christ: Introduction to neuroqueer liberation theology   

Postcolonial liberation theologians have long challenged “Western” theologies that rely on White patriarchal power structures, pathologize and victim-blame those who do not conform to their rules, and promise delayed (post-death) rewards to those who stoically accept their subjugated status. To add insult to injury, the Western Church portrays itself as the primary custodian of the knowledge of the path to salvation, which it then “bestows” to the rest of the world. Through this hubris, the Western Church has, ironically, deprived itself of the opportunity to experience the Kin-dom that Christ describes in our holy scriptures.  

By centering the experiences and theological lenses of “the rest,” the Western academic community begins to humble itself enough to tap into a vast reservoir of knowledge, allowing it to engage in the work of deconstructing imperial mission praxes, and potentially learning how to gain immediate—not deferred—entrance into the Beloved Kin-dom.  

There is, however, a category of people rejected as defective (and, in many cases, viewed as sub-human) by the dominant Western Church whose unmasked voices are only starting to be heard by academia, and their existence crosses all regional, linguistic, ethnic, gender, socio-economic, and temporal divides: the neurodivergent. 

While mainstream Western society still treats neurodivergence as an aberration to eliminate, in recent years a pride movement has gained momentum among neurodivergents, who through the rise of social media platforms have found one another, formed community, and engaged in liberating reframings of their shared differences. This author is among the “lost generation” of adults who, due to their abilities to sufficiently mask their autistic* and/or ADHD* traits, grew up with the pain of social alienation but without the understanding of the causes. 

The exponential growth of these proudly neurodivergent online community networks have led to the birth of new scholarly constructs (e.g., Dr. Nick Walker’s coining of the term neuroqueer) and the emerging field of neuroqueer liberation theologies. Neuroqueer theologians are engaging in the work of subverting theological frameworks in a way that is both groundbreaking and ancient, revealing to their colleagues truths that have been hiding in plain sight: the prophets of old, numerous biblical heroes/heroines, and even Christ as described in the Gospels code as neurodivergent when viewed through a modern Western assessment lens (e.g., Laura Sommer’s podcast series “Autistic Liberation Theology”). 

Hence, I assert, the Kin-dom of God does not simply make space for neurodivergent/queer minds, it is neuroqueer. This distinction is critical to any holistic theological conversation about solidarity, liberation, and belonging.

This proposed paper presentation would unpack these terms and assertions at the introductory level, creating a pathway into the conversation for those who are just now hearing about it.          

*I embrace efforts to replace these problematic terms, but in the context of this abstract am using the ones most widely known to communicate my neuro-differences. Note also that a significant percentage of neurodivergent persons do not have the resources and/or abilities to fully participate in these online communities.  

Judicial Council and Me

This book and I will be spending a lot of time together

Those who have been following me for awhile will remember back in early 2024 when Bishop Mande persuaded me to accept a nomination to serve on The United Methodist Church's Judicial Council.  Those who know UMC polity know what an massive honor and responsibility this would be, and why I would hesitate to even put my name on the ballot. But, Bishop Mande is a persuasive man, and he listed many valid reasons why my unique collection of knowledge and experiences of/in the denomination would be important to have on the council at such a time as this. Elections were held at the 2020/2024 General Conference, and I was elected as 2nd clergy alternate. 

Given that there are only four clergy on the council, I thought it extremely unlikely that two clergy seats would become vacant within my 4-year term. I liked to joke that I got to have the bragging rights without any of the workload—Or so I thought.  

Plot twist: This month I begin my period of service on the Judicial Council, which goes until the end of General Conference 2028. 

Already I'm getting an influx of messages from old friends/contacts wanting to chat about me and Judicial Council. I completely relate to the desire to get a glimpse behind the curtain, but unfortunately/fortunately, for ethical reasons, the council abides by a rather strict code of silence, so there isn't much I can say beyond that, yes, I'm on the council and for information about decisions, docket items, and the upcoming calendar, you can check out the website: www.resourceumc.org/en/churchwide/judicial-council   

Love to all. Prayers for wise discernment are always appreciated. 

Taylor 

Finding out that I’m GAuDy

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As anyone who has spent time with me over the past few years knows, I’m constantly talking/thinking/reading about neurodivergence, especially the monotropic types.  It has reached the point where I’ve decided to pivot the next chapter of my professional writing to the topic of neuroqueer missiology. I have some bold assertions to make about the neuroqueerness of the sacred Kin-dom, and I’ve found a publishing house that matches my vibe and is excited about the possibility of me turning these ideas into a book.

When will you write it, and when can I get a copy?  I don’t know yet. I’m on a healing journey—which I will eventually share more about—, so I want to make sure that going forward my public writing is something that brings more fulfillment (not agonizing stress) to my life. In tandem to writing about the beauty of the neuroqueer community, I plan to speak more about it, and I welcome any opportunities to teach a course on neurodivergent leadership and inclusion.  

One thing that occurred to me in this discernment process is that there are gatekeepers who hold bigoted views about autism and do not recognize the validity of self-assessment. They might try to discredit my status in the community by saying that I hadn’t jumped through procedural hoops and shelled out thousands of dollars to get “officially diagnosed.” So, since I have the amazing luck of knowing a competent licensed assessor and have a health insurance plan that will reimburse me for most of the costs, I decided to go ahead and submit myself to the infamous testing process.

While we were at it, I proposed screening for common comorbidities that are included in the DSM-5. I had, for example, always felt a special kinship with ADHD folks, but since I’ve never been someone who has problems with forgetfulness, time-blindness, task initiation, organization, or meeting deadlines, I wasn’t quite sure whether this attraction was simply because of the many similarities between autistic and ADHD brain wiring. I also had become aware that the intrusive thoughts I suffered from growing up and into adulthood met the criteria for OCD, but with all the trauma, guilt, and grief healing work I’ve been doing in recent years, the most distressing and maladaptive thoughts had already dissipated, so I doubted that I still met criteria. (Note that while autism and ADHD are permanent brain wiring differences, OCD is a fancy term for distressing thoughts/anxiety that reach clinical levels, and it can be treated.)

My results are in.  Drum roll please…….   Click here to continue reading

Hello! An Introduction (My first Substack Post)

 For those not on Substack, here is my introductory post:

Hi all! It appears that my favorite online thinkers/writers/creators are moving their conversations over to Substack, so here I am—hopefully only fashionably late to the party. If you are just learning about my existence, “Hi! I’m Taylor.” I have multiple public personas, but lately I’ve been making an effort to defragment my life and give others a chance to get to know the unmasked me.

I am a neuroqueer (monotropic) missiologist, pastor, academic, global nomad, and recovering White savior. I was born and raised in The United Methodist Church (the model pastor’s daughter), such that no matter how much my thinking on matters of theology evolves and oscillates, I will probably forever be ethnically Methodist.

I grew up moving around southern/central Indiana. When I was in middle school (early ‘90s), my late father was invited on a trip to the country now called DR Congo. From that point on, being a faithful friend to his Congoloese colleagues was his hyperfocus, and gradually it became mine too. (That’s the extremely abridged origin story of how I ended up getting ordained in the North Katanga Conference and appointed as executive assistant to the bishop of the North Katanga-Upemba-Tanzania Area.) If you are curious about those adventures and learnings, we wrote a few books about it that have become assigned texts in a number of seminary courses.   Click here to continue reading.

New Location: Substack

 Ya'll, I keep seeing my favorite bloggers/creators move their headquarters over to Substack, so I've decided to move over there too.  Subscribe to never miss a new post, however infrequent they may be:   https://substack.com/@taylordenyer

New publication: The Salvation of The United Methodist Church

 Hi all!  Posting to celebrate my newest published journal article: "The Salvation of The United Methodist Church," found in the 2025 edition of Methodist History.  (If you don't have easy access to the journal, an earlier version of the essay can be found on the 2024 Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies website.)

Taylor

Neuroqueer Theology

 Hi all.  

Jumping back onto this platform to say that ever since reading Dr. Nick Walker's work on neuroqueer theory, my mind has been swirling on the thought that the existence of neuroqueer theory and queer theology suggests that there also is such a thing as neuroqueer theology, and based on my googling, I may be the first person to have had this thought.   

I'm currently in an active discernment process of whether to write and publish a paper(s) or even a book that unpacks my thoughts/learnings on the subject and connect the dots to related subjects.  It might take me awhile, as such a task feels massive and overwhelming at the moment, so I'm seeking out collaborators.

In the meantime, thought I should at least put this post out onto the internet ocean with hopes someone else decides to google "Neuroqueer theology" (to see if anyone else has had this idea) and finds me!!!

Taylor

Neurodivergence and Health Issues

To my fellow neurodivergent friends and their loved ones:

I found this substack article "Female Neurodivergence, It’s Really Not the Same" so helpful that I'm amplifying it here. It attempts to explain the biological reasons why autistic and ADHD women tend to have so many health issues.  

Taylor

Update: Fully Affiliated Faculty/Website Official

Hi Friends,

For those who don't follow me on FB and/or haven't checked-in for awhile, the latest news in my life is that MTSO has made my relationship with them website official by promoting me to Fully Affiliated Faculty status.  What does this change mean for me?  Well, practically speaking, not much has changed in terms of the classes I teach, but being included on the faculty page does make things feel more solid. Plus, the exercise of reviewing my CV and such helped remind me of how far I've come thus far in my professional journey.  Check out my listing!  https://www.mtso.edu/about-mtso/faculty-directory/taylor-walters-denyer/

Naval Academy Wisdom: Fidelity is Up; Obedience is Down

The NA parade belt buckle

To answer the question about what I’m seeing and hearing about current events from my vantage point: Honestly, it is ugly. I cannot express without sounding hyperbolic what would happen if employees obeyed all their new marching orders, but the folks I know who serve on the front lines and have not (yet) had their jobs terminated are being forced to wrestle with their values, their loyalties, and the feeling that they must choose between giving up their careers or their integrity. 

I don’t have to wonder what my late father, the Rev. Dr. Bob Walters would say about this; he often said it when asked, “What’s up?”

 

“Fidelity is up and obedience is down,” he'd respond with a mischievous grin. 

You see, my Dad was a US Naval Academy graduate who later served as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot,* and at the academy their parade belt buckles had the words Fidelity (top) and Obedience (bottom) stamped on them. "Fidelity is up, and obedience is down," they were taught to say. 

Many at the Naval Academy, Dad included, took this memory trick as a life lesson. Sometimes faithfulness to an institution requires disobeying orders that are disloyal to the true purpose of that institution. Dad indoctrinated me in this belief. And, yes, following it did get him (and me) institutionally shunned quite a few times. No regrets about any of those decisions, though. 

Dad gleaned the best parts of his military training and applied them to his missiology. Yes, he was willing to lay down his life to protect the vulnerable, but he was not seeking martyrdom. He taught me that peace and prosperity are built through sacrifice and teamwork; redemption and restorative justice through repentance, love, and solidarity. In our work we will encounter narcissists, tyrants, kleptocrats, and even sociopaths, and the more community building we can accomplish before catching their attention the better our chances of success (Hence he gave the NGO he co-founded the motto “Small footprint: Big Change”). 

 And so my beloved siblings, I’ll close with these words followed by a quote from a sermon Dad preached in 2001: 

Sometimes we leave unethical institutions in order to be part of the struggle; other times we remain in them for the very same reason.  

“Fidelity is up, and obedience is down. Fidelity, faithfulness, genuine loyalty, true love trump blind, stupid obedience every day.” -Bob Walters

*And then he became a United Methodist pastor whose primary gravesite/memorial is in the heart of the DR Congo. Those stories can be found here. 

Matthew 10:16 (NRSVUE) 

“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."