I guest preached this month! A Fish Tale: Luke 5:1-11

 

Friends,

As I am currently based in Cairo, Egypt with my main jobs being teaching seminary courses at MTSO and acting as Gal Friday extraordinaire for the United Methodist bishop over the North Katanga, Upemba, and Tanzania annual conferences, I don’t do much preaching these days. This is a bit sad, because writing liberative commentaries on biblical passages is lowkey my jam.

Earlier this month I got the opportunity to remotely guest preach for Christ UMC in Columbia, MD. My friend Rev. Angela Wells is the pastor there, and as she was taking a family vacation and April 12 was the official kickoff for the Miracle Sunday Initiative (a campaign for endowed theology scholarships for UMC seminaries outside of the USA), she asked me to pulpit fill. The first part of my talk consisted of opening intros and an explanation of why the creation of this scholarship fund was an important justice issue.

Then, I pivoted to the scripture text that had been chosen for Week 1 of the initiative: Luke 5:1-11. (This is where the attached video begins) That’s the one about Simon Peter, James, and John catching a redunculous number of fish thanks to Jesus’ intervention and then choosing to leave everything and follow him. If you grew up hearing this story in church, you might think you know where I went with it, especially on a clergy scholarship fundraising day. But, if you know my preaching style, you know that traditional talking points is not how I roll.

Instead, I explored the socio-economic situation of this fishing community, what it means in terms of the local ecology when a crew of professional fishers spend all night on a lake and catch nothing, the impacts of extraction-based colonial systems, and who sold, ate, and were supported by the mountain of fish that were left on the shore. I talked about the disciples’ family members, Peter’s mother-in-law as well as the parents of James and John. I highlighted the difference between answering an invitation that could result in persecution versus what Jesus never asked of the disciples: to abandon vulnerable relatives to abject poverty.

I also talked about the Hebrew scriptures’ use of the image of fishing for people as being akin to hunting down evil doers. I suggest that Jesus’ invitation to Simon Peter, James, and John was not the invitation that gets presented in Sunday School. This was about joining an economic justice movement

Finally, I left the congregation a couple questions to chew on: What have they felt a call to do that feels more than they can accomplish on their own? What work would they need to leave behind in order to be a fisher for justice?

May pondering upon these thoughts provide food you this week.

Taylor

Rev. Dr. Taylor Denyer

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