How do worshipping communities acknowledge the presence of people with autism? What are their assumptions about normalcy? Could a kenotic understanding of liturgy itself result in acts of worship fully available to those whose neurodivergence is not always generously and wisely embraced? These are the courageous and timely questions which Léon van Ommen’s gracious and profound study explores. It is as book that congregations should study and an essential for seminary libraries.
~Bridget Nichols, Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy, Church of Ireland Theological Institute
This book is an important contribution to the emerging field of autism theology. Through nuanced engagement with autistic voices, theology and particularly liturgical studies, Van Omen writes a compassionate, hopeful, and novel work that rails against the 'cult of normalcy' and draws the church closer to a faithful relationship with autistic people within their congregations.
~Claire Williams, Associate Lecturer, Regents Theological College
Do you have to be able to 'act normal' to belong in Christian worship? Worship should be centered on Christ, but Léon van Ommen shows that it is often centered instead on worshipers' ideas of what is 'normal.' The good news of this book comes from the experience of our autistic siblings, who call us to a radical availability to one another in Jesus Christ. This clarity of this book's treatment of autism makes it accessible even for readers who know little of the spectrum. This book shows how it is possible to make Christian worship more truly the work of the whole assembly, not only by the fuller incorporation of those with autism, but also by promoting a truer vulnerability and mutual kenosis among all Christians.
~Kimberly Hope Belcher, Associate Professor in Liturgical Studies, University of Notre Dame
