The Spring 2023 issue of the journal Theology in Scotland has just been published online.
It includes articles and book reviews themed around a topic that has risen sharply up the agenda in recent years: how churches can be more inclusive of people with autism.
Several of the contributors to the issue identify as autistic; others have an intimate experience of autism through caring for family members. All write with conviction about the experiences of autistic people as they encounter churches which have been designed around the preferences of neuro-normative people.
A number of significant books on subjects related to autism and faith/theology have appeared in the last few years and most of them are reviewed in the issue, including in an essay-length review contributed by members of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen.
Also featured is a poem written by an autistic author, accompanied by a fascinating description of the creative process arising from a neurodivergent mind.
If you don’t already know the journal, the website has an extensive archive of articles and reviews on a very wide variety of topics relating to the Scottish church which are well worth checking out.