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As a disabled person, Psalm 139:13–14 has long presented as theologically problematic for me. How could "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well" fall as praise from my lips when as young as six years old I realized I was differently abled; and that with all of the shameful, negative connotations assumed with being so. The theological narrative about disability centered on sins of the mother, shame of the family, pity of the public, and sympathetically low expectations for achieving, excelling, and fitting into mainstream ableism. This article weaves biographical vignettes and theological reflections to develop a liberation hermeneutic for creating a narrative theology of disability in the church; challenges commonly held perceptions about disabled personhood; examines familiar efforts to enhance the worship experience for disabled persons; admonishes practices which inconvenience or otherwise undermine a disabled parishioner; and examines the efficacy of ministry accommodations to equip disabled persons to worship, serve, and lead in the church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article opens the road towards a theological media theory by discussing developments in narrative theology. Human stories are messages encoded in the medium of language, and narrative theology has rediscovered their importance for theology, especially in connection with the meaning of revelation. Understanding revelation as symbolic communication, mediation and "resonance" helps us to see how narrative and revelation merge within a concept of auto/Theo-biography. Before people are able to reflect upon revelation, they are already a part of it. Auto/Theo-biography suggests that theology is animated communication, growing from the interplay between participation and mediation. This calls for study of the medium and of mediation from a theological perspective, which may be a first step towards a theological media theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the July 1975 issue of `Theology Today,' which contained an article called `A Symposium on Story and Narrative Theology.' Discusses two aspects of the category of narrative: a theme that emerges not just in a few theological communities but crosses most denominational boundaries; There are many different theological disciplines involved; Literature on narrative theology continues to grow rapidly in all directions.