ABSTRACT
What is youth ministry? And who is it for? Over the years, various theologians and practitioners in the field have attempted to deepen our answers to these questions by considering the lives of a broader circle of young people. Reflecting on issues of difference, including those of race and gender, has often helped in this regard. In fact, youth ministry is frequently the vanguard to how the church responds to evolving cultural landscapes; in light of the changing social conditions of adolescence, youth ministry continues to explore interpretations of young people’s experiences to advance its understanding of and to discern the church’s role in the lives of young people throughout the world. However, there remains a significant gap in the field. This edition of The Journal of Disability & Religion explores the ways in which the human experience of disability promises to challenge and expand the framework with which practitioners and theologians imagine and operate in youth ministry. If it is to be for all young people and indeed the whole church in its interpretive and normative claims, youth ministry must attend faithfully to disability.
