My Body Is Not A Prayer Request

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Dr. Amy Kenny

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Amy Kenny is a disabled scholar and a Shakespeare lecturer who hates Hamlet. Recently, she was appointed the inaugural associate director of the Disability Cultural Initiative at Georgetown University, a role that seeks to celebrate the diverse disability community and cultivate a culture of access intimacy across campus. 

Her book, My Body Is Not a Prayer Request, mixes humor, personal narrative, and theology to invite faith communities to rethink their unintentional ableism and learn from the embodied wisdom of disabled people. Kenny explains that it is time for the church to start treating disabled people as full members of the body of Christ who have much more to offer than a miraculous cure narrative.

Kenny’s work on disability has been featured in Teen Vogue, Sojourners, Shondaland, The Mighty, and Huff Post. She also serves as a scribe for Freedom Road Institute for Leadership and Justice, coordinates support for people experiencing homelessness in her neighborhood, and is a co-founder of Jubilee Homes OC, a permanent supportive housing initiative in her local community.   

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The January Series cultivates deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day in order to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God's world.

Background

For over 30 years, the January Series of Calvin University has been one of the leading lecture/cultural arts series in the country. The series has been a three-time recipient of the Silver Bowl Award as the “Best Campus Lecture Series in the U.S.A.” by the International Platform Society. The diversity of presenters and topics has changed as the world of ideas has changed.

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