Disability and the church in Africa: Institutional and individual approaches to disability and Christianity on the continent

Though African‐led engagement with persons with disabilities (PWDs) within varying African churches has been an ongoing project since the 1990s, recent developments in the study of PWDs remain notably absent from mainstream African, religious, or disabilities studies. Calling attention to the interrelation between these three important scholarly fields can help scholars and PWDs alike to conceptualize of the treatment of PWDs in Africa and, more specifically, their role in the Christian Church on the continent. Focusing on the theological and ecclesiological solutions to the ongoing oppression and segregation of African PWDs, this article therefore seeks to define the lived experiences and scholarship that sit at the intersection of these three important scholarly fields. In doing so, this article seeks to aid in the development of a better understanding of how PWDs in variable African churches are understood and how novel African scholarship aims to define or modify this understanding.