Neurodivergence in Ministry Leadership: Navigating the Expectations of Leadership
A pastoral reflection and guide for clergy serving in cross-racial and cross-cultural ministry who are navigating neurdivergence in ministry leadership.
What is Neurodivergent?
Neurodivergent is a non-medical term describing people whose brains function, learn, and process information differently from what is considered typical. It signifies that a person’s neurological development or functioning diverges from the dominant culture’s societal "norm". It encompasses conditions like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and others. It is a natural variation in human development, not a disease or deficit.
Neurodivergence in Ministry
Neurodivergence adds even more layers to the complexity, gifts and challenges already inherent in cross-racial and cross-cultural ministries. Ableism is even more prevalent than racism or sexism in our dominant cultures around the world. Ableism is, like racism or ageism, systemic, interpersonal, and internalized in the individual. Like code-switching, an expectation that people from historically marginalized communities (BIPOC) perform Whiteness in order to assimilate to the dominant culture, neurodivergent people expend a great deal of extra effort every day in order to function successfully in ableist institutions, navigate the unrealistic expectations of clergy in leadership, pass for neurotypical, and mask their atypical behaviors as best they can. This adds even more stress to what are often difficult and isolating ministry contexts.
Points of Consideration
When considering an appointment for a neurodivergent clergy, the DS should engage with that church’s SPRC in how to use resources from the Disabilities Ministry Committee of the United Methodist Church (DMCUMC)1 that specifically address anti-ableism and disability theology. Understand that many BIPOC leaders who also have disabilities are often not going to self-disclose, for fear of being undervalued and even more discriminated against. Churches can become more affirming spaces when they take the initiative to make sure people with disabilities can belong, and when they become proactive about dismantling ableism in all areas of ministry. Including in the church’s newsletter or weekly communications or in a “mission moment” during worship a word or two a week from the anti-ableism glossary is one way to do this, with minimal cost.
Being neurodivergent requires navigating a world that is not made for us, and experiencing the onslaught of sensory and physical overwhelm. It requires finding a pace for ministry and rhythms for self- care that often is different every day. Sudden and abrupt changes, like death, divorce, moving, illness, and seemingly minor changes all take an even greater toll on neurodivergent people. It is helpful when an SPRC can respect their clergyperson’s boundaries and unique needs for such fluctuating, and at times limited, capacity for engagement. Encouraging the clergy person to take regular time off from work, and insisting church members respect those personal needs, is extremely helpful to avoid meltdowns and burnout, and to sustain long-term fruitfulness in ministry.
Neurodivergent leaders can both hyper-focus on tasks, and totally lack an ability to focus. Refrain from making character judgments about them, such as cold, distant, undisciplined, lazy, or unreliable. This example of neurodivergent executive over/under functioning is not related to one’s character, but to one’s innate neurobiology. Identify ways to accommodate this different way of processing information and rhythms for work and rest so that those working as a leadership team can each get what they need with minimum frustrations and miscommunications.
Neurodivergent BIPOC leaders are uniquely positioned to think creatively, lead courageously, and offer compassion for other creatures and communities experiencing marginalization. We have had to learn very early on in our calls to ministry how to swim upstream with perseverance and faith. Our gifts and call to ministry are often atypical, and often go undervalued and unrecognized by dominant religious cultures built with ableist systems of inequity, homogeneity, and exclusion. The mind of Christ is, according to 1 Corinthians 2:9, even more atypical, and beyond all that we could conceive, ask or imagine. There is, then, plenty of room in God’s Kin-dom for us all.
Additional Resources
Hardwick, Lamar. How Ableism Fuels Racism: Dismantling the Hierarchies of Bodies in the Church
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