Sponsorship of Leon Von Ommen Plenary Session at the 2024 Institute on Theology and Disability: Ways That Faith Communities Can be Sources of Support for Autistic Adults

The Institute on Theology and Disability is an annual four-day Institute that brings together people from many different faith backgrounds, roles, and interests for a four-day conference that attempts to bridge theology/theory with practice/ministry. The Institute uses plenary sessions by leading voices in the arena of disability, faith and spirituality with workshops proposed and presented by participants. Participants include clergy, academics, graduate students, families, people with disabilities, advocates, professionals in a variety of fields, and anyone interested. It now seeks to provide a virtual option as well as onsite conference.  It has averaged 150 attendees but has an online community of more than 3,000. The Institute’s Coordinating Council has invited Dr. Leon von Ommen, a pastoral theologian at the Center for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen and author of “Autism and Worship: A Liturgical Theology,” to provide the keynote address focused on ways that faith communities can be sources of support for autistic adults. This plenary session is being sponsored by the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation.