Deborah Creamer
Strategic Director of Design, The Association of Theological Schools
www.ats.edu
Debbie Creamer joined the ATS staff at the beginning of the 2013–2014 academic year as director, accreditation and institutional evaluation. Debbie Creamer joined the ATS staff in 2013 as director of accreditation and institutional evaluation, served as senior director of accreditation from 2018 to 2020, and was named senior director of educational design and engagement in fall 2020. In this role, she works strategically to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of ATS as a hybrid learning organization and to foster a culture of creativity and innovation in both the work of accrediting and in the Association’s programs and services. Her work includes leadership for planning, designing, implementing, and assessing synchronous, asynchronous, and semi-synchronous educational engagements for ATS staff, board members, member schools, and other stakeholders. In her role, she also serves as director of the ATS Educational Design Lab.
Prior to coming to ATS, Creamer served at Iliff School of Theology, beginning in 1997 as a member of the library staff, becoming a faculty member in 2005, then director of the library, associate dean for academic affairs in 2009, and interim dean and vice-president for academic affairs for the 2012–2013 academic year. She is an MDiv graduate of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, has an MLIS from the University of Denver, and received her PhD from Iliff School of Theology and University of Denver Joint PhD program.
Creamer is the author of Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities (2009), and co-editor of Women, Church, and Leadership: New Paradigms (2012). She is the author of a number of articles on disability theology and is a frequent speaker on issues of disability and religion for churches and other local and national groups. A former co-chair and founding member of the Religion and Disability Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion, she was also a founding member of the AAR’s Committee on the Status of People with Disabilities.
www.ats.edu
Debbie Creamer joined the ATS staff at the beginning of the 2013–2014 academic year as director, accreditation and institutional evaluation. Debbie Creamer joined the ATS staff in 2013 as director of accreditation and institutional evaluation, served as senior director of accreditation from 2018 to 2020, and was named senior director of educational design and engagement in fall 2020. In this role, she works strategically to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of ATS as a hybrid learning organization and to foster a culture of creativity and innovation in both the work of accrediting and in the Association’s programs and services. Her work includes leadership for planning, designing, implementing, and assessing synchronous, asynchronous, and semi-synchronous educational engagements for ATS staff, board members, member schools, and other stakeholders. In her role, she also serves as director of the ATS Educational Design Lab.
Prior to coming to ATS, Creamer served at Iliff School of Theology, beginning in 1997 as a member of the library staff, becoming a faculty member in 2005, then director of the library, associate dean for academic affairs in 2009, and interim dean and vice-president for academic affairs for the 2012–2013 academic year. She is an MDiv graduate of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, has an MLIS from the University of Denver, and received her PhD from Iliff School of Theology and University of Denver Joint PhD program.
Creamer is the author of Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities (2009), and co-editor of Women, Church, and Leadership: New Paradigms (2012). She is the author of a number of articles on disability theology and is a frequent speaker on issues of disability and religion for churches and other local and national groups. A former co-chair and founding member of the Religion and Disability Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion, she was also a founding member of the AAR’s Committee on the Status of People with Disabilities.
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Books by Deborah Creamer
View full text of the book here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=t8hMAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR25&ots=9G1vpRctmX&dq=women%20church%20leadership%20creamer&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false
The overarching perspective of this book is that limits are an unavoidable aspect of being human, a fact we often seem to forget or deny. Yet not only do all humans experience limits, most of us also experience limits that take the form of disability at some point in our lives; in this way, disability is more "normal" than non-disability. If we take such experiences seriously and refuse to reduce them to mere instances of suffering, we discover insights that are lost when we take a perfect or generic body as our starting point for theological reflections. While possible applications of this insight are vast, this work focuses on two areas of particular interest: theological anthropology and metaphors for God.
This project challenges theology to consider the undeniable diversity of human embodiment. It also enriches previous disability work by providing an alternative to the dominant medical and minority models, both of which fail to acknowledge the full diversity of disability experiences. Most notably, this project offers new images and possibilities for theological construction that attend appropriately and creatively to diversity in human embodiment.
Page Proofs of Disability and Christian Theology by Deborah Creamer
Chapters in Edited Volumes by Deborah Creamer
Journal Articles by Deborah Creamer
View full text of the book here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=t8hMAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR25&ots=9G1vpRctmX&dq=women%20church%20leadership%20creamer&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false
The overarching perspective of this book is that limits are an unavoidable aspect of being human, a fact we often seem to forget or deny. Yet not only do all humans experience limits, most of us also experience limits that take the form of disability at some point in our lives; in this way, disability is more "normal" than non-disability. If we take such experiences seriously and refuse to reduce them to mere instances of suffering, we discover insights that are lost when we take a perfect or generic body as our starting point for theological reflections. While possible applications of this insight are vast, this work focuses on two areas of particular interest: theological anthropology and metaphors for God.
This project challenges theology to consider the undeniable diversity of human embodiment. It also enriches previous disability work by providing an alternative to the dominant medical and minority models, both of which fail to acknowledge the full diversity of disability experiences. Most notably, this project offers new images and possibilities for theological construction that attend appropriately and creatively to diversity in human embodiment.
We cover a lot of ground, talking first about awareness: why it is important for churches to include persons with disabilities and how to take practical steps to that end; how our understanding of our own physicality affects who we do and do not reach out to in the community; the limits model of disability and how all of us have limits, and what that means for the nature of creation and God?"
April 16, 2015
Given that most of us will experience some form of disability at some point in our lives, this presentation begins with the idea that disability is more “normal” than non-disability, and explores some of the implications of this claim. From a practical standpoint, it compels us to create interpersonal and architectural spaces that are truly accessible to all, employing principles of universal design rather than attending to people with disabilities as an afterthought. Theologically, we are led to wonder: if humans embody the image of God, and humans experience disability in our lives, how might we then think about God, as well as about ourselves? This session will explore metaphors and lenses for reexamining disability and accessibility, and will offer practical suggestions as well as invitations for further conversation.