Is there anybody out there who feels they so much want to fit in with everyone else but struggles to at church. Does your church open and understand your autism. What can we do to change struggles we have in a busy church environment? Autism christian bible study groups etc? I am thinking at random. What are your thoughts and what are your struggles?
I desperately need God irrespective of whether God exists or not. I nurture the best concept I can have of that God in myself and do my best to improve conscious contact with it despite the seeming impossibility imposed by my own negativity and the lack of support from most humans I meet.
Mortality makes humans unreliable in the end so depending on them for the answers that matter is like depending on squirrels or trees for the answers that really matter.
Church is sufficiently supportive and nurturing of aspect of my spiritual needs but it is the best efforts of human beings and I have to allow them their flaws, mistakes and the weaknesses that mortality imposes.
Christianity has always been misrepresented because no one represents it perfectly except the first one. But it is still worth it for non-Gods to try to represent Christianity to the best of their ability: progress not perfection.
Kim that is me exactly - i.e. wondering about all these things and trying to work it all out!
I don't think my church understands my autism, but we have a new pastor who is really open and sincere, it's just a matter of getting a chance to talk to him about it, at a time when our church is going through a lot of change.
I'd like to know how things are going for you at your church.
But my past experience, under the old ministry team, was that people were generally kind but things haven't worked very well for me - as in when I've tried to help, I try too hard then I crash and burn. My counsellor, who's a psychologist and a Christian, says I could try committing to things for a few months, then do something else, which sounds like a good plan.
The other things that don't work for me are too much socialising and not coping with too much noise or chaos. It can be really tiring for me. I find it hard just walking in and going to a seat sometimes, if that makes sense.
I have only got close really to a couple of ladies in the church. I've been going there for ten years with my daughters and there are still lots of people who seem to have no idea who I am. It has hurt a lot at times.
My faith is a different matter - I realised that autism (or my version of autism at least) can be very well suited to reading and loving Scripture, to having a creative prayer time, and to thinking a lot about big picture things about God and all His creation and how everything stands in relationship to Him.
The preaching has always been good at my church which has kept me there.
Anyway I've got to go, I wasn't meant to be looking at the forum just now, but when I saw your post I just had to say something! Will try to read other people's comments later on. You're probably all asleep in the UK now anyway I think.
https://the-art-of-autism.com/an-interview-with-lamar-hardwick-the-autism-pastor/
I'm a Spiritualist not a Christian, but am generally interested in faith and autism. You might be interested in this chap. He wrote a book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N6U4W1C/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_bibl_vppi_i1
It's part bio about his childhood and career as a Pastor and as an autistic person, and part a lovely theological response to autism. Nice perspective on the Shepherd and the lost sheep: not a naughty sheep who needed to be fetched back to the flock, but a flock that shouldn't ostricise the one sheep who was a bit different such that it felt it had to wonder off.
That's not quite a response to the question you asked, but my friend is an C of E vicar who did post me a link to a youtube lecture by a Scots guy talking about adaptations to church environments to be more accessible for autistic people...trying to think of his name now. He talked about all the sensory and social dimensions which can impact on participation in services and christian community. If I find him again, I'll post the link.
Personally, I don't struggle with my church. I find I can't engage much with small talk about the flowers or tea rotas, but otherwise I'm ok when on the big topics
I'd like to add I think one of the main issues I have as a unitarian "point blank" is simply the lack of unitarian churches in general. I have never been led to believe that as a unitarian pagan I would in any way be unwelcome at a christian unitarian church. As there is a significant degree of brotherhood and overlap within unitarianism in general.
Re:
"Is there anybody out there who feels they so much want to fit in with everyone else but struggles to at church."
I don't know about at church, I am a proud pagan (in a Unitarian sense) but even so I do not see how theistic differences should act as a barrier when as Charles Dickens puts it so eloquently in his Christmas Carol, we are "fellow travelers to the grave", I think it's interesting as no doubt there will be spiritual spaces of all kinds who to varying degrees understand and/or accept our autism. But not belonging to a specific church or coven I'm not sure I can answer that question to the specific nature it was asked.
"What can we do to change struggles we have in a busy church environment? Autism christian bible study groups etc? I am thinking at random. What are your thoughts and what are your struggles?"
However it has occurred to me as someone with Catholic ancestors to sit in at the local Catholic church some time to at least see what they are all about. (I attended a religious school before and went to a church through them occasionally as a kid pre-diagnosis but they were not catholic.) It has certainly already been at the forefront of my mind that should I attend a church again I would no doubt need to take a fidget toy of some kind as I am someone who struggles to sit still when listening, no matter how invested I am or not.
