Summer Kinard

As an autistic mother rearing autistic children in the Faith, Summer Kinard knows firsthand many of the gifts and challenges of life with disabilities. She brings her extensive background in patristic theology and catechesis (B.A. in religion, M.Div., Th.M. in early church history and theology) to skillfully weave together the healing patterns of Holy Tradition with the daily patterns of life with disabilities. Summer has become acquainted with hundreds of Orthodox

families with disabilities through sharing on her website the resources she has developed to make faith accessible to them. At a time when at least twenty percent of people live with disabilities and two percent are autistic, there is an urgent need to apply Church teachings to questions about the care and inclusion of persons with disabilities as full members of Christ’s Body. Summer brings the grace, kindness, and insight of an experienced teacher and mother to

begin answering those questions. Summer Kinard is an Antiochian Orthodox Christian in the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America. She lives with her husband, Andrew, and five children in Texas.