Welcome! I’m Summer Kinard, M.Div., Th.M., an autistic Orthodox Christian mother of five, author, theologian, workshop leader, teacher, consultant, editor, and publisher. In my recharge time, I love talking patristics with my husband Andrew, singing classical music, hiking, reading, and sharing tea with friends. Explore this site to find my printable disability resources and blog posts sharing insights from my life of faith with disabilities. Thank you for visiting!
Find my books on Amazon (affiliate link) and Park End Books
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Hey! Just ran in to your blog today and found it really cool! 🙂 That’s especially cool that your husband is an iconographer. So are you Orthodox then? Or Catholic?
Hannah Paraskeve
Hi Hannah, We’re Episcopalians with strong ties to Catholicism and Orthodoxy. We have been discerning for years about whether to convert to Orthodoxy, and that will likely be where we end up. But we’re so in love with our parish and with Western music, that conversion has not been practicable yet. My husband studies iconography with an Orthodox monk and priest, Fr. Mefodii. We have several lovely Orthodox friends in the area, too. I was baptized Catholic, but we are not comfortable with a few of the current Catholic doctrines — mainly, not communing children under 7 and the 19th C dogmas. We are slowly but surely learning about Orthodox prayer life and the calendar, and it has been an enriching journey, especially as we are in such a loving and God-filled Episcopal parish already. I’m glad you stopped by! My husband only has a bit more to write for his first icon of the Theotokos (“God-bearer”, aka Virgin Mary and Jesus), and I’ll post once it’s completed. There’s a post on here somewhere where I wrote about being an iconographer’s spouse. Good times! Are you Orthodox?
Yes. I just joined the Orthodox Church last year. (After growing up Baptist-Protestant) I actually read a book this year called Girl Meets God, written by an Episcopalian girl from the East Coast who converted to Christianity from Judaism. It’s a really great book, and very well written. She’s a very educated person, and the book, which is a memoir she wrote while I think it was getting her Master’s, is great. I really enjoyed reading it, and it gave me more of an understanding of the Episcopal church. And I can definitely understand it more now than I could before i became Orthodox. I love Orthodoxy. And i feel like Catholics are part of our “extended family” too, but like you said, there are things that have changed from the original Holy and Catholic church. And those are the things that bother me. I think it’s super cool that your husband is an iconographer. I love icons now! 🙂 So, do they use icons much in the Episcopal Church? Blessings on your spiritual journey…no matter what church you end up in, may you end up closer to God than ever. 🙂
Hannah, we converted to Greek Orthodoxy in February 2014!
What a wonderful blog! I just read a few entries and I am glad you told me about it via Elder Sophrony’s words of wisdom. And your husband and I look like we could be brothers! 🙂
I’m Antiochian Orthodox. I really enjoyed reading your book and your blog as well. We need more Orthodox Disabled people writing about our experiences. Your blog opens up so much about accessibility to the public. Thanks for sharing your work.
Thank you! I am working on more books now, and I hope to post more soon!