{"id":16594,"date":"2026-06-04T05:40:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/the-autism-pastor-lamar-hardwick-dies-at-age-47\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T05:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:10:47","slug":"the-autism-pastor-lamar-hardwick-dies-at-age-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/the-autism-pastor-lamar-hardwick-dies-at-age-47\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Autism Pastor\u2019 Lamar Hardwick dies at age 47"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_JK62LszkO3K?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.1.5\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 The Rev. Lamar Hardwick, a disability activist, author and preacher known as \u201cThe Autism Pastor,\u201d died on May 22. He was 47 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith heavy hearts, we want to share that Lamar has transitioned after his journey with colon cancer,\u201d Hardwick\u2019s wife, Isabella Hardwick, said in a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lhardwick\/posts\/pfbid0247XjRnHtBVUnk8XHtrKjAfGLzZ8wTczHPAzMbgGkB1qBiLLM8fR3GBwiSJjBDVfhl?rdid=FcVW3cfXN2Wb4He2\">post on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cHe was surrounded by love, peace, and family, and we are grateful for every precious moment we shared with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friends and colleagues have described Hardwick as \u201cbrilliant\u201d and \u201csurprisingly funny\u201d and said he was known for his dynamic preaching style. He is survived by his wife and three sons.<\/p>\n<p>Born June 5, 1978, in Killeen, Texas, Hardwick was influenced in his youth by his father\u2019s dual career in the U.S. Army and as a Missionary Baptist Church pastor. Frequent moves created instability in Hardwick\u2019s childhood, but he found comfort in the predictable rhythms of church. As an adult, he discerned a call to ministry and earned a Master of Divinity from Emory University\u2019s Candler School of Theology.<\/p>\n<p>Hardwick later completed a doctorate of ministry from Liberty University School of Divinity and the Clergy Scholar Program at Yale Divinity School. He served several churches as pastor, most recently at Tri-Cities Church in East Point, Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, Hardwick, then age 36, was diagnosed with autism. His writing on the topic earned him the moniker \u201cThe Autism Pastor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was diagnosed, it was like for the first time I understood I was human,\u201d he told RNS in 2024.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4131802\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4131802\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-624x416.jpg 624w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/webRNS-Lamar-Hardwick3-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Pastor Lamar Hardwick and his family. (Photo by Tonesha Smith Photography)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>His diagnosis led Hardwick to consider how churches could better welcome people on the spectrum \u2014 by providing sensory bags with fidget devices and noise canceling headphones, by not pushing nonconsensual touch and by posting clear signage for those who struggle with executive functions, for example \u2014 and how churches could better prioritize people with disabilities, in general.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Hardwick\u2019s ideas culminated in the book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Disability-Church-Vision-Diversity-Inclusion\/dp\/0830841601\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Disability-Church-Vision-Diversity-Inclusion\/dp\/0830841601\">Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion<\/a>,\u201d published at InterVarsity Press. Three years later, he published \u201cHow Ableism Fuels Racism\u201d through Brazos Press; the book argues that ableism and racism create a hierarchy of bodies that normalizes the suffering of Black and disabled people.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Hardwick\u2019s success as an author came amid health challenges too. In 2020 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. Even after it progressed to Stage 4, he continued to speak and write about faith and disability. His funeral will take place on June 13 at Turner Chapel Cathedral AME Church in Marietta, Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, after his Stage 4 diagnosis, he told RNS he adopted a hope-filled mantra from the Psalms: \u201cI will not be shaken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean things are not shaking. Lots of things are shaking and moving and rocking and being flipped over all around me,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as far as my soul, I feel very solid.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/03\/the-autism-pastor-lamar-hardwick-dies-at-age-47\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 The Rev. Lamar Hardwick, a disability activist, author and preacher known as \u201cThe Autism Pastor,\u201d died on May 22. He was 47 years old. \u201cWith heavy hearts, we want to share that Lamar has transitioned after his journey with colon cancer,\u201d Hardwick\u2019s wife, Isabella Hardwick, said in a recent post on Facebook. \u201cHe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}