An apology and a correction - Dominic Steele

An apology and correction in regards to our episode of Tuesday 10 June 2025.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I made a mistake with the pastor's heart on Tuesday
and I wanted to apologise.
It is a privilege that youchoose to join me each Tuesday
for the pastor's heartdiscussion and my goal is to
serve the pastor and thepastoral team and, by serving
you, serve our congregationseveryone in our congregations,
especially the vulnerable.

(00:21):
I wish I got it right all thetime.
I'm very sorry I didn't getthis one right.
I'm grateful for the courageousfrankness of those who spoke up
, the patience shown towards mein many of the comments and the
goodwill from many of thecommentators, and for the things
that I have learned.
Lots of people have given mefeedback online and via phone

(00:43):
and email, and I reallyappreciate the way you've been
able to tutor me here.
This has been a significantlearning experience for me.
I want to apologise to ourneurodivergent listeners and
viewers and their families,carers and friends that were
hurt by the way I framed thediscussion.
Last week Someone wrote everysingle neurodivergent person

(01:05):
I've ever worked with expressesthat they've carried shame for
being different their whole lifeuntil they understood that they
had value to God, even thoughthis was rarely experienced in
the Christian community.
Another comment was that peoplefelt othered, shamed and
discouraged.
I don't want that to be myheart or the heart of the
pastor's heart.
I'm sorry.

(01:26):
I've received the depth of yourpain and I'm sorry for how I
framed the discussion and howthat might have made it harder
for you.
The last thing I wanted to dowas hurt anyone or to hurt a
parent, carer or friend and Iwant to acknowledge that the way
I approached it did that and Iapologise On reflection.
It was a mistake to address thetopic I was attempting to

(01:48):
address under the heading ofneurodiversity, the issue that I
had hoped to explore the realchallenges on ministry teams
when relational cues are misreadand the problems this has meant
for hurting churches and staffteams that should not have been
linked to neurodivergence.
That framing was wrong.
On reflection, if I'd formed adiscussion under that heading,

(02:11):
reading others' relational cues,it would have been much better
and I'm sorry that framing ledme to present neurodivergent
people through a deficit lens,overlook the strengths and
contributions and diversitywithin neurodivergent
experiences, and I'm sorry.
As I've read through the variouscomments and critiques, I've

(02:32):
learned so much more, been sohelped, amongst other things,
the diversity of neurodivergence, joys and challenges.
In the way I framed it I wastoo narrow and I conflated a
number of issues and theirpotential outworkings.
I should not have raised theissue of speculation of
diagnosis.
I want also to acknowledge thatI have my own blind spots and

(02:53):
relational limitations.
As I sought to talk about theweaknesses of ministers in
relational skills, I want tonote that I myself have failures
in this area and I recognisethis is something I need to be
vigilant about in my own conduct, including as host of this
program.
Finally, it is clear that thisis an area that I need to do a
whole lot more learning in.
I'm sorry that I got this wrongand that I let you down.

(03:15):
Please forgive me.