What if a deaf person shows up in your church? How should your church respond? Members of the denomination's National Deaf Ministry Committee offered the following suggestions: pray, study, involve him or her in a committee, become accessible, make worship visual, and become an instrument of empowerment!

During its meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 20-21, the committee chose a program coordinator, constituted the National Deaf Ministry Committee for the next quadrennium, and adopted a Comprehensive Deaf Ministry Strategy for implementation in 2001-2004.

The committee named the Rev. Peggy A. Johnson, pastor of Fulton Seimers Memorial/Christ Church of the Deaf in Baltimore, as part-time program coordinator. Ten members were nominated to the steering committee for the new quadrennium. The new committee has equal representation from the five jurisdictions and from the following categories: culturally deaf, hard of hearing, deaf professional, late deafened, deaf-blind, and hearing clergy active in deaf ministry.

The quadrennial agenda, according to the mandates adopted by General Conference 2000 in May, will include training events to help strengthen the churches' connection with the greater deaf community. The events will target seminary and conference leaders and will provide a general orientation to deaf culture, information about assistive technology, and accessibility concerns. The training events are also expected to develop advocates for deaf concerns.

Among the core ideas that will be addressed at the training are misconceptions or myths held by the hearing world regarding deaf people, such as: everyone with hearing loss is the same, or all deaf people read braille. The presentations will also include deaf statistics that dispel the notion that only a few people experience hearing loss. The training will explore deaf history and ways to minister to the different needs of different deaf populations. It will also include biblical and theological explorations that support deaf ministry.

The Rev. Tom Hudspeth, a member of the committee, proposed using Leviticus 19:14 as a biblical foundation for deaf ministry. The passage says, in part: "You shall not curse the deaf ...." According to Hudspeth, the Hebrew word for "curse," meant: to be cut off from the land and from the community. In other words, the biblical mandate ensures that the deaf enjoy the fruits of God's creation and are included within the faith community.

American Sign Language (ASL), according to Hudspeth, has been a means of grace for those who are hearing as well as for the culturally deaf, who depend on ASL to participate in worship. Many hearing people who do not know sign language still experience ASL as a means of grace because ASL's visual expression helps them to appreciate God's Word. Ultimately, appreciation for ASL during worship leads members of the congregation to discover and respect the deaf.

The committee agreed to produce a brochure to promote Ministry With the Deaf (an Advance Special, #982562-7) and to revise a resource book for ministry with hard of hearing, deaf, and deafened persons titled Signs of Solidarity. The revision will include a chapter on the deaf-blind and another chapter on how a deaf visitor might experience life in a local church.

The deputy general secretary for Health and Relief at the General Board of Global Ministries, the Rev. Paul Dirdak, laid the missional context for deaf ministry within the organizational structure of the General Board of Global Ministries. He was assisted by Health and Relief staff members, Dr. Sarla Chand and Noemi Fuentes.

Roy White, chairperson of the 1997-2000 Committee on Deaf Ministry, presented a report of the current committee's accomplishments, including the results of a survey of annual conferences. The survey indicated, among other things, that 66 percent of annual conferences provide American Sign Language interpretation at annual conference, but only 32 percent provide interpretation at conference-sponsored events.

The committee report also noted the lack of Christian education resources designed for the deaf. This includes close-captioning of all video materials and curriculum translated into ASL for culturally-deaf persons. Culturally deaf persons are born deaf or became deaf in infancy. Their first language of communication is ASL.

Committee member Vae Rose Fultz presented a proposal for the development of a Bible study and Sunday school curriculum designed for children through adults with emphasis on the use of visual arts.

In his meditation before the meeting, the Rev. Kirk VanGilder dramatized the powerful impact of the visual and artistic approach to deaf ministry when he acted out his role as a potter. "Sometimes I'm the potter, sometimes I'm the clay... God is the potter; we are the clay...I don't know sometimes where the clay stops and I begin," he said.

November 1, 2000