The Deaf Shalom Zone was featured on the General Board of Global Ministries website. Please enjoy the article below. To read the article on the GBGM wesbsite please visit http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/pr.cfm?articleid=5118
Peace.
Deaf Ministries Have a Heart
New York, NY, August 21, 2008--In American Sign Language, the sign for Methodist is the same as the sign for enthusiasm. This is historically appropriate, and many United Methodists today are excited about deaf ministries and communicating through sign language. One place of such enthusiasm is the General Board of Global Ministries.
Ministry with the deaf on a church-wide basis was launched by the 2000 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's quadrennial legislature, and was assigned to Global Ministries. It continues as a creative, innovative, and global emphasis.
Bishop Rev. Peggy Johnson was a consultant with Global Ministries' deaf ministries at the time of its inception and was pastor of Christ Church, a congregation for the deaf at the time of her election to the episcopacy in July 2008. She is the author of Deaf Ministry: Make a Joyful Silence, which makes it clear that ministry of any kind, and especially with the deaf, is a matter of the heart.
The scope of ministries with people with hearing challenges has expanded into international and policy-making arenas.
"This international emphasis is empowering in many ways; in many places, deaf people are stigmatized," says Dr. Cherian Thomas of the Health and Welfare unit of Global Ministries, which provides staff services to the United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People. The marginalization, unfortunately, also takes place within the Methodist family.
At the 2008 General Conference, one of the sign-language interpreters, William Suggs, was both deaf and blind, the first time a person with both conditions was invited. A participant in the Deaf Shalom Zone at Christ Church United Methodist Church for the Deaf in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Suggs passionately translated into sign language for the 900 international delegates.
"He is an amazing musician, visually beautiful at signing," says Mary Gladstone, a Church and Community Worker and a colleague of Suggs at Christ Church. "Whenever we lead a group he says, 'My name is William Suggs and I am a famous signer.'"
According to Ms. Gladstone, deaf people prefer to see deafness as a language difference than as a disability.
Building Bridges of Understanding
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of mission trips for and with individuals who have hearing challenges. Groups have met, communicated, and empowered one another across national boundaries.
Significantly, the July 2009 meeting of the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf will be held in Seoul, Korea. The congress celebrates and promotes Christian leadership and discipleship within the deaf community.
Rev. Joo Hai Kang, campus pastor atGallaudet University, Washington, DC, the leading center of higher education for the deaf in the United States, is deeply involved in planning the Seoul event. According to Rev. Kang, international exchanges are valuable for sharing information on deaf ministries and in encouraging evangelistic and social outreach to the deaf.
"We can get stronger and stronger by the global cooperation among Methodist churches for the deaf in the world," he says.
Sensitizing people to hear the challenges of the deaf and emphasizing their common humanity is an important part of the committee's work. One program for achieving that goal among young people is through the Hands On mission week at the Deaf Shalom Zone in Baltimore.
This year, 30 teens spent a week learning sign language, renovating houses for deaf or deaf-blind individuals, and creating friendships across language barriers. Gladstone considers Hands On a great success. "We've had praise from the participants," she says.
Several congregations across the United States have significant ministries with the deaf, and the need for sensitivity to this community is growing. Local churches with defined health ministries are the most likely to grasp the opportunity deaf persons represent.
Patricia Magyar, RN, a Global Ministries health and welfare staff member, is enthusiastic about the positive role parish nurses can play in building bridges across the spectrum of hearing abilities. Increasing numbers of congregations have health ministries and full- or part-time parish nurses.
Magyar also encourages congregations to set up committees on ministries with the deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind people, using the model of the general church committee.
The denominational committee is made up of pastors and laypeople who themselves have various levels of experience with hearing and deafness. Throughout the last few years, committee members have made presentations at 13 United Methodist seminaries, funded work in 14 countries, trained new leaders, and funded listening devices for churches.
A renewed attention to deaf ministries coincides with the United Methodist commitment to global health.
More Information and Support of Deaf Ministries:
The United Methodist Committee on Ministries with the Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind: http://www.umcsignsofsolidarity.org/
*Mary Beth Coudal is a staff writer for the General Board of Global Ministries.
New York, NY, August 21, 2008--In American Sign Language, the sign for Methodist is the same as the sign for enthusiasm. This is historically appropriate, and many United Methodists today are excited about deaf ministries and communicating through sign language. One place of such enthusiasm is the General Board of Global Ministries.
Ministry with the deaf on a church-wide basis was launched by the 2000 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's quadrennial legislature, and was assigned to Global Ministries. It continues as a creative, innovative, and global emphasis.
Bishop Rev. Peggy Johnson was a consultant with Global Ministries' deaf ministries at the time of its inception and was pastor of Christ Church, a congregation for the deaf at the time of her election to the episcopacy in July 2008. She is the author of Deaf Ministry: Make a Joyful Silence, which makes it clear that ministry of any kind, and especially with the deaf, is a matter of the heart.
The scope of ministries with people with hearing challenges has expanded into international and policy-making arenas.
"This international emphasis is empowering in many ways; in many places, deaf people are stigmatized," says Dr. Cherian Thomas of the Health and Welfare unit of Global Ministries, which provides staff services to the United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People. The marginalization, unfortunately, also takes place within the Methodist family.
At the 2008 General Conference, one of the sign-language interpreters, William Suggs, was both deaf and blind, the first time a person with both conditions was invited. A participant in the Deaf Shalom Zone at Christ Church United Methodist Church for the Deaf in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Suggs passionately translated into sign language for the 900 international delegates.
"He is an amazing musician, visually beautiful at signing," says Mary Gladstone, a Church and Community Worker and a colleague of Suggs at Christ Church. "Whenever we lead a group he says, 'My name is William Suggs and I am a famous signer.'"
According to Ms. Gladstone, deaf people prefer to see deafness as a language difference than as a disability.
Building Bridges of Understanding
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of mission trips for and with individuals who have hearing challenges. Groups have met, communicated, and empowered one another across national boundaries.
Significantly, the July 2009 meeting of the United Methodist Congress of the Deaf will be held in Seoul, Korea. The congress celebrates and promotes Christian leadership and discipleship within the deaf community.
Rev. Joo Hai Kang, campus pastor atGallaudet University, Washington, DC, the leading center of higher education for the deaf in the United States, is deeply involved in planning the Seoul event. According to Rev. Kang, international exchanges are valuable for sharing information on deaf ministries and in encouraging evangelistic and social outreach to the deaf.
"We can get stronger and stronger by the global cooperation among Methodist churches for the deaf in the world," he says.
Sensitizing people to hear the challenges of the deaf and emphasizing their common humanity is an important part of the committee's work. One program for achieving that goal among young people is through the Hands On mission week at the Deaf Shalom Zone in Baltimore.
This year, 30 teens spent a week learning sign language, renovating houses for deaf or deaf-blind individuals, and creating friendships across language barriers. Gladstone considers Hands On a great success. "We've had praise from the participants," she says.
Several congregations across the United States have significant ministries with the deaf, and the need for sensitivity to this community is growing. Local churches with defined health ministries are the most likely to grasp the opportunity deaf persons represent.
Patricia Magyar, RN, a Global Ministries health and welfare staff member, is enthusiastic about the positive role parish nurses can play in building bridges across the spectrum of hearing abilities. Increasing numbers of congregations have health ministries and full- or part-time parish nurses.
Magyar also encourages congregations to set up committees on ministries with the deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind people, using the model of the general church committee.
The denominational committee is made up of pastors and laypeople who themselves have various levels of experience with hearing and deafness. Throughout the last few years, committee members have made presentations at 13 United Methodist seminaries, funded work in 14 countries, trained new leaders, and funded listening devices for churches.
A renewed attention to deaf ministries coincides with the United Methodist commitment to global health.
More Information and Support of Deaf Ministries:
The United Methodist Committee on Ministries with the Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind: http://www.umcsignsofsolidarity.org/
*Mary Beth Coudal is a staff writer for the General Board of Global Ministries.
The Blue team worked very hard to prepare the walls in their home for paneling. They spent more time preparing and cleaning then it will probably take to apply the paneling. They are really making a difference for the Deaf man who lives there. Tom cut the paneling while John and Brian helped.It seems as though the participants and the Deaf community are all having a great time!
The Yellow group traveled the furthest and spend the day painting the home of a Deaf couple. As with most Youth group missin trips, it was not really clear if more paint ended up on the walls or the youth.
