Deaf Ministry: Making New Connections
By Rev. Leo Yates, Jr.
WHAT? WHO’S MISSING FROM OUR PEWS? The Jones and the Smith
families are here. It's the Deaf and hard of hearing people that are missing.
When we, as concerned viewers seeking inclusion take a careful
look around the sanctuary, we’ll likely realize that Deaf, hard of hearing,
late-deafened, and Deafblind people are the ones missing. We try to be faithful
to the mission of The United Methodist Church (UMC), which is to make disciples
for transformation of the world; however, this has been a challenge for many of
our churches, as many of us have been losing members. Thinking
strategically, we need to be thinking outside the box in order to turn this
trend around. Reaching out to new populations that will bring new vitality and
focus to the faith community is needed. And we don’t have to go far: many
churches may have a Deaf community on their doorsteps and not even realize it.
According to an older National Council of Churches report (1997), approximately
10% of Deaf people go to church, while obviously many more feel the church
doors are partially or completely closed to them.
Deaf ministry is an umbrella term for being in ministry with
or being inclusive of Deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and Deafblind
people and their families. Some of us likely realize that Deaf people have
their own culture that is made up of values, beliefs, similar experiences,
and a shared sign language that takes part within a Deaf community. When one
sees a capital “D” in the word Deaf, it indicates the cultural aspect of the
word deaf. Historically, the church has been an extended community for Deaf
people, in particular, in the mid to late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth
century. The church is where Deaf people would gather for social
gatherings, worship, and for missional reasons. Though this community has lost
numbers, it is still occurring in some areas of The United Methodist Church,
such as Pasadena, Maryland, Dallas, Texas, and Shreveport, Louisiana.
When one considers reaching out to the Deaf community, it's necessary to
identify what your church's motives are. For example, having a paternalistic
motive is unhealthy and is usually a red flag that will drive away Deaf and
hard of hearing people. An all-too-common example of this is not seeing Deaf
people as equals, but as a group of outsiders to be converted and ministered
to. On the other hand, a genuine desire to be inclusive with an equal
opportunity to be a part of the life of the church, an opportunity that would
reach beyond coming to worship on Sundays, is a far more desirable reason to reach
out.
A Wesleyan approach to community building is to do what John
Wesley, the father of the Methodist movement, did—go to the people. This would
include learning about Deaf culture by attending Deaf events in the community,
learning the (sign) language, and realizing that not all Deaf people are
the same. Remember, it's about building genuine, loving relationships, not
saving souls (the Lord does this). Mark 7:31-37 describes Jesus healing a Deaf
man. In this story, Jesus uses the word, “Ephphatha” that is, “Be
opened” (v. 34). Who is to say that Jesus wasn’t actually speaking to the deaf
man’s community and telling them (and us) to “Be opened” to this man and
include him in their community. For our congregations, perhaps 1 or 2 deaf or
hard of hearing people is who we'll have as well. And, that's okay.
In the book, Deaf Ministry: Ministry Models for Expanding
the Kingdom of God (2015), the author recommends using a multicultural
framework when growing one's congregation that honors each other's culture
within the same faith community (Zuniga, Nagada, & Sevig, 2002).
Suggestions include:
1. Sustained communication: explore and develop empathetic
connections, and find strength and value in each other's perspectives. Each
language group must have equal access to communication (e.g., having
interpreters, assisted listening devices, and/or captioning).
2. Consciousness raising: encourage individuals to
recognize, question, and broaden cultural understanding from various cultural
groups (e.g., sharing cultural norms without oppressing the other cultural
group).
3. Bridging of differences: build connections across
differences and have a commitment to social justice. It's about building
understanding and collaborative ties (e.g., having different cultural
expressions within worship).
4. Social justice perspective: maintain a social justice
perspective that fosters conversations between various social groups, including
periodic reflection (e.g., have a social justice committee that connects to the
annual conference board of church and society).
5. Faith: include God in interactions; this would include
incorporating moments of grace that assist the church's
relationship with God to be the primary focus, not the only focus,
but the primary focus (read John 15:17).
There are a number of recommendations for how to begin a
Deaf ministry.
1. Prayer: ask God for guidance on what type of Deaf
ministry your church should do. Deaf ministry is more expansive than worship on
Sundays.
2. Enlist leadership support: having the pastor's support
will often help get ministries off the ground.
3. Gather a team: a team is the heart of a successful
ministry.
4. Begin small: begin with the people and resources God has
provided. Perhaps some fundraising is needed in order to pay a sign language
interpreter or to hire a Deaf person to teach a sign language class.
5. Educate the team and congregation: hold a study about
Deaf ministry that may include the book
Deaf Ministry: Make a Joyful Silence or invite a
Deaf person(s) to teach your team sign language (be willing to pay the person
for their time).
6. Include Deaf people into the church: include them in
leading worship (e.g. leading the congregation in the Lord's Prayer).
7. Adjust as the ministry grows: re-evaluate the ministry
periodically and adjust it where it needs to be adjusted.
Perhaps your church already has a Deaf ministry. Wonderful!
Perhaps you're looking for ways to expand it. Suggestions for this include:
1. Include your Deaf ministry on your church's website.
2. Offer a sign language class so several or many people can
be familiar with basic conversational phrases (Deaf and hard of hearing people
want to talk to more than just the interpreter).
3. Teach the church greeters and/or ushers basic sign
phrases (e.g. Welcome, good morning, happy you're here, and bathroom).
4. Work closely with a nearby college ASL program and offer
silent dinners at your church.
5. Invite a Deaf choir or a signing choir to perform during
worship.
6. Do an outreach ministry by extending your church's
hospitality to the community (e.g. bring meals to a habilitative day program in
the area or adopt a group home with people with disabilities).
7. Connect to your state or local government Deaf agency.
Some have newsletters or email announcements.
8. Subscribe to other Deaf ministries' newsletters so you
can be included in any news and stay informed of any locally-held events.
9. Revamp the church's newsletter to include Deaf-related
articles (e.g. an article about hearing screenings).
10. Do an outreach to the Alexander Graham Bell Association
chapter, or a similar group, in your state that might include providing baked
goods and drinks at their chapter meetings. There are MANY hard of hearing and
late-deafened people (those who lost their hearing later in life) in everyone's
community. Not all hard of hearing people and late-deafened people are a part
of the Deaf community. But, that's okay! Some use sign language, while others
do not.
There are many more possibilities than just these ideas; what's
important is to begin with prayer and see what vision God has for your faith
community. Deaf ministry is about rethinking what the church can offer and how
it can connect to Deaf and hard of hearing people in your community.
Reference
Zuniga, X., Nagaa, B.R.,& Sevig, T.D. (2002). Intergroup
dialogues: An educational model for cultivating engagement across differences.
Equity and Excellence in Education, 7-17.
About the writer: Rev. Leo Yates, Jr. is a provisional deacon serving in the Baltimore
Washington Conference. He serves on the United Methodist Committee on Deaf and
Hard of Hearing Ministries.
