The state of mental health in America
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america
World Mental Health day
http://sarahgriffithlund.com/2015/10/09/world-mental-health-day/
Pizza Bar - Deaf friendly restaurant
http://deafnation.com/news/pizza-bar-first-certified-deaf-friendly-restaurant-in-the-usa/
Blog: Disabled and of color
http://rampyourvoice.com/2015/10/06/growing-up-disabled-of-color-call-to-share-the-voices-of-disabled-people-of-color-in-new-blog-series/
Petition against wheelchair funding cuts
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/stop-medicare-making-inappropriate-cuts-complex-wheelchair-accessories
Duke University Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health
training videos
http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/cme-videos
UM Disability blog: 120 Years of Deaf Ministry
http://umdisability.blogspot.com/2015/10/celebrating-120-years-of-deaf-ministry.html
How to stop violence -- deal with anger, not blaming mental illness
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/anger_causes_violence_treat_it_rather_than_mental_illness_to_stop_mass_murder.html
Widening the Welcome (UCC disability conference) videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeWW8xI2FSDyFSDnh3Ed6R0cfPVpS5q67
United Methodist disability, Deaf, hard-of-hearing groups
Friday, October 16, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Celebrating 120 Years of Deaf Ministry -- Leo Yates, Jr.
Saturday, October 10, 2015 was the celebration dinner for Christ Church of the Deaf's 120 years of Deaf ministry. The celebratory dinner was held at Arbutus United Methodist Church. Former pastors were invited to return, to share, celebrate, and to give praises to God for the church's ministry. Though there was smaller turn out compared to the 100 year anniversary, those who attended were treated to a nice dinner, joyful entertainment, and were able to share favorite moments with one another.
The Rev. Tony Love represented Bishop Marcus Matthews, who was attending to ministry matters in Puerto Rico. Rev. Love read a congratulatory letter by the bishop who shared in the church celebration. Also, a letter from Bishop Peggy Johnson of the Pen-Del conference was read by the Rev. Dr. Sandi Johnson prior to dinner being served. In the letter, Bishop Johnson stated she was proud to serve as the church's pastor for twenty years and was glad to lead the church into a new era and closed with how important their gifts were to the church-at-large. The Deaf men's choir and the church choir both performed for the crowd, echoing further the gifts by those performing. After dinner, the keynote speaker was the Rev. Dr. Kirk VanGilder and he concluded his remarks by saying that the next 120 years will be just as memorable. The church's choir and the Deaf men's choir performed additional songs for the audience, which was followed by guest dancers.
As the evening concluded, individuals and families stayed and fellowshipped together -- a noticeable trademark of not only Deaf culture, but the church's culture as well.
(This article originally appeared on the UMCD website at http://www.umcd.org/newsnej/.)
The Rev. Tony Love represented Bishop Marcus Matthews, who was attending to ministry matters in Puerto Rico. Rev. Love read a congratulatory letter by the bishop who shared in the church celebration. Also, a letter from Bishop Peggy Johnson of the Pen-Del conference was read by the Rev. Dr. Sandi Johnson prior to dinner being served. In the letter, Bishop Johnson stated she was proud to serve as the church's pastor for twenty years and was glad to lead the church into a new era and closed with how important their gifts were to the church-at-large. The Deaf men's choir and the church choir both performed for the crowd, echoing further the gifts by those performing. After dinner, the keynote speaker was the Rev. Dr. Kirk VanGilder and he concluded his remarks by saying that the next 120 years will be just as memorable. The church's choir and the Deaf men's choir performed additional songs for the audience, which was followed by guest dancers.
As the evening concluded, individuals and families stayed and fellowshipped together -- a noticeable trademark of not only Deaf culture, but the church's culture as well.
 | |
| photo by Kirk VanGilder |
Friday, October 9, 2015
Pretending -- Diane Mettam
My husband and
I were so excited when Pope Francis visited the United States, and so inspired
by his outreach. But we were secretly
frightened that there would be an ugly incident of good old American gun
violence while he was here. We both held
our breath until he was safely on his way to his next port of call.
"I want to
talk about pretending. . . In the face of the killings in Oregon yesterday, I
honestly don't know what to do or say, other than that our hearts are broken
for those struck by this senseless tragedy. . . I can't pretend that it didn't
happen. I also can't pretend to know what to do to prevent what happened
yesterday all the times it has happened before. But I think pretending is part
of the problem. These things happen over and over again, and we are naturally
horrified and shocked when we hear about them. But then we change nothing, and
we pretend that it won't happen again. I (don’t) know
what the solution is, but I do know that one of the definitions of insanity is
doing nothing and then pretending that nothing will change.” -
Stephen Colbert
Pretending is
part of the problem. A bigger part of
the problem is blaming it on mental illness.
That’s another game of pretending. And it’s another
form of stigmatizing anyone who has a mental disorder, and discouraging anyone
who might think of seeking treatment from getting it. Shame on anyone who uses mental illness as
the reason for mass shootings!
I did some
research on mental illness and violence, and found an eminently readable report
in the November 19, 2014 issue of The New Yorker, “Is There a Link Between Gun Violence and Mental Health?” I have included a link so that you may read
it for yourselves. Dr. Jeffrey Swanson,
Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University, has spent thirty years researching “the
perceived intersection of violence and mental illness.”
“When Swanson first analyzed the
ostensible connection between violence and mental illness, looking at more than ten
thousand individuals (both mentally ill and healthy) during the course of one
year, he found that serious mental illness alone was a risk factor for violence—from
minor incidents, like shoving, to armed assault—in only
four per cent of cases. . . When Swanson broke the samples down by
demographics, he found that the occurrence of violence was more closely
associated with whether someone was male, poor, and abusing either alcohol or
drugs—and that those three factors alone could predict violent
behavior with or without any sign of mental illness. If someone fit all three
of those categories, the likelihood of them committing a violent act was high,
even if they weren’t
also mentally ill. If someone fit none, then mental illness was highly unlikely
to be predictive of violence.”
In 1963 President
Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act, providing for
deinstitutionalization and the establishment of community-based mental health
centers. “Unfortunately,
only half of the proposed centers were ever built, none were fully funded, and
the act didn’t provide money to operate them
long-term. Some states saw an
opportunity to close expensive state hospitals without spending some of the
money on community-based care. Deinstitutionalization accelerated after the
adoption of Medicaid in 1965. During the Reagan administration, the remaining
funding for the act was converted into a mental-health block grant for states.
Since the CMHA was enacted, 90 percent of beds have been cut at state
hospitals.”*
Our treatment, or
lack of treatment, for our brothers and sisters with mental illness is
shameful. Our silence when others make
jokes or blame them for society’s ills is disgraceful. Our stigmatizing of them as the cause of gun
violence is unpardonable. We need to
treat each other with love and respect - that means everyone. And we need to stand up for each other, and
to make sure that each of us gets the care we need.
“Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the
foot would say, “Because
I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make
it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an
eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.” 1 Corinthians
12:14-16
Forgive us,
Dear Lord, when we close our eyes to the problems around us, or choose to lay
the blame at the feet of others. We know
that no problem is too big for you. Help
us to seek answers, and to make them happen, for every one of your children is
precious and beloved. Amen.
*SMITH, MICHELLE R. (October 20, 2013). "50 years later, Kennedy’s vision for mental health not
realized". The Associated Press.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Why Not Begin a Deaf Ministry? -- Leo Yates Jr.
When Moses was tending to his flock, a voice from the
burning bush called him and instilled in him a call to ministry. Perhaps this
same voice might be calling your church to a new ministry, such as Deaf
ministry.
Why “Deaf” ministry? It is helpful to know that when one
sees a capital ‘D’ in the word Deaf, it indicates a cultural, communal, and
linguistic population who uses sign language. The lower case ‘d’ in “deaf”
indicates hearing loss or a person with hearing loss who does not have an
affiliation to the Deaf community. While September is Deaf awareness month,
attention to Deaf ministry can be done at any time during the year. This month
is a good time to highlight The United Methodist Church’s Deaf history and its
Deaf ministries as they relate to The United Methodist Church.
In general, Deaf ministry
is an umbrella term for doing ministry with d/Deaf, hard-of-hearing,
late-deafened, and Deaf-blind individuals and their families. Also, Deaf
ministry is recognized by welcoming, providing care, being in ministry
with, and including in the life of the church d/Deaf, hard-of-hearing,
late-deafened, and Deaf-blind individuals.
The only two Deaf churches that I have found in the
denomination are located in the Baltimore Washington Conference. They are
Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf and Magothy United Methodist Church
of the Deaf. At one point in the denomination’s history, there were other Deaf
churches. They were the Chicago Mission for the Deaf that began in 1892 and the
Washington United Methodist Church of the Deaf that began in 1969, both of
which have since closed. While there may not have been other Deaf churches,
there have been Deaf congregations, some affiliated with churches, while others
were stand-alone mission congregations. For instance, in the Western North
Carolina Conference, there was a strong Deaf ministry for a few decades during
the 1970s to the early 2000s, in which it had three Deaf congregations – located
in Morganton, Gastonia, and Asheville. Here in the United States, one Deaf
congregation is located at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.
It has its own Deaf worship service, as well as other Deaf ministry related programs,
led and served by Deaf leaders. On the global front, Deaf congregations are
also located in the annual conferences in Congo and Kenya, as well as in other
countries. Deaf ministries are more prominent than we think. Just because there
is silence doesn’t mean they’re invisible.
A survey conducted in 2014 by The United Methodist Committee
on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Ministries, a committee of Global Ministries, and
The United Methodist Congress of the Deaf, a caucus, show that there are dozens
of Deaf ministries within the United States, often overlooked due to being
smaller ministries, but are nonetheless seen as gold nuggets in their
jurisdictions. The most common type of Deaf ministry, but not the only type, is
an interpreted ministry, where a sign language interpreter delivers
interpreting services at a worship service and sometimes at other
church-related programs. Right now, the up and coming star in Deaf ministry is
in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, as it has over twenty Deaf and
hard-of-hearing individuals and their families who participate in the life of
the church at Waretown United Methodist Church.
United Methodist Communications, in collaboration with the
United Methodist Committee on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Ministries, recently established
an online video ASL glossary so those using sign language can have access in
their primary language to better understand what The United Methodist Church is
about and what its beliefs are. These videos can be found here.
This video project, an evangelism tool, was done, in part, to communicate to
those in the Deaf community that they are valued in The United Methodist Church.
There are several facets of Deaf ministry, such as: 1)
having a Deaf church or Deaf congregation, 2) an interpreted ministry, 3) a
hard-of-hearing and late-deafened ministry, 4) a Deaf-blind ministry, 5) Deaf
advocacy, and 6) Deaf missions. The book, Deaf
Ministry: Ministry Models for Expanding the Kingdom of God (2015) discusses
these ministry models, as well as educates churches about Deaf ministry program
planning, as well as ministry considerations. Also, The United Methodist
Committee on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Ministries offers various resources,
grants, and free consultation for churches that are considering implementing a
Deaf ministry or needing to improve upon their existing ministry. Like it was
for Moses, is there a burning bush calling your church to a new form of
ministry, such as Deaf ministry? If so, pray and discern what facet of Deaf ministry
God may be leading your church to begin.
The Rev. Leo Yates, Jr. is a deacon serving in the
Baltimore Washington Conference. He is also a committee member of the United
Methodist Committee on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Ministries and a member of the
Commission on Disability Concerns in his annual conference. He is a licensed
clinical professional counselor, a nationally certified sign language
interpreter, and an associate pastor at Centennial Memorial United Methodist
Church in Frederick, MD.
Friday, October 2, 2015
News from UM AMD, 10/2/15
UM Disability blog: Room at the Inn
http://umdisability.blogspot.com/2015/09/room-at-inn-diane-mettam.html
Newsletter from Mental Health Ministries
http://www.mentalhealthministries.net/spotlights/index.html
Autism's hidden gifts
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/
Doctors fail to address spiritual needs
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/doctors-fail-to-address-patients-spiritual-needs/
GBOD's Office on Aging and Office On Aging & Older Adult Ministry€‹ will have a webinar on December 8 about Alzheimer's response. This article explains the background.
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/the-dementia-friendly-church
Church planter invites all
https://www.wesleyseminary.edu/NewsandEvents/News/tabid/201/ID/281/Church-Planter-Invites-All-to-the-Table.aspx
Painkillers and hearing damage
https://hearbetterwithhearingloss.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/common-painkillers-could-be-harming-your-hearing/
Report from UCC Disability Ministries
http://www.ctucc.org/news/20150930_wideningwelcome.html
http://umdisability.blogspot.com/2015/09/room-at-inn-diane-mettam.html
Newsletter from Mental Health Ministries
http://www.mentalhealthministries.net/spotlights/index.html
Autism's hidden gifts
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/autism-hidden-advantages/406180/
Doctors fail to address spiritual needs
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/doctors-fail-to-address-patients-spiritual-needs/
GBOD's Office on Aging and Office On Aging & Older Adult Ministry€‹ will have a webinar on December 8 about Alzheimer's response. This article explains the background.
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/the-dementia-friendly-church
Church planter invites all
https://www.wesleyseminary.edu/NewsandEvents/News/tabid/201/ID/281/Church-Planter-Invites-All-to-the-Table.aspx
Painkillers and hearing damage
https://hearbetterwithhearingloss.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/common-painkillers-could-be-harming-your-hearing/
Report from UCC Disability Ministries
http://www.ctucc.org/news/20150930_wideningwelcome.html
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