Welcome! United Methodist Church Committee For Ministries With Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind People

Beginnings A mission initiative of General Conference 1992 began a journey that is now the United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind People (UMCom)

Beginnings “Beginning with John Wesley, Methodism has a long history of commitment to its connection with the forgotten communities of our world.

Beginnings The United Methodist Church’s connection with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, deaf-blind people is a history of forgotten stories and forgotten people.

Beginnings Never has there been a more important time to act as God’s people and strengthen our connection with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and deaf blind people for the next century.” Taken from “A Time for Action”, General Conference 2000.

Structure A steering committee was established with an assigned staff member of the General Board of Global Ministries: Noemi Fuentes was our organizing staff member, followed by Dr. Cherian Thomas, and Niels French. Patricia Magyar now serves as our liaison.

Structure Ten Members make up the Committee as follows:

Structure two Deaf two late-deafened two hard of hearing one deaf-blind ….as well as………

Structure one deaf institutional ministry professional two clergy with experience in ministry with people who are Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, deaf-blind

Structure The Committee strives to be inclusive with regard to gender ethnicity jurisdiction different sign language and hearing abilities

Committee Makeup Committee members are from : North Central Jurisdiction North Eastern Jurisdiction South Central Jurisdiction Southeastern Jurisdiction Western Jurisdiction

President: Tom Hudspeth Vice President: Candis Shannon Secretary: TBS

In our first quadrennium we focused on: Presentation & advocacy skills awareness workshops multimedia presentations involvement on general boards and agencies

In our first quadrennium we focused on: Becoming resources for the General Church, Annual Conferences, faith communities, and local churches

In our first quadrennium we focused on: Working with general boards and agencies for education and leadership Creating action plans and legislation for Annual Conferences General Conferences

Accountability The Committee is accountable to The Health and Welfare section of Global Ministries sharing yearly progress reports and evaluation.

The Committee is also accountable to United Methodist Congress of the Deaf for discussion, sharing information, and plans for implementation.

In our first quadrennium we focused on: Awareness Workshops: interpreter workshops workshop on Deaf music technology how to start deaf ministries strategies in the UMC global deaf ministries

Awareness Teams... addressed concerns of Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people provided information about assistive listening devices, interpreters & captioning

Awareness Teams … involved people we know locally to lead workshops were able to use presentation equipment owned by Committee Laptop VHS projector Video Camera Assistive Listening System

Awareness Teams ... Took resources At first, Signs of Solidarity Then, the Second Edition “Breaking the Sound Barrier” Advance brochure videos catalogues & magazines other resources

Awareness Teams... were sensitive to needs expressed by the group that invited the team reported to Committee on details & follow-up needed

Grants Subcommittee Decides criteria for grant giving based on models from the Board of Global Ministries Receives grant applications for projects and scholarships Reports findings to whole Committee for voting Disburses approved grants Keeps a record of grant recipients

Signs of Solidarity Subcommittee Revised Signs of Solidarity (SOS) Received permission from the original editor to use portions of the first edition Deleted obsolete information and added new resource information Continues to promote use of this resource book Through Service Center Web information Cokesbury Book Sales

General Conference 2004 Voted to continue the work of the Committee into the current quadrennium Supported its work with financial backing and assigned staff from Global Ministries, Health and Welfare section. Continues to expect great things from this Committee in years to come.

Moving On In 2005-2008 Our Name changed to: The United Methodist Church Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deaf Blind People. Five Objectives were established for the new quadrennium

Moving On In 2005-2008 New Ministries Launch ministries with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing and/or deaf-blind people

Material, Equipping and Resourcing Moving On In 2005-2008 Material, Equipping and Resourcing Purchase of equipment and development of other resources to make activities accessible to Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing and/or deaf-blind people

Moving On In 2005-2008 Mission and Outreach Support outreach missions in the US and beyond that focus on ministry with Deaf, late-deafened hard of hearing and/or deaf-blind people

Training for Lay and Ordained Leadership Moving On In 2005-2008 Training for Lay and Ordained Leadership Support leadership development for lay and ordained people through seminary or professional training events for upgrading skills or preparing for ministries with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing and/or deaf-blind people.

Moving On In 2005-2008 Funding Identify and develop funding sources for ministries with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and/or deaf-blind people

Priorities A: expand and deepen relationships with seminaries, local licensing schools, and future pastors

Priorities B: Identify churches willing to give funding for ministries and linking them with ministry needs in the US and globally

Priorities C: Learning and clarifying needs of hard of hearing, late-deafened, and older adults with hearing loss, and researching solutions for their full participation in the life of the church

Priorities D: Promoting the Advance Special and develop a new brochure

Priorities E: Create a website that includes video information in ASL and a summary of Signs of Solidarity Second Edition UMCSignsofsolidarity.org is up and running Visit there for updates on the Committee’s work

Priorities F: Promotion of Signs of Solidarity Second Edition through Cokesbury Stores, seminaries, bookstores, Gallaudet, etc

Priorities G: Identify laity groups and lay leadership (reflecting the laity driven aspect of our ministries)

Priorities H: Promote ministry with Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing and/or deaf-blind people as a topic with UMW reading list and School of Christian Mission

Priorities I: Provide awareness workshops when requested

Priorities J: Develop and identify models for ministries that are not worship-focused but event-focused

Priorities K: Produce videos to explain and promote our various models of ministry (captioned and audio described)

Advance Special “Ministry with Deaf People” Advance # 982562-7 provides opportunities for empowering Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind people

Advance Special Projects include seed money for new ministries global outreach curriculum development internships Deaf and deaf-blind camps communication access scholarships

Advance Special How to Give: send a check to your local church with Advance ID # 982562-7 on the memo line local church will send it to your Annual Conference treasurer to use credit card call 888 252-6174 That’s 888 252-6174

Advance Special See Advance brochure to find out about how to give to the Advance how to apply for funding your project or scholarship needs qualifying persons, programs

Advance Special Application forms are distributed through general mailings for the Advance available from any committee member or the Health and Welfare office of Global Ministries Forms may be submitted by letter, fax, or email.

Meeting Schedule February 22-25, 2007, in Phoenix AZ March 8-10, 2005 at SIFAT in Lineville AL March 21-23, 2006, in Houston TX February 22-25, 2007, in Phoenix AZ 2008 Meeting To Be Arranged

Contact Us Consultant to the Committee Global Ministries Website: Wineva Hankamer winevah@yahoo.com Global Ministries Health & Welfare Staff Patricia Magyar pmagyar@gbgm-umc.org Website: UMCSignsofsolidarity.org