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

2. 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)

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Structure
Ten Members make up the Committee as follows:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. 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

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

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

19. 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

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

21. 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

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

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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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.

27. 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

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

29. Material, Equipping and Resourcing
Moving On In
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

30. 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

31. Training for Lay and Ordained Leadership
Moving On In
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.

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

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

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

35. 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

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

37. 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

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

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

40. 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

41. Priorities
I: Provide awareness workshops when requested

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

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

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

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

46. Advance Special How to Give:
send a check to your local church with Advance ID # on the memo line
local church will send it to your Annual Conference treasurer
to use credit card call
That’s

47. 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

48. 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 .

49. 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

50. Contact Us Consultant to the Committee Global Ministries Website:
Wineva Hankamer
Global Ministries
Health & Welfare Staff
Patricia Magyar
Website:
UMCSignsofsolidarity.org