| Deaf interpreters event teaches signing for worship By Melissa Lauber UMConnection Staff I t has been said that one who sings, prays twice. According to Chris Duck, one who signs, prays three times. Teaching American Sign Language to beginners at the 16th annual Religious Interpreters Workshop, Nov. 23, Duck, a teacher at the Maryland School for the Deaf, showed his students how the movements of American Sign Language can bring an added dimension to ones faith. For example, the sign for Alleluia combines the signs from three other words: praise, celebrate and God. Performing these signs can make people otherwise think about words they might say by rote, Duck pointed out. The Baltimore-Washington Conference and the Advisory Committee for Deaf Ministry of the Archdiocese of Baltimore sponsored the workshop, held at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Columbia. Most of the 275 participants were people interested in learning more about interpreting for the deaf during worship and other religious experiences. Theres beauty in this. This is an expression of praise, said Valda Parker, a member of Queens Chapel UMC in Beltsville. However, as the Rev. Hae Rin Hayeon, who serves in the Virginia Annual Conference, pointed out, sign language and interpretation is about communication. They may be beautiful gestures, but if theyre not translating the full message to those who need to hear it, that is unacceptable, she said. Throughout the day, instructors emphasized to those who were new to deaf interpretation that there is a marked difference between using English and using American Sign Language in translation. ASL is a totally different language than English, said Duck. For example, in American Sign Language one would make the gestures for words that translated into touch, finish, New York, me, he said. In English one would say, Ive been to New York. In American Sign Language there is also no word for is, Duck said, because there is no verb to be. Those translating from English use the sign true when they want to say is. This can raise some interesting notions for those translating religious matters, Duck said. According to David Ennis, a deaf man from Middletown UMC who spoke on a panel at the workshop, most deaf people prefer American Sign Language. In fact, he and several people at the workshop claimed that watching interpreters translate into English is often tedious and causes many deaf people to lose interest. However, the Rev. Peggy Johnson of Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore cautioned about making such blanket statements. This is an issue that is debated in deaf culture, she said. Several other hot issues that are debated in the deaf community were also discussed by the panel. Among them: is music meaningful to deaf people; can or should deaf people be healed; and should well-intentioned, but inexperienced volunteer signers be allowed to translate in worship services and other settings in the place of paid, skilled interpreters. Usually two interpreters are recommended for an hour-long worship service, at a cost of $60 to $70 per person, per hour, Johnson said. In most of these cases, churches do best if they ask deaf people questions and really listen to the answers, said Carol Stevens, director of the Baltimore-Washington Conference shalom zone for the deaf community. At Christ UMC for the Deaf, we thought we knew it all, said Johnson. But Nancy Pickens, a hard-of-hearing woman taught them a lot. Ministering to and worshipping with her taught us about inclusiveness, said Johnson. When my hearing loss began, I was not a Christian, said Pickens during the workshops panel discussion. My hearing loss is a special gift from God. | 
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