Signs of inclusion

October 8, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Church for the deaf creates a faith community all its own

By Helen T. GRAY

McClatchy Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

The sermon was so animated, it was as if it were being acted out in mime.

Instead, it was a deaf preacher signing a sermon to a deaf congregation.

One recent Sunday, about 65 members of Deaf Liberty Baptist Church in Overland Park, Kan., watched attentively as Clark Corogenes preached in the place of pastor David Hanson, who was recuperating from surgery.

On the side up front, Teresa White interpreted the sermon for the hearing members, who number about 10.

While listening to her, it was hard to not watch Corogenes, who was signing and acting out the story of Jacob and Esau. The theme was broken fellowship and reconciliation.

“When there are stories, I act them out so the people can visualize them and apply them to their lives,” he said through an interpreter. “Deaf people are visual learners.”

On a large screen was the outline of his sermon in words and visuals, making it easier for everyone to follow along.

At the beginning of the service, Jerry Sanders and his wife, Leslie Ann Sanders, led the congregation in singing, deaf style. Music was started, and the two signed the song in perfect rhythm as members joined in.

Throughout the sanctuary, arms swayed and fingers moved as people smiled, familiar with the old tune “I Love to Tell the Story.” At the end of the service, the closing song was “Because He Lives.”

“I can read the words, and I know the songs, but it’s not easy,” Jerry Sanders said.

Leslie Ann Sanders joined the singing team last year. Growing up, she attended hearing churches with her hearing parents. She was 18 before she learned sign language.

Deaf Liberty Baptist Church is reportedly the oldest church for the deaf in the Kansas City, Mo., area. It started in 1980, when about 40 deaf people out of Northeast Baptist Church and Temple Deaf College in Kansas City formed a church and asked Hanson, who is also deaf, to be their pastor.

The two local Catholic dioceses and many Protestant churches throughout the area provide interpreters who sign for deaf congregants.

“They are doing the best they can, but there’s always room for more,” said Joan Macy, coordinator for outreach for the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe, Kan.

Among the area ministries, interpreters are provided for Masses, church events such as retreats and for classes, said Pat Richey, deaf ministry consultant for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Also, a special service completely in sign language is conducted once a month.

Teri Sturgeon of Unity Church of Overland Park has been interpreting since 1999. Her adopted son is deaf. Each Sunday she signs for two to 12 people.

“Some hearing people feel they can’t communicate with the deaf, so they avoid them,” she said. “For the deaf, it’s the most lonely situation to be in, the most alienating disability.

“And it’s sad because the deaf people want to communicate. A lot are very well-read and educated people.”

The Rev. Derek Varney of First Baptist Church of Olathe said the church started having an interpreter sign in the 1960s because a member had a deaf child.

He concedes it is a challenge for the hearing to communicate with the deaf, “but they [the deaf] are very forgiving of the hearing people.”

Varney and his wife took a class to learn basic sign language, and other hearing members know the basics, he said. He tries to involve deaf congregants by providing a lot of visuals and asking them to read Scriptures in sign language for special programs.

The deaf are the forgotten population, said Terry Johns of first Baptist church of Oak Grove, in Jackson County, Mo.

“You hear about associations for the blind, mentally retarded and others, but you don’t hear much about the deaf,” she said. “They can fit into society, and no one notices them.”

Many people at Deaf Liberty said they enjoy being part of a small, deaf community and deaf culture.

Jerry Sanders said the deaf members have an equal opportunity to preach, teach and serve God.

“We’re all the same here.”

Nathan Hill of Olathe agreed.

“Also, with hearing through interpreters, you don’t understand as much,” he said. “They are just saying what the preacher is saying. Here, we are on the same level. We understand each other and feel more comfortable.”

Some deaf people don’t get out that much, and David Hanson picks them up in a van Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

In between the service and Sunday School, during a coffee break, fingers and arms were flying, facial expressions were in motion, dozens of conversations were taking place.

This particular Sunday was Brynton Chandler’s first. The Olathe resident said he had gone to other churches, some hearing and some that signed.

“They sign different,” he said. “This is like a smaller world here. I enjoy talking with other deaf people. It’s easy to communicate. There are more gestures, more personality.”

Kong Her of Olathe, a deacon, has been attending since 1991. He, like Chandler, had tried different churches, including those that sign, but he said, “I couldn’t communicate with the hearing.”

Jason Tercey of Kansas City talked about a deaf culture and how the deaf understand one another and can talk to one another about their struggles.

Teresa White of Overland Park, the interpreter for the hearing, said she fell in love with sign language while living in Lexington, Ky. She had deaf friends and took sign-language classes and then interpreter-training classes.

When she and her husband came to Kansas City, they started attending the Deaf Liberty church, and she started interpreting.

Capturing the passion of some of the preaching sometimes is difficult, she said, but she likes the challenge.

“I feel God led me here to do what I do,” she said.