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Deaf Lobbyist
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There are 28 million deaf people in the U.S. but less than one percent call themselves Christian and fewer attend church. Elke Betz-Schmidt has been deaf since she was five years old, and she is very active in her United Methodist church, but she thinks most deaf people feel alienated and not welcomed by churches. She is working to change that, by lobbying for more deaf ministries and making her voice heard within her denomination. Kim Riemland reports. |
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SCRIPT:
Elke Betz-Schmidt finds herself in a place ruled by words…a challenging situation since she can’t hear.
Elke Betz-Schmidt: “The discussion just moves so fast that you have to keep your eyes peeled.”
She is a deaf person observing the discussion of almost 1,000 delegates of the United Methodist Church at this international meeting.
Elke Betz-Schmidt: “I’m learning a lot about diversity-about how big this church really is.”
A gifted lip reader, Betz-Schmidt still has trouble keeping up, so a team of interpreters translates the discussion into American Sign Language – assistance she didn’t have growing up.
Elke Betz-Schmidt: “I couldn’t understand the music, I couldn’t understand the sermon. I was missing everything.”
That frustration started a spiritual journey that led her to preach.
Translator in Christ United Methodist Church: “Because you have said it’s more blessed to give…”
Betz-Schmidt is now associate pastor at Christ United Methodist in Baltimore – a church that serves the deaf.
Nat Sound: deaf choir sings
Because of language difficulties, it’s easy for the deaf to feel alienated. Her mission is to empower this group to step out into the world.
Elke Betz-Schmidt: “What you have no one else has and you have to share that with people.”
Betz-Schmidt has come to this conference in Pittsburgh to increase funding for deaf ministries. Although most of the deaf cannot speak, she feels they deserve to be heard.
Elke Betz-Schmidt: “I would tell them that the deaf community has so many gifts that we can contribute to the church and that without us the church’s body is not complete.”
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Betz-Schmidt is grateful to Wesley Seminary in Washington D.C. which paid for four-and-a-half years of interpreter services so that she could receive her Masters of Divinity degree. If she's ordained, she will become the fifth deaf United Methodist pastor.