[Specialneeds] St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church of the Deaf Newsletter

[Ed Knight]

This special needs list has been very quiet but I have a posting...
My name is Ed Knight and I am co-editor of the newsletter for St. Barnabas
Episcopal Church of the Deaf.   If anyone on the specialneeds list would
like to be on our newsletter mailing list you can let me know by sending an
email with your mailing address to knighte at washpost.com.   (Our newsletter
is also posted on our website: http://stbarnabasdeaf.edow.org/)

Here is a sample article which will appear in our next newsletter...

Report on 2004 Deaf-Blind Camp
By Ed Knight

St. Barnabas' members Ginny Lindsay, Shelley Simms and myself volunteered
at West River Deaf-Blind Camp, which was held June 12 - 18.   It was
Shelley's first time at the camp.  I had volunteered before but this was my
first time spending the whole week at camp.

45 deaf-blind campers attended, including about 20 from the D.C, Maryland,
Northern Virginia area.  There were about two volunteers per camper.
Another term for volunteer is SSP (support services provider).   SSPs
included deaf and hearing, family members, friends of deaf-blind people,
church volunteers and professional interpreters.  Not all of the deaf-blind
people and SSPs knew sign language.  Some of the deaf-blind relied on
residual hearing and did not require signing SSPs.   All of the
announcements and official parts of the program were voice interpreted.
Some SSPs and campers came from as far away as England and Africa.

This was the eighth year of the Deaf-Blind Camp, which was started by the
Rev. Dr. Peggy Johnson, a Methodist minister of a deaf church in Baltimore,
and Frank Spiker, a deaf-blind man who is a stay-at-home father.   The
first year there were six deaf-blind campers and camp has grown each year
until now it has reached capacity.

This year the worship was led by the Rev. Cyril Axelrod, a Roman Catholic
priest from England who is deaf-blind.   Father Cyril led a mass on Sunday
(reciting the liturgy from memory) and also had a healing service with holy
oil, where he made the sign of the cross on the forehead and hand of the
deaf-blind camper and their SSP.

It was inspiring to receive (and at the same time help a deaf-blind person
receive) communion and anointing from a deaf-blind priest.   Father Cyril
also offered confession for the Roman Catholics attending the camp.
I should mention that the worship services were optional.  Although it is a
Christian camp, the deaf-blind camp serves campers of different faiths and
is also blessed with SSPS of different faiths.

Every morning there was a Bible Study hour.   Father Cyril gave a sermon
but also other deaf-blind campers gave testimony.   (This was interesting
to me as an Episcopalian to learn about this tradition of Methodist
worship.  Although the Roman Catholic liturgy was very familiar to me as an
Episcopalian, watching people give personal testimonials was rather new to
me.)   It was a privilege to learn about the faith journeys and insights of
deaf-blind people, some of which were old friends but with whom I had never
discussed religion.

There were too many activities to list them all, but some of the highlights
for me were riding a tandem bike, learning a little Tai Chi, and watching
deaf-blind campers dance.  (I am not a dancer but my deaf-blind campers
were skilled at dancing.  All I had to tell my campers was if the dance was
fast or slow and they danced accordingly and with enthusiasm.)

Deaf-Blind camp is something you need to experience first-hand to
comprehend.   Deaf-blind people sometimes lead isolated lives.  No wonder
then that the deaf-blind campers showed so much joy in the fellowship of
camp, and their joy was contagious.   Many campers and SSPs attend year
after year, building memories and a true feeling of family.   The
Deaf-Blind camp has humor, fun, ecumenical spirituality, and fellowship in
a beautiful setting.  Thank you to St. Barnabas' members who donated money
to camp and thank you to Shelley and Ginny for volunteering.    More SSPs
are always welcome.   If you are not comfortable with tactile interpreting
the camp can use you in other ways like helping to set up or clean up.   I
can't wait to go again next year!