Article about our church in the local newspaper

[dadof4]

Hearing with their eyes
Kayla Schmidt, Rosemount Town Pages
Published Friday, May 01, 2009

Usually, when one attends a church service, they listen to a faith leader talk, listen to a piano play or a choir sing. However, for the deaf community, the listening is not done with the ears, but with the eyes.

First Baptist Church of Rosemount not only supplies American Sign Language interpreters at each of its ministries, bible studies and Sunday school classes, but also offers sign language classes to the public.

?People need to know that the FBC offers the deaf ministry to the community and we do not want any deaf people to miss or overlook the deaf ministry,? Ray Kopatich, leader of the deaf ministry at FBC, wrote through e-mail communications.

Kopatich, who has been deaf since birth, wrote that anyone in the community is welcome to join the sign language classes at FBC.

Elizabeth Fruetel, interpreter and teacher at FBC, started the first class a couple of years ago.

?I had a couple of people approach me and they were interested in learning sign language,? Fruetel said. ?I went to our pastor, Dave Clear, and told him there were people who were interested and wanting to learn and he said, ?So teach class.??

Fruetel currently teaches the adult sign language class at FBC. The class, which is held on Wednesday evenings and has approximately 10 students, teaches sign language vocabulary and short sentences. The class Fruetel is currently teaching is composed of some students who are new to sign language, and some who are looking to refresh their knowledge.

Although much of the sign language taught can be used in and out of a spiritual setting, Fruetel also tries to teach sign language that is helpful to know when attending a church service.

?We just meet in a small room in the upstairs of the church,? Fruetel said. ?We go through a vocab list and try to incorporate a verse or a song so it gives something people can put to practical use. Students may also learn sentences like, ?Welcome, happy to have you here.? ?My name is____; I?m learning sign language.? Something they can get out there and use right away.?

Fruetel said the classes, which are taken mostly by hearing students, do not follow a specific schedule. Instead, they are catered to the interest and need of the students attending.

Sometimes students drop into a class merely because they are interested. Other times students are looking for a refresher course, or beginners who are truly interested in pursuing sign language. No matter the amount of previous knowledge, for the hearing community, the sign language classes and ministries offer an interesting perspective into deaf life.

?When I learned sign language in Florida we had a man who talked to all the students who lost his hearing in his 40s, and without an interpreter he can?t attend church,? Fruetel said. ?There is a whole population of people that never get to have that experience, that never get to come to church and learn about the gift that God offers of salvation without an interpreter, and I just couldn?t get past that.?

For the deaf community the ministries and classes represent something slightly different. They are a means to gain spiritual knowledge and guidance along side the hearing community.

?I am born deaf and grew up attending church without deaf ministry and I was never interested until I entered deaf college in New York,? Kopatich wrote. ?I was so interested in the Bible and church because of the deaf ministry the church provided. It greatly impacted my life and I know there are many deaf people who really need a deaf bible teacher who can teach them in sign language with understanding of the deaf world blended with bible teaching at same time.?

For more information on the deaf ministries offered at First Baptist Church, call 651-423-2271 or visit the church online at fbcrsmt.org.

[trc123]

Great article and I'm happy to see your church reaching out to the deaf community. My wife and I learned AM SLANG from a Bill Rice Ranch missionary many years ago. It is very rewarding to see the deaf come alive in church once there is a ministry and group for them to be a part of........,

[John81]

Great article! Praise the Lord for getting this out to many who might not otherwise know of this.

[Pastor Matt]

Great article. Keep up the good work fighting the devil.

[1Timothy115]

Great!

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

You're church is helping those hearts to be ready when God retores their hearing and opens all knowledge to them.