A Letter from the President of the Committee. Welcome to our website! On behalf of the United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late Deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind People (UMCom), I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.

My name is Tom Hudspeth and I am the president of this committee, which was created by General Conference in 2000 and renewed in 2004. I am an ordained minister, hard of hearing, and my name sign is made with the sign letter "t" on the heart.

It is our prayer and hope that the Holy Spirit is leading you to be in ministry with, to and for those who are Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing or Deaf-Blind. At the 2004 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, our committee was given over $300,000 to help local churches to establish new ministries, improve accessibilty and encourage persons who may be sensing God's call to ordained or lay ministries that relate to the above peoples.

To help us achieve these unique goals, the UMCom established five objectives for the 2005-2008 years. As you read these objectives, I invite you to consider joining in one of these objectives as God might be leading you and your local church. Our five objectives are:(See Diagram Above)

1. To start New Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and /or Deaf-Blind People.
2. To purchase and develop Materials, Equipment or Resources to make activities accessible to Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and/or Deaf-Blind people.
3. To support Mission Outreach in the USA and beyond that focus on ministry with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing, and/or Deaf-Blind People.
4. To support Training for Lay and Ordained leadership through seminary or professional training events that prepare people for ministries with Deaf, Late-
Deafened, Hard of Hearing and/or Deaf-Blind People.

5. To identify and develop Funding sources for ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing and/or Deaf-Blind People.

In every community where the United Methodist Church is present, there will be Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing or Deaf-Blind people. I encourage you to read our publication, "Signs of Solidarity", in order to become more knowledgeable of these people and to inspire a passion for people who are easily overlooked, have fallen out of community, or are mis-understood.

In the United States, it is estimated that there are 28 million people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Of these, 2 million are culturally Deaf, and 750,000 are Deaf-Blind. Those who become deaf later in life often drop out of church because they no longer feel included in the life of the church . In many countries outside the USA, Deaf people are often viewed as second-class citizens or as people cursed to live in poverty, illiteracy and shame.

Our committee also celebrates the unique gifts that these people can offer to the life of the church. Sign language is a visual expression of the spoken and sung word. Captioning, assistive listening devices, and interpreting all reinforce communication. We encourage the church to be accessible both in attitude and communication.

To find out how you can be in ministry contact Rev. Wineva Hankamer, winevah@yahoo.com, or Dr. Tom Hudspeth, thudspeth@llumc.org by email. See too our grant application forms.

Thank you for spending time at this website, and may the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ bless and keep you.

Rev. Tom Hudspeth, D.Min.
President, United Methodist Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened,
Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind People. ©2006 by UMCom - Design by Pearson Web Design