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The Nation Newspaper | ALTAR CALL: Adventists embracing the deaf
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE the Seventh-Day Adventist Church has been bringing the Gospel to the deaf and hearing impaired in a unique way by creating a church for those who naturally learn the Word of God at a different pace.
I visited the Church For The Hearing Impaired one Saturday morning recently at its base in the Seventh-Day Adventist School and learnt it was the only one of its kind among Adventists in the Eastern Caribbean.
Every Saturday, Pastor Anthony Hoyte and a group of dedicated elders welcome the hearing impaired and their families; so there is a good mix of worshippers for the 9:30 a.m. service.
There are several sign language interpreters assigned for singing, teaching and preaching.
Not long into the service, the church is broken up into three groups. The children go to the patio, the hearing off to another room, and the hearing impaired remain for their own session of Sabbath School.
The Body As A Witness was the theme for the quarter and The Hands the topic for the day. With the Bible lesson taken from Matthew 25:34-40, Sabbath school superintendent Sophia Thomas interacted with questions and discussion. Her class learnt that God created man with two hands for a purpose: to show love, to heal, to give and to serve others.
After the elders and congregation gathered for Divine Hour, visiting pastor Carl Dyal helped make this special group feel a significant part of a worldwide organisation. Now executive secretary of the Eastern Caribbean Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist Churches, Dyal was one of the early pastors of the church, which he headed for almost five years.
He chose Romans 13:11-14 for his scripture reading and, utilising the chalkboard behind him, gave the congregation a history lesson.
First given its name in 1860, the Adventist Church grew from 5 440 members in 1870 to about 15 million worldwide today, and "it is projected that by 2020 there will be 50 million", he said.
In the Caribbean union, he continued, there are more than 200 000 members. In Barbados, it is probably the second-largest group after the Anglican Church, with 58 congregations and 17 464 Barbadians on record. He said 274 people joined the church so far this year.
The pastor then clarified some specific beliefs of the church's doctrine. He emphasised:
* We believe that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Exodus 20:11).
* Jesus is the one who came to give us everlasting salvation.
* When you are dead, you are dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6). The only time we will have life again is when Jesus comes again.
* We are not New Testament Christians but Bible Christians.
* There is going to be a resurrection when Jesus comes.
* The cross of Calvary is the answer to the sin problem.
* We believe in keeping the Ten Commandments, not to be saved, but because we are saved.
After the service, the congregation stayed on for lunch before visiting in the community.
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE the Seventh-Day Adventist Church has been bringing the Gospel to the deaf and hearing impaired in a unique way by creating a church for those who naturally learn the Word of God at a different pace.
I visited the Church For The Hearing Impaired one Saturday morning recently at its base in the Seventh-Day Adventist School and learnt it was the only one of its kind among Adventists in the Eastern Caribbean.
Every Saturday, Pastor Anthony Hoyte and a group of dedicated elders welcome the hearing impaired and their families; so there is a good mix of worshippers for the 9:30 a.m. service.
There are several sign language interpreters assigned for singing, teaching and preaching.
Not long into the service, the church is broken up into three groups. The children go to the patio, the hearing off to another room, and the hearing impaired remain for their own session of Sabbath School.
The Body As A Witness was the theme for the quarter and The Hands the topic for the day. With the Bible lesson taken from Matthew 25:34-40, Sabbath school superintendent Sophia Thomas interacted with questions and discussion. Her class learnt that God created man with two hands for a purpose: to show love, to heal, to give and to serve others.
After the elders and congregation gathered for Divine Hour, visiting pastor Carl Dyal helped make this special group feel a significant part of a worldwide organisation. Now executive secretary of the Eastern Caribbean Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist Churches, Dyal was one of the early pastors of the church, which he headed for almost five years.
He chose Romans 13:11-14 for his scripture reading and, utilising the chalkboard behind him, gave the congregation a history lesson.
First given its name in 1860, the Adventist Church grew from 5 440 members in 1870 to about 15 million worldwide today, and "it is projected that by 2020 there will be 50 million", he said.
In the Caribbean union, he continued, there are more than 200 000 members. In Barbados, it is probably the second-largest group after the Anglican Church, with 58 congregations and 17 464 Barbadians on record. He said 274 people joined the church so far this year.
The pastor then clarified some specific beliefs of the church's doctrine. He emphasised:
* We believe that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Exodus 20:11).
* Jesus is the one who came to give us everlasting salvation.
* When you are dead, you are dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6). The only time we will have life again is when Jesus comes again.
* We are not New Testament Christians but Bible Christians.
* There is going to be a resurrection when Jesus comes.
* The cross of Calvary is the answer to the sin problem.
* We believe in keeping the Ten Commandments, not to be saved, but because we are saved.
After the service, the congregation stayed on for lunch before visiting in the community.
