Miss-Delectable
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Church hands out strong sign of faith | Home News Tribune Online
Janet Sorber said she felt "very spiritual" as she made her way from the pew to the sanctuary at St. Peter the Apostle R.C. Church Sunday morning to join six other women in performing the hymn "Amazing Grace."
Unlike many of the songs sung at the church, this one was performed in American Sign Language by Sorber, who was born deaf, and the other women.
"It's relating to God; it was a great feeling," said Sorber, an East Brunswick resident, through Kathy Nilsson, who was at the 11 a.m. Mass as an interpreter.
The women and 16 fourth- and fifth-graders at St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School, who earlier performed the song "In Every Age" in sign language, were part of an observance of Deaf Awareness Month. They crossed their arms, stretched their hands toward the ceiling, and used other signs to convey words like "refuge" and "bright."
The group, called the Silent Choir, learned American Sign Language from Kathy Kady Hopkins, president of the Franklin-based ASL Interpreter Referral Service Inc., a company that provides interpreters 24 hours a day for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, and both deaf and blind.
Kady-Hopkins said the youngsters who participated are not deaf, and of the women, only Sorber was deaf, and another woman is hard of hearing.
Kady-Hopkins' company has nine full-time employees, including Sorber. The business also has more than 200 freelance interpreters that service about 1,300 clients in the tri-state area.
"The goal is to educate people and children about people with disabilities so they can be more understanding and be sensitive," said Kady-Hopkins, who is hearing-impaired and whose husband of 18 years, Paul, is deaf.
In addition to teaching sign language classes at Rutgers University and at schools like St. Peter's, Kady-Hopkins who is on the pastoral council of St. Peter's Church, helped bring interpreters to assist deaf parishioners attending weekend Masses.
After about a month practicing every week for Sunday's performance, Carol Ann Norland said she was ready — albeit "a little nervous" — when she stood in front of about 60 congregants.
"Our little group has been enjoying doing this," said Norland, who is in her early 60s and has been wearing hearing aids since she was 6 years old.
Norland, a parishioner and disabilities advocate at St. Matthias R.C. Church in Franklin, where she lives, said the same group of women performed in sign language in October as part of that church's Disabilities Awareness Mass.
"Sign language is a very expressive and beautiful way to worship," she said.
During and after the Mass, the Rev. Tom Odorizzi, a pastor at St. Peter, commended Kady-Hopkins for her work as an advocate for people with disabilities.
Odorizzi said acknowledging congregants with disabilities is "the Catholic thing to do."
Referring both to the youngsters' performance on Sunday and to Kady-Hopkins' visits to the parochial school, Odorizzi said, "Quite often kids take so much for granted. . . . This is a great lesson for them; it teaches them to be compassionate."
Last fall, Kady-Hopkins visited St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School as part of the "Welcome to My World" half-day program where students learned sign language to experience what it is like to be deaf, were blindfolded and stuffed marshmallows in their mouths to understand what it would be like to have a speech impediment.
Kady-Hopkins' daughter Kristina Hopkins, a sixth-grader at the parochial school, who was in the audience Sunday, is happy with her mother's efforts.
"I think it's pretty cool what my mom is doing," said Kristina. "There's a lot of deaf people; it's a good thing to know about deaf people, so you know what to do when you see them."
The 12-year-old is not deaf or hearing impaired, but learned how to sign at a very young age.
Janet Sorber said she felt "very spiritual" as she made her way from the pew to the sanctuary at St. Peter the Apostle R.C. Church Sunday morning to join six other women in performing the hymn "Amazing Grace."
Unlike many of the songs sung at the church, this one was performed in American Sign Language by Sorber, who was born deaf, and the other women.
"It's relating to God; it was a great feeling," said Sorber, an East Brunswick resident, through Kathy Nilsson, who was at the 11 a.m. Mass as an interpreter.
The women and 16 fourth- and fifth-graders at St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School, who earlier performed the song "In Every Age" in sign language, were part of an observance of Deaf Awareness Month. They crossed their arms, stretched their hands toward the ceiling, and used other signs to convey words like "refuge" and "bright."
The group, called the Silent Choir, learned American Sign Language from Kathy Kady Hopkins, president of the Franklin-based ASL Interpreter Referral Service Inc., a company that provides interpreters 24 hours a day for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, and both deaf and blind.
Kady-Hopkins said the youngsters who participated are not deaf, and of the women, only Sorber was deaf, and another woman is hard of hearing.
Kady-Hopkins' company has nine full-time employees, including Sorber. The business also has more than 200 freelance interpreters that service about 1,300 clients in the tri-state area.
"The goal is to educate people and children about people with disabilities so they can be more understanding and be sensitive," said Kady-Hopkins, who is hearing-impaired and whose husband of 18 years, Paul, is deaf.
In addition to teaching sign language classes at Rutgers University and at schools like St. Peter's, Kady-Hopkins who is on the pastoral council of St. Peter's Church, helped bring interpreters to assist deaf parishioners attending weekend Masses.
After about a month practicing every week for Sunday's performance, Carol Ann Norland said she was ready — albeit "a little nervous" — when she stood in front of about 60 congregants.
"Our little group has been enjoying doing this," said Norland, who is in her early 60s and has been wearing hearing aids since she was 6 years old.
Norland, a parishioner and disabilities advocate at St. Matthias R.C. Church in Franklin, where she lives, said the same group of women performed in sign language in October as part of that church's Disabilities Awareness Mass.
"Sign language is a very expressive and beautiful way to worship," she said.
During and after the Mass, the Rev. Tom Odorizzi, a pastor at St. Peter, commended Kady-Hopkins for her work as an advocate for people with disabilities.
Odorizzi said acknowledging congregants with disabilities is "the Catholic thing to do."
Referring both to the youngsters' performance on Sunday and to Kady-Hopkins' visits to the parochial school, Odorizzi said, "Quite often kids take so much for granted. . . . This is a great lesson for them; it teaches them to be compassionate."
Last fall, Kady-Hopkins visited St. Peter the Apostle Elementary School as part of the "Welcome to My World" half-day program where students learned sign language to experience what it is like to be deaf, were blindfolded and stuffed marshmallows in their mouths to understand what it would be like to have a speech impediment.
Kady-Hopkins' daughter Kristina Hopkins, a sixth-grader at the parochial school, who was in the audience Sunday, is happy with her mother's efforts.
"I think it's pretty cool what my mom is doing," said Kristina. "There's a lot of deaf people; it's a good thing to know about deaf people, so you know what to do when you see them."
The 12-year-old is not deaf or hearing impaired, but learned how to sign at a very young age.
But it has inspired me to seek out a church locally (all the ones I know are atleast an hour drive). I found one and hope to attend once I am feeling better. Thanks for sharing this Miss-Delectable. 
