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APP.COM - SIGNS OF WELCOME | Asbury Park Press Online
Three years ago, Aaron W. Fritzinger Jr. found what he had been looking for since he was a child.
The Brick man walked into Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Jackson and met an interpreter who could translate sermons spoken by a minister into sign language, a form of communication he could understand.
The deaf man said he went to church with his mother as a child. "I told my mother "Why isn't there an interpreter?' I didn't understand that," Fritzinger signed during a recent interview. His signs were interpreted into spoken words by Sue Woolverton, the church's interpreter.
"My mom told my dad we had to leave the church because there wasn't anything there. There was no interpreter," he said. "There wasn't another church to go to.
"Now I have a church that has an interpreter," he said.
Fritzinger was the first deaf person to join the church that the Rev. Robert Morrison and his wife, Kathe, started in 2001 with three other people. The congregation has since grown to about 170 people, Morrison said.
The church, which meets at the Lucy N. Holman Elementary School, 125 Manhattan St. in Jackson, offers a ministry to the deaf, with worship services interpreted into sign language at its 9:30 a.m. Sunday worship hour.
Morrison encourages other deaf people to attend.
He said he wanted to reach out to a population that often is reluctant to take part in organized religion.
More than "90 percent of people who are deaf do not have a church, in contrast to 46 percent of hearing people who go to church," he said.
Morrison, Fritzinger and John Lukacs, the second deaf person to join the church, all said they were thankful for Woolverton.
Religious interpreters are difficult to find, Morrison said. There are "so many words in the Bible that (students) just won't hear in the classroom," he said.
A special-education teacher at Howard C. Johnson Elementary School in Jackson, Woolverton said she first taught herself sign language as a child, before she went through a sign language interpreting program at Ocean County College in Toms River.
"I've always loved sign language. It is very important to me," Woolverton said.
She said deaf people may not go to church because most churches do not have interpreters. "There is not a large population of deaf people in any one area, so I think that it's hard to find a church that has an interpreter," she said.
Lukacs of Lakewood said he used to attend a Catholic church in North Jersey that had an interpreter. He now tries to find other deaf people to attend the Presbyterian church in Jackson with him, but he said it has been difficult.
"Deaf people want to go bowling, but they don't want to go to church," he signed.
"Sounds kind of normal," Morrison joked.
Morrison said "the differences are broken down,"
when the hearing and the deaf laugh and joke around together. He said Fritzinger and Lukacs are "a real part of our family."
He also said he thinks parents of the deaf and deaf people may be reluctant to attend church because they question if "there really is an accepting environment."
But "the people in the congregation understand that there are people like Aaron and John, and are going to be more understanding," he said. Since joining the church, both men have obtained jobs at Walgreens with the assistance of other parishioners, he said.
Morrison and his wife also started churches in Oklahoma and Texas, he said. When asked why they chose to open a church in Jackson, he said he wanted to help foster a sense of community in the township.
"Jackson is a growing community, with people moving in, into big houses on big lots, but a lot of people don't have a sense of community, of relationship," he said. "Their doctor might be up north, their family might be in North Jersey, the Bronx, New York City. So Jackson is a challenge to bring people together."
Three years ago, Aaron W. Fritzinger Jr. found what he had been looking for since he was a child.
The Brick man walked into Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Jackson and met an interpreter who could translate sermons spoken by a minister into sign language, a form of communication he could understand.
The deaf man said he went to church with his mother as a child. "I told my mother "Why isn't there an interpreter?' I didn't understand that," Fritzinger signed during a recent interview. His signs were interpreted into spoken words by Sue Woolverton, the church's interpreter.
"My mom told my dad we had to leave the church because there wasn't anything there. There was no interpreter," he said. "There wasn't another church to go to.
"Now I have a church that has an interpreter," he said.
Fritzinger was the first deaf person to join the church that the Rev. Robert Morrison and his wife, Kathe, started in 2001 with three other people. The congregation has since grown to about 170 people, Morrison said.
The church, which meets at the Lucy N. Holman Elementary School, 125 Manhattan St. in Jackson, offers a ministry to the deaf, with worship services interpreted into sign language at its 9:30 a.m. Sunday worship hour.
Morrison encourages other deaf people to attend.
He said he wanted to reach out to a population that often is reluctant to take part in organized religion.
More than "90 percent of people who are deaf do not have a church, in contrast to 46 percent of hearing people who go to church," he said.
Morrison, Fritzinger and John Lukacs, the second deaf person to join the church, all said they were thankful for Woolverton.
Religious interpreters are difficult to find, Morrison said. There are "so many words in the Bible that (students) just won't hear in the classroom," he said.
A special-education teacher at Howard C. Johnson Elementary School in Jackson, Woolverton said she first taught herself sign language as a child, before she went through a sign language interpreting program at Ocean County College in Toms River.
"I've always loved sign language. It is very important to me," Woolverton said.
She said deaf people may not go to church because most churches do not have interpreters. "There is not a large population of deaf people in any one area, so I think that it's hard to find a church that has an interpreter," she said.
Lukacs of Lakewood said he used to attend a Catholic church in North Jersey that had an interpreter. He now tries to find other deaf people to attend the Presbyterian church in Jackson with him, but he said it has been difficult.
"Deaf people want to go bowling, but they don't want to go to church," he signed.
"Sounds kind of normal," Morrison joked.
Morrison said "the differences are broken down,"
when the hearing and the deaf laugh and joke around together. He said Fritzinger and Lukacs are "a real part of our family."
He also said he thinks parents of the deaf and deaf people may be reluctant to attend church because they question if "there really is an accepting environment."
But "the people in the congregation understand that there are people like Aaron and John, and are going to be more understanding," he said. Since joining the church, both men have obtained jobs at Walgreens with the assistance of other parishioners, he said.
Morrison and his wife also started churches in Oklahoma and Texas, he said. When asked why they chose to open a church in Jackson, he said he wanted to help foster a sense of community in the township.
"Jackson is a growing community, with people moving in, into big houses on big lots, but a lot of people don't have a sense of community, of relationship," he said. "Their doctor might be up north, their family might be in North Jersey, the Bronx, New York City. So Jackson is a challenge to bring people together."