Detroit Free Press Article about SignWriting

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
February 13, 2006

Congratulations, Ron, for the great work you are doing!

The article below is now on our web site in our Archive...Here is the  
link:

http://signwriting.org/archive/docs3/sw0287-US-DetroitFreePress- 
Jan2006.pdf

I will place this link on different web pages on our SignWriting site  
later... It is amazing to realize that people are reading the Bible  
because of SignWriting...

Jerry...maybe you can link to the above pdf file on the SignBible  
site?...Many thanks!

Val ;-)



On Feb 13, 2006, at 2:08 PM, Valerie Sutton wrote:

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> Home | Back
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> A joyful noise from Shores Deaf Church
>
> Pastor works on the cutting edge
>
> BY ANDREA K. FARMER
> FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
>
> January 24, 2006
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> The Rev. Ronald Dettloff uses sign language in a hymn Sunday at the  
> Shores Deaf Church in St. Clair Shores. Detloff, 56, is not hearing  
> impaired, but studied sign language in college and helped found the  
> church in 1987. (JERRY S. MENDOZA/Special to the Free Press)
>
> The Rev. Ronald Dettloff helped found the Shores Deaf Church in  
> 1987 to spread the word of God in a language that hearing-impaired  
> people could understand.
>
> What he didn't foresee was how that language would change in the  
> next 20 years.
>
> What sets the St. Clair Shores church apart from the 10 or so other  
> deaf churches in metro Detroit is the extent to which it uses  
> SignWriting, a series of printed symbols that represent signed  
> languages, in this case American Sign Language.
>
> Through use of a computer software program, Dettloff is working to  
> translate the entire Bible into SignWriting. The church began using  
> it about six years ago.
>
> "We're very successful with teaching people through SignWriting,"  
> Dettloff said. "We're the only church in the world that translates  
> the Bible to SignWriting."
>
> During services, Dettloff speaks and signs simultaneously. He uses  
> the SignWriting on a projector in lectures at the church throughout  
> the week.
>
> "Seeing people understand and get to know God," said Dettloff, 56,  
> who lives in St. Clair Shores. "That is the most rewarding thing."
>
> Dettloff, who began studying sign language in college, said he felt  
> a calling to start a church for deaf people. But it wasn't until  
> after he was a pastor at the Shores church that he researched his  
> family tree -- he was adopted -- and discovered one of his  
> grandfathers was deaf.
>
> Christian churchgoers come from as far as Romeo to attend services  
> at the Shores church, an Assembly of God affiliate at 10 Mile and  
> Harper. The church, which has about 50 parishioners, uses a bus to  
> pick up those who don't have rides to the Sunday service.
>
> Annette Usher, 44, has been attending the Shores church for more  
> than three years. Although Usher also worships at other parishes  
> with her family, she has grown fond of the Shores services.
>
> "I like to sit and pray in sign language so I can worship God  
> myself," said Usher, who lives in Detroit. "At the hearing church,  
> I can't understand the service because there is no interpreter."
>
> Through the church, parishioners can participate in games, movie  
> nights and an annual trip to FaHoLo deaf family camp in Grass Lake.
>
> After the Sunday service, the church hosts a meal and social for  
> all attendees.
>
> For some, like St. Clair Shores resident Bob Doyle, 63, church- 
> related activities are the main instances of social interaction  
> during the week. Doyle is deaf and partially blind.
>
> "We have a great time," he said. "It's a wonderful way to get out  
> and meet new people."
>
> Clinton Township resident Nicole McReynolds, 18, has met many new  
> friends through the church, including her boyfriend, Clinton  
> Township resident Ken Benando, 32.
>
> "In the fellowship, there are many different people to meet and  
> we've all come to worship God," McReynolds said.
>
> Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
>
>
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