The religious education of Sadie Griffith

From: Savannah Morning News, GA - Mar 31, 2007

Dana Clark Felty

What Sue Thompson remembers most about being a child in Trinity United Methodist Church was prancing down the aisle each Sunday and plopping down next to her grandfather, Harry Zoucks.

What doesn't immediately come to mind were the hundreds of sermons and Bible stories taught by pastors and teachers over the years.

Thompson believes the message sank in anyway. After all, she grew up in that church and married husband Charlie Thompson there.

Now Sue wants the same experience for their two grandchildren.

For 11-year-old granddaughter Sadie Griffith, though, there's an obstacle to learning about her family's religion. Unlike anyone else at Trinity, Sadie is deaf.

While the Thompsons loved the historic "mother church of Methodism" and its intimate congregation, they grew concerned that Sadie wasn't catching any of the religious lessons other children learn just by being present at church.

"Everybody is so kind to her. Every Sunday she passes the offering plate," said Sue. "And she says thank you, and everybody kind of giggles because nobody ever says thank you at the offering plate."

"But I felt that maybe we ought to go to a church that has a deaf church service," she said. "(Sadie) is coming to the services and experiencing the community and love - which I think is the most important part - but she's missing the part about religion."

The Rev. Enoch Hendry agreed and brought the matter to the church's leaders.

"When Sadie first walked in the door, we obviously embraced her and were so pleased and proud and yet it took us a while to think about this," said the minister. "There's so much about church, about ritual, that we take for granted, stuff we don't think about. Here Sadie was sort of missing the point of everything."

Leaders agreed to pay an interpreter to sign Sunday morning worship services just for Sadie.

Hendry contacted Rou Jarvis, the interpreter at Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church, to help him find someone.

It wasn't an easy task, he said.

Fewer than a dozen interpreters with credentials live in the Savannah area. Of those interested in religions, most are already providing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting for their home church.

"We weren't at all sure we could find somebody," Hendry said.

Jarvis put Hendry in touch with Andrea Ryan, a certified interpreter for the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Church really wasn't her "forte," Ryan said. But she was touched by the spirit behind the invitation.

"The fact that they were willing to pay an interpreter fee for an 11-year-old deaf child, it just blew me away," she said.

Sadie was excited to see Ryan for the first time during December Advent season.

The girl was also grateful her family could stay at Trinity.

"I think Trinity is a very wonderful church and so beautiful inside and outside," Sadie wrote in an interview. "It is fun. It has people who are very nice."

Often, Sadie and her family bring along her best friend Kiara Jordan, who is also deaf but wears a cochlear implant. They attend Sunday school classes with hearing children their age. The children use a workbook for scripture lessons and make crafts.

At first, Sadie was "enthralled" to have an interpreter at worship services, Sue said.

"Now she's beginning to act like a kid. Now she sits there and looks at the ceiling just like any child would."

There's really no subtle way for Sadie to tune out.

She sits on the front row, the closest person in the room to Hendry and to Ryan, who sits to the right of the altar.

Occasionally, Sadie's eyes drift away. Ryan continues signing whether Sadie and Kiara are paying attention or not. If they squirm, communicate to each other or even yawn, most of the people sitting behind them will notice.

Sue concedes it's not quite fair.

Hearing kids are free to sit anywhere they like, quietly daydream, read or play with crayons during Sunday morning worship services, just like Sue did when she was a kid.

But, said Sue, she holds her granddaughter to a higher standard.

"I do hold her to a higher standard. I know that," Sue said. "But it's in every way, not just in church but in all aspects of her life." When it comes to all children's religious education, Hendry said the standards depend largely on what parents want to teach children outside of church.

"We've got an 8-year-old who hangs on every word, or at least I have the sense that he does," Hendry said. "We don't really have an expectation on a child."

Maybe that's working as Sadie's grandparents had hoped.

During a recent communion service, Ryan signed Hendry's words as Sadie took communion.

"God loves you," Hendry said after offering Sadie the ceremonial grape juice.

Sadie signed with a flick of her index finger from her forehead.

"I know!"

© 2007 Savannah Morning News.