| Joanne Anderson |
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In her own words: As a captioner at New Life Church in Milton, Ontario, I have had not only the honour, but the privilege of captioning many Sunday morning sermons delivered by one of God's great pastors - Reverend Dan Rogge. For everyone who comes in contact with him, young or old, he goes by the simple, unassuming name of "Pastor Dan". He is full of love, compassion, inspiration, energy and spiritual guidance. He is assisted by his very capable and loving wife Natalie, and a devoted team of workers including assistant/worship pastor, Esther Kessler, youth pastor Paul Montaigne, other musicians, technical assistants and our team of captioners. New Life is a unique church where everyone involved with the service works together as a team to deliver the word of the Lord to not only their every day congregation, but to a very special group of people - the deaf and hard of hearing congregants. Our great leader, Pat Gardiner, gathered up a team of captioners to bring the sermon to the deaf and hard of hearing congregants. This lady possessed a dream where she envisioned that her beloved church would be the first Canadian church to reach out to the deaf and hard of hearing, and that originally she would be the one to provide this much needed service. After a year of captioning at the New Life Church, Pat's health deteriorated and she was no longer able to caption the sermons. This is where the "Captioning Team" entered the picture. Pat would not let her dream die. She is a hero in this true life story. With some of her captioning friends being aware of Pat's health problems, and her wish to continue captioning services at the church, a team of dedicated volunteer captioners was formed. The team consists of six senior captioners, along with student captioners, where everyone freely shares their knowledge and their experiences while continually learning from each other and supporting one another. Our egos are left at the door. It is interesting to note that each one of our captioners follows a different religion. Captioning at New Life Church has changed my life in many ways. It began simply by giving my time and skills, once or twice a month, but has blossomed into the establishment of life-long friendships, an admiration for fellow captioners, a renewed interest in the teachings of the Bible and most importantly, a recognition that I am able to make a positive contribution, regardless of how big or small, into the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people who can now "hear" the sermon through my voluntary efforts. We are their communicator and are greatly valued. Everyone benefits from this ministry - the deaf, the hard of hearing, the congregation and the individual captioner. Remember, you are captioning in a loving and very forgiving environment - have no fear if "Nebuchadnezzar" is not written perfectly the first time - while at the same time receiving words of appreciation, encouragement and respect from members of the congregation for the assistance you give. Where else would one receive all this while fine-tuning your captioning skills! I highly recommend volunteering your time and skills to your church, synagogue or place of worship. Think about it. You can make it happen. Just believe in yourself and then give of yourself. |
