Learn About Our Workshops for the Deaf Community
Workshops Presented by IIDS
This workshop will address every facet of deaf ministry from its conception to its production of disciples for the Kingdom of God. While using the presenter’s book, “A 21st Century Deaf Ministry - From a Biblical Perspective” as a point of reference, interpreters
and deaf individuals will find insight on what is involved in setting up, maturing and maintaining a deaf ministry. This workshop will also cover the importance of ministry team selection, making the church a part of your team, and appropriate structure for a deaf ministry group. It is believed that if participants will apply the principles discussed, they will see their ministry move from survival, to stability, to success, to significance, and become a model 21st Century (d)Deaf Ministry.
This workshop focuses on the visual aspects of ASL by viewing pre-recorded videos and examining the structural integrity of the product and producing an English equivalency with a Black/African American slant. Participants will be able to accurately convey an English equivalent based on environment, ethnicity, and culture.
This workshop defines equal access, explains the differences between certified and qualified, deals with oppression for deaf consumers by interpreters and the hearing church culture, as well as addressing deaf patrons who are willing to accept sub-standard services out of a sense of obligation. Workshop will compare the Americans with Disabilities Act with biblical prospective on this issue.
Making a lesson come to life! During this workshop, we will take a look into the Book of Job to discover the central truth of the passage, incorporating the culture and language of the target receiver of the passage.
(3 hours)
This workshop focuses on audism and the plight of d/Deaf individuals in a Hearing church. Participants will examine ways to decrease and mitigate gaps within cultures. The participants will explore cultural gaps and identify at least 3 solutions they can immediately implement in their own churches to reduce recidivisms.
This workshop focuses on church vocabulary and sings often used for Biblical terms and church jargon. Come and explore different church signs used to minister the Gospel in ASL.
If you want to succeed as an interpreter or just as a person, you must learn how to connect with people. In EC/FC, find out the five principles and five practices to develop the crucial skill of connecting
The workshop session is divided into (2) parts and focus is directed to distinguishing the differences between proorviding a service and functioning as part of a vital ministry team.
It is imperative that individuals attending this workshop be prepared to have an open and honest dialogue about their perceptions of ministry. It is equally important that ministry leaders be repaired and open to change. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be challenged to evaluate their individual ministry and calling.
The workshop Take Your Foot off My Head [Oppression of the Deaf Community] (Butler), Ethical Decision-Making for Interpreters (Butler), Heart of the Interpreter [Dealing With Character and Purpose] (Butler), Interpreter Mentorship [Healthy Mentorship Relationships] (Butler), Interpreting Religious Ceremonies (Butler) (4 hours), Making Music Come ALIVE (Butler) (4 hours), Upon This Rock [Setting up s Deaf Ministry] (Butler) (6 hours) and You Said What?!? [Interpreting Scripture] (Butler);
(4 hours)
This workshop is perfect for introducing Deaf Ministry concepts to pastors along with church administrators, ministry leaders, and the general congregation. Workshop will introduce leadership and the general church to Deaf culture, American Sign Language, and how sub-ministries can partner with the Deaf for effective evangelism to the Deaf community.
Narrative: This interactive workshop uses the Holy Bible and supplemental information to define Salvation from a solely biblical perspective. It further engages the d/Deaf individuals to role play using prepared scenarios and separately personal experiences. The
participants will be able to explain Salvation and identify erroneous teachings and lead others to Salvation.
This interactive workshop was designed to help interpreting students and working interpreters become calm, confident, ethical, and responsible professionals. Interpreters must hold as their goal the best of professional decision-making behavior under both the best and the worst of conditions. The content of this workshop assumes that the students have little to extensive exposure to basic information that impacts the decision-making process; specifically, information such as the new NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct, information about American culture in general and American Deaf culture specifically, and an understanding of the deaf community as a linguistic and cultural minority that exist within a society that has historically oppressed the language, culture, and self-determination of deaf people. Conflict resolution as well as responding to a complaint will be addressed. Group activities and discussions are included.
This workshop focuses on the Interpreter and the use of techniques to maximize their skill set. The interpreter will be able to identify techniques and a list of personal mental and physical roadblocks that may interfere with providing a product that consumers acknowledge as clear and professional.
In the book with this title, John C. Maxwell says in order to reach your potential, you must be intentional about personal growth. Jump into this interactive workshop and discover which laws best fit you and how you can develop yourself and become a more effective and fulfilled individual.
The title of Pastor alone does not make one a pastor; it requires a shepherd heart. Come take a dive into the Word of God and discover and allow God to transform your heart and life to become a Shepherd of His people with cultural and language differences.
This interactive workshop identifies Teaming and examines the benefits thereof. Participants will explore traditional and non-traditional Teaming and be able to identify at least three types of teams via group discussion and role-plays to include pre and post
teaming discussions while learning how to give and receive feedback.
This workshop was designed to give interpreters the opportunity to examine their ethics, character, and integrity within the profession. Workshop will begin with introducing artistic temperaments of an interpreter and the negative stereotypes that follow. Workshop will address how eliminating character flaws improves the interpreters’ role and effectiveness in areas of professionalism, confidentiality, professional distance, and in general practices. In addition, workshop will compare NAD-RID National Council on Interpreting Code of Professional Rights and Responsibilities with biblical principles that reflect professionalism and integrity in character.
In the Black Church there is this back & forth (call & response) whereby the congregation is 100% engaged and a part of the service and seemingly tethered to the speaker/singer(s). This is a part of the culture that is inseparable within the d/Deaf and Hearing congregants. Interpreter(s) in this community must be ready to negotiate this rich cultural landscape. This interactive workshop shares techniques, nuances and role plays to maximize equal access within the church experience.
This workshop was designed to provide interpreters a better understanding of the concepts of mentoring. The session will include a discussion on the philosophies of mentoring as well as theories and strategies for effective mentoring relationships. Characteristics of an
effective mentor and protégé will also be discussed. Participants will have the opportunity to do some hands-on practice.
As interpreters, we’re often asked to interpret a friend or client’s wedding or perhaps a funeral, christening, or bar mitzvah. Although interpreting these professional services call for adequate preparation and advance knowledge of logistics, we are often called at the last minute to do so. This interactive, hands-on workshop will provide working professionals with preparation techniques, logistical insight, ethical guidelines, and resources that will make the practitioner more at ease. The workshop presentation and additional handouts will be available for participants to use as a model for upcoming and future event.
This interactive workshop was designed to teach the principles of effectively interpreting music. This workshop first discusses the original purpose of music and how music plays an intricate role in setting the mood and atmosphere in any environment. Participants will be introduced to techniques for conceptually interpreting songs and changing from content to context. Participants will be exposed to the importance of non-manuals that introduces rhythm and tone to music. Additionally, they will be able to explain song directionality, identify the three different types of songs (the Dialogue, the Storyteller, the Reporter), and present song with Gender and Character Specificity.
This workshop was designed to provide Christians a better understanding of the concepts of mentoring for spiritual growth. The session will include a discussion on the philosophies of mentoring as well as theories and strategies for effective mentoring relationships.
Characteristics of an effective mentor and protégé will also be discussed. Participants will have the opportunity to do some hands-on exercises.
This workshop examines the traditional church dynamics, politics and structure and where does the d/Deaf Ministry collide or thrive within that structure. Prepared scenarios will allow the participants to role play. Participants will be placed in responsible positions of church leadership and authority to make decisions that may have immediate or longlasting impact on the church. The participant will be more equipped to identify key stakeholders and budget doorkeepers.
This workshop, based on the book with the same title, will assist Christian interpreters and Deaf ministry workers in understanding ministry roadblocks (struggles associated with establishing and maintaining an effective Deaf ministry.) It will assist with mastering their intellectual GPS (God’s Positioning System) to help them navigate through frustrating issues many deaf ministry workers face while working in Deaf ministry. The workshop will introduce tools (rooted in scripture and prayer) that will help in the navigation process.
(6 hours)
The “On the Winning T.E.A.M.” workshop consists of lecture, role-play, and group discussions. Workshop will highlight different perspectives on TEAM Interpreting. The lecture portion will be supported by RID’s Standard Practice Paper. The activities introduced during group discussion will create a forum for problem resolution. In turn, the
workshop will heighten interpreters and team members understanding of working together in various settings and expound upon the importance of understanding one’s role. This workshop also consists of a review and questions and answers segment.
(6 hours)
This 6-hour workshop will confront issues as it relates to language and culture of the deaf and the appropriate use of sign choices for street evangelism. Workshop will also highlight several key topics such as: The Motivation of an Effective Witness, The Power of A Witness, Why God Gave Us Power a) To Be a Witness b) Spiritual Warfare, c) To Overcome your Fear of Witnessing, What Do I Do When People Aren’t Interested, Steps for Developing an Effective Plan of Evangelism, and Steps for Effective Soul Winning. In addition, group
activities will be utilized to demonstrate and practice effective ways to evangelize.
This workshop is designed to focus on the visual aspects of ASL by viewing pre-recorded videos and examining the structural integrity of the product and producing an English equivalency. Participants will be able to accurately convey an English equivalent based on environment, ethnicity, and culture.
When you think of Servanthood, do you envision it as activity performed by relatively lowskilled people at the bottom of the flow chart? During this workshop, we will examine the greatest servant and explore His attributes; this will allow us to discover what hinders us from effective service.
This interactive workshop was designed to help interpreting students and working interpreters become calm, confident, ethical, and responsible professionals. Interpreters must hold as their goal the best of professional decision-making behavior under both the best and the worst of conditions. The content of this workshop assumes that the students have little to extensive exposure to basic information that impacts the decision-making process; specifically, information such as the new NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct, information about American culture in general and American Deaf culture specifically, and an understanding of the deaf community as a linguistic and cultural minority that exist within a society that has historically oppressed the language, culture, and self-determination of deaf people. Conflict resolution as well as responding to a complaint will be addressed. Group activities and discussions are included.
In order for an organizational team to move forward, it’s important they are all walking the same path and moving in the same direction. In times past, it seems teams have worked as a compartmental group, often with one hand not knowing what the other was doing. During this session, we will work as a comprehensive group, on one accord, sorting through issues that have caused separation. In order for this to happen, there must be clarity of the vision. In an effort to clarify any misconceptions or loopholes, we will share a leadership model that has been adopted by many ministries, churches and organizational structures across the country. It’s the VISA model. Participants will also experience an onsite skills assessment. Assessments will be reviewed by certified interpreters and results will be offered upon conclusion of workshop.
This workshop was designed to teach the principles of effectively incorporating praise and worship into sign language production of music. The workshop gives interpreters the opportunity to examine the artistic temperaments of an interpreter and the opportunity to
evaluate their own character and integrity prior to producing worship on the hands. Facilitator will introduce how music plays an intricate role in setting the mood and atmosphere for worship. Participants will be introduced to techniques for conceptually interpreting songs and changing from content to context. Participants will be exposed to the importance of non-manuals that introduces rhythm and tone to music. Additionally, participants will be introduced to the art of leading the consumer into worshiping instead of copying while staying in their role.
This workshop was designed to help the Christian interpreter learn basic principles in balancing Ministry, Family, and Personal (Me) Time. During this workshop, we will discuss Biblical principles as it relates to God's order in our lives. We will emphasize the importance of scheduling to ensure all tasks are completed and time is allotted for individual prayer and relaxation.
This workshop will highlight three major principles: Out of Clutter, Find Simplicity, From Discord, Find Harmony, and In the Middle of Difficulty lies Opportunity. The workshop will also illuminate the four (4) categories of all of life's activities: Urgent and Important,
Important, but Not Urgent, Urgent, but Not Important, Neither Important, Nor Urgent. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will learn to prioritize their life and maintain order according to God's will.
Teaching is not filling your audience with content but with life changing principles and techniques that will empower one to make a lasting impact. During this workshop, we will discuss the principles and laws of teaching and how those laws apply to your audience’
learning experience.
This workshop is designed to promote awareness of professionalism in the church. Workshop will discuss principles, protocols and the culture of the professional interpreter and the application of these principles in a church setting. We will also discuss roles, responsibilities, preparation, appropriateness, attitude, boundaries, ethics, expectations, “a calling” and both the importance and implication of service. Workshop will discuss working with not only the head of the church (pastor, priest, rabbi, etc.), but also address working with other departments/ministries within the church. In addition, we will discuss out-reach, and maintenance.
This workshop examines the pre-recorded product produced by an Interpreter within a given recorded timeframe by using visual and audio media. Volunteers will be afforded the opportunity to be evaluated in areas such as fluency, sign choice, fingerspelling,
conceptual accuracy, affect, sign production and use of space. The interpreter will be able to identify their personal challenges and strengths by the same set of identifiers and commit to a personal improvement plan.
This workshop was designed to help interpreters understand the importance of increasing one’s vocabulary to enhance proper word-to-sign equivalence and to conceptualize word meanings. Presenter offers analytical thinking strategies to deduce content-to-context meaning. We will investigate semantics with a specific focus on the relationship between homophones and different possible referents. We will also address how non-manual communication plays a key factor when dealing with the relationship between a word or expression and the things in the world represented by those words or expressions. Instructor encourages participants to use creativity and a range of linguistic resources to come up with a faithful translation without the pressure of real-time processing. Learning synonyms and homonyms in ASL increases one’s sign vocabulary and also provides the interpreter with “tools” to become more effective during the actual interpreting process. Course will pull resources from poetry, music, scripture, political topics, and current events.
Narrative: This workshop focuses on affect and best practices to ensure the interpreter has maximum impact with minimum signs. Participants will examine ways to express a thought, concept or idea when punctuated by an exclamatory remark. The participants will be able to identify at least 5 non-manual markers to be used in their own practice.
(4 hours)
This workshop was designed to help deaf ministry leaders understand the importance of structure and effective leadership within a deaf ministry. Understanding one's role and responsibilities is essential to a successful ministry. A few of the topics discussed are: Being Proactive, Beginning with the End in Mind, Putting First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand, then Be Understood, Synergizing and more. Following some basic principles discussed at this workshop will help your leadership move from survival, to stability, to success, to significance. On completion of this workshop, deaf ministry workers and leaders will have the proper perspective on Effective Leadership and Effective Ministry.
This workshop will be approached from three different angles. Primarily, we will investigate the interpretation of Scriptures as it relates to history, culture, and the language and customs of Biblical times in order to determine context. Techniques and strategies will be discussed as well as a guideline for scriptural analysis, exegesis and comparative exegetical formation. Secondly, we will introduce a unique study philosophy that allows you to do your own study, and draw your own conclusions based on your interpretation of the content of scripture. Finally, we will use this concept to determine the proper word (sign) usage and ASL structure that can be used to convey the proper meaning and intent of a passage.
