Inclusive Church has a network of voluntary Regional Ambassadors around the country. These ambassadors act as a point of contact between a region and Inclusive Church nationally. Please get in touch if you would like to be an ambassador for a region which does not currently have one or which only has one or two (you can work together). If your region has ambassadors already, why not contact them? The list is on our website and is always being updated.
The role description for Regional Ambassadors was updated during the annual ambassador training in 2022, in collaboration with the ambassadors themselves. It can be read here.
Susannah Peppiatt, an ambassador for Hereford, on the Hereford inclusion committee:
Herefordshire is a pretty rural and unpopulated kind of place - the sort of place you would easily associate with conservative views (both politically and socially). And the picture doesn’t get much more hopeful when you include the even more rural parts of South Shropshire that come under the umbrella of Hereford Diocese.And yet, Hereford Diocese sent a motion to the Church of England’s general synod to bless same-sex couples that had sat at the bottom of the agenda for years until, recently, it became redundant when the Bishops caught up and proposed the same thing. On a parish level, there are 10 churches listed on the Inclusive Church website in our area (11 if you count the one that has only just joined!), and another handful currently thinking about it. That may not sound like very many, but if all the parishes currently discussing it do sign up, more than 10% of the benefices in the Hereford Diocese would have at least some of their churches signed up to Inclusive Church (all of our churches are in groups - see the ‘pretty rural and unpopulated’ warning from earlier!) For such an unassuming place, I think we do punch above our weight a bit in terms of being inclusive and encouraging more churches to be more inclusive - and a big part of that, for us, is having a centralised committee. The Inclusive Church movement in Herefordshire grew out of the feelings of a group of people clustered around (but not exclusively attached to) the Cathedral - which meant that it’s always had a broader vision than the journeys of individual churches. Our committee is made up of a mix of people from across the Anglican diocesan area (mostly Anglicans, but not entirely!) Many of our committee members worship regularly at churches that have already signed up to Inclusive Church, but others of us don’t (yet…). Having a committee drawn from a variety of parishes and experiences means that we can draw on each other’s wisdom and ideas for what we can do in our own parishes, but it also means that we can do much more than we’d be able to do separately to promote the cause of inclusivity in our area. Over the last few years, we’ve run events on trans inclusion, disability, and why it matters for churches to be visibly inclusive, as well as an online Pride Service last June and a prayer vigil while CofE bishops were deliberating about same-sex relationships recently. Most of these events would have been impossible for most of our churches to run on their own, in terms of the amount of energy and effort it takes, but also in terms of publicity and just reaching enough people to make it viable (or useful!). But together, and with the support of the various members and allies we’ve built up over the years, we can run a variety of events that both help our existing churches in their inclusive journey, and also get new people and communities interested in becoming more inclusive. If you’ve ever felt like you wish more happened in your area to promote inclusion but don’t have the time or energy to do it all on your own, I would highly recommend recruiting a group of people to work together and be a focal point for events or support - ours seems to work! Peter Toon, an ambassador for Kent, on including people who are Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing:
Deafness is perhaps the disability which gets least sympathy. Misunderstandings due to deafness are often seen as a joke, or people get irritated by those who can’t hear very well, in a way they would not if that person could not see or walk. Although with elderly congregations in many churches hearing problems may be the commonest disability amongst churchgoers, deafness is also often not taken very seriously by the Church; people often seem to assume that once a loop has been installed the problem has been solved. When I was planning a seminar for inclusive churches on including people with hearing conditions, no-one in the diocese could tell me the name of the chaplain to the (D)deaf, or even knew whether we had one! So I was delighted when in the context of its Anna Chaplaincy work, my diocese advertised an online course on lip-reading - four weekly sessions lasting one hour on Zoom - and I signed up. Because the information came in a continuing ministerial education mailing, I had expected the course would focus on how church leaders can make things easier for (D)deaf people. There was some of that, but a good part of the time was devoted to an introduction to lip-reading. Although that was not what I was looking for and even though (so far), I can hear adequately, I found this really useful, as the exercises helped me understand what it is like to have to work out what people are saying by watching them. In turn, this made clear some of the things we need to do to help people with hearing loss understand us better. Judi Pettman, a teacher of (D)deaf children and tutor of lip-reading to adults, ran the course. She also runs a course on “Deaf Friendly Church” which includes these deafness awareness tips for Church leaders: · Use a microphone if you are given one – don’t say ‘Oh I won’t bother with that I can shout’. · Stand where people can see you. If you say a welcome sentence at the church door or stand in the middle of the church to say prayers, make sure people know what you are doing. A deaf person may sit at the front and then miss out. · Don’t cover your face with a book or paper. · Have good light shining on your face. If you stand in front of a window, then your face is in shadow. · Candle light makes shadows. Make sure people can follow on a screen or handout. · Don’t talk over background music. Or, if you do, write down what you are going to say for people to follow on a screen or notice sheet. · Don’t walk up and down, back and fro. · Attract everyone’s attention before you speak. Say ‘Fred is going to read the lesson’ then people know to look at Fred. · Make sure important dates and times are written on the notice sheet or on the website - don’t rely on verbal instructions. · Make sure the sound system is turned on and the loop system too. Allocate someone to check this. She points out many people with a hearing loss rely on lip-reading, whether or not they have learnt it formally. One of the best things you can do is to start your conversation with their name “Alison, have you had a good week?” We recognize our names quickly, turn to look and then we are ready to listen. You should also: · Face them when you speak so they can lip-read you. · Speak naturally without shouting or making exaggerating your lip movements. · Turn down or off the background noise e.g. music, shut windows to traffic noise, shut the door, turn off fans or equipment making a buzz or hum. · Make sure there is adequate light to lip read. · Ensure they are sitting in an appropriate place so they can see the speaker. · Use gestures to help.
Perhaps it’s worth taking her checklists with you next time you go to church and see how those leading worship do? The course made me aware how often those leading services do not following the advice above. I noticed how often those large Victorian brass lecterns seen in so many churches hide the reader’s face, and wonder whether the habit of some preachers of preaching from the lectern or at the front of the nave because it feels less formal than using the pulpit might actually be stopping some people from understanding the sermon. I’ve also noticed how hard it is even from a front pew to see the mouths of priests behind an altar at the other end of a long chancel.This may not matter for the Eucharistic Prayer when the context is clear and the text available in a service book, but it’s not a good place from which to give out the notices! These issues of course relate those who are hard of hearing, have age related deafness or have been deafened through accident or illness. These are problems which most churches will face. The situation for those Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their main language is rather different. Provision of a BSL interpreter is the best support for their inclusion. Sadly this is not realistic for all churches, but some can provide this and signed services are available both in person and online.
If you think churches you are in touch with would be interested either in Judi’s lip-reading course or the shorter “ Deaf Friendly Church” session you can contact her at judi.pettman@gmail.com |
