Introduction

In response to the great need for intensive, in-depth training for Southern Baptist church interpreters, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) offers Interpreter Training Program (ITP) courses.  The regional coordinator from NAMB’s ITP Advisory Board assigned to your state can provide information and guidance.  These courses can be offered in three venues:
  1. during or prior to the annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf,
  2. in conjunction with state conferences of the deaf or state Baptist conventions, or
  3. as state convention sponsored ITP events.

Many church interpreters have not been able to attend the Southern Baptist Conference for the Deaf (SBCD) and have found it advantageous to attend the ITP classes in their state.  Thousands of persons who are deaf and/or hard of hearing are able to receive the gospel message and continue in Christian growth through the efforts of these interpreters.

The following information is provided to encourage state conventions to offer ITP courses.

The Director of Missions in your state has a manual called “Guidelines for Establishing a State Sign Language Interpreter Training Program”.  Feel free to use this resource as a guide to help you plan interpreter training events in your state.
     
 
Historical Background

One Man’s Vision Sees Thousands Trained
Carter Bearden is a deaf man who has a heart for seeing the world won to Jesus.  He also is a man who had a God-given vision – a vision that depicted interpreters in Southern Baptist churches sharing God’s Word with exceptional clarity and ease.

When Carter received that vision, he was SBC’s Consultant of Deaf Ministries with the Home Mission Board.  His vision began to take shape in 1985, when he chose six Southern Baptist interpreters from around the country to make up the ITP Advisory Board.  The Advisory Board caught the vision, and helped Carter develop a program that would give Southern Baptist interpreters the highest level of professional training ever offered to church interpreters. (In recent years, the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has recognized the quality of these courses by awarding their members Certification Maintenance Program CEUs and ACET credits for each 10-hour course being taught through NAMB ITP.)

The first course was taught in 1986, during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Conference for the Deaf.  As has been the case ever since, all participants who successfully completed that course were awarded one CEU from the Home Mission Board.  Each time a Southern Baptist interpreter earns five NAMB CEUs, they receive a special  “Certificate of Recognition” from the North American Mission Board.
Since 1986, the HMB (NAMB) has offered one or two courses each year, prior to the annual SBCD week.  Also, many state conventions are offering these classes locally.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Southern Baptist interpreters have benefited from the realization of one man’s God-given dream.		  
     
  Mission Statement

 

To equip sign language and oral interpreters to minister in Southern Baptist churches.
  
     
  Vision Statement

 

The vision of the Interpreter Training Program is that people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing be saved, that Southern Baptist interpreters be linguistically and culturally proficient in facilitating communication of the gospel, and that all Southern Baptist churches be accessible to people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing.		  
     
  Core Values

 We value…

 		 
 
  • The necessity of an individual’s relationship with Christ.
  
 
  • The establishment of deaf ministries.
  
 
  • The ethical role of the church interpreter.
  
 
  • The vital role of deaf people in ministry.
  
 
  • Accuracy in interpretation, which is achieved through excellence in training on a broad range of interpreting skills and issues.
  
 
  • Deaf culture and the rights of people to choose communication and other appropriate accommodations.
  
 
  • Enlisting and training qualified interpreters who have been called of God.
  
 
State Baptist Convention Role

 

The North American Mission Board works with state Baptist conventions in providing ITP courses to interpreters.  A state convention may offer the ITP in a local church, an association building, a state convention building, a state Baptist conference center, or some other location of the state convention’s choosing.  However, any program undertaken independently will not be recognized by NAMB without prior approval of the ITP Advisory Board Regional Coordinator.		  
     
 
Advisory Board Members Regional Coordinators 

 

Joni Bice – Midwest  -  ND, SD, MN, IA, MO, OK, NE, KS   
e-mail: bice@osuokc.edu

Tammy Cantrell – Pacific Basin  -  Canada, Guam, AK, HI, Commonwealth of Northern Marinas Island
e-mail: tammyscantrell@gmail.com

Barb Coffan – Northwest  -  WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CA, NV, UT, CO
e-mail: CoffanB@Juno.com

 Hetty Otto - Southeast  -  FL, GA, SC, TN, AL, MS, PR, VI
e-mail: hettyo@aol.com

 Nancy Parrish - Southwest  -  AZ, NM, TX, LA, AR
e-mail: nparrish@verizon..net

Mary High – East Coast  -  NC, VA, WV, MD, NJ, PA, NY, MA, CT, NH, DE, VT, ME, RI, DC
e-mail: mhigh@gardner-webb.edu

Ina Faye Price – North Central   - WI, MI, IL, IN, OH, KY
e-mail: p_inafay@bellsouth.net
 
  Contact the local regional coordinator for information concerning training in your area.  
     
  NAMB is an approved sponsor of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Certificate Maintenance Program making available CEUs for certified and ACET members  
     
   
     
  4200 North Point Parkway
Alpharetta, GA  30022-4176
 770-410-6100		  
     
  To obtain the flyer, click here.  
     
  requires that you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in your computer. If not, you may download and install it by pressing on this button -