United Camp Meeting: Day 6

Sandra Dombrowski
Jul 6
2 min read

Jessica McGowan Smith (facing right), SNEC DEAF Ministries coordinator, provides deaf translation for youth meeting.

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Deaf Ministries at camp meeting
Evening speaker, Bill Knott's sermon summary
Family photos

DEAF Ministries: At United Camp Meeting 2025, Southern New England Conference (SNEC) DEAF (Deaf Everywhere Are Family) Ministries provided deaf interpretation for meetings in the main pavilion and some youth programming, a long-standing SNEC tradition. But this year, DEAF Ministries also presented a seminar every day from Sunday to Friday, teaching the rudiments of American Sign Language and introducing attendees to Deaf Ministries. Jessica McGowan Smith, SNEC DEAF Ministries coordinator, and Rood Mettellus, a recently baptized Deaf church member and teacher at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston, were the instructors. “A year ago, [Rood] didn’t even own a Bible, and now he is teaching a class at camp meeting!” McGowan Smith said. “Hopefully, this class provided a solid foundation for working with Deaf people and reaching them for Jesus.” For more information about SNEC DEAF Ministries, contact Jessica at snecdeaf@gmail.com.

Wednesday night, June 25, with Bill Knott:

A girl wearing a party dress, feeling like a princess, sits on the porch waiting for a ride that never comes. Her mom hands her the phone. Her friend is calling to inform her that she can’t come to the party. The other girls don’t want to come if a black girl is going to be there. “Why does this always happen to me, Mom?” she sobs.

“I wish stories like this didn’t happen anymore,” said Knott. But racism is as old as sin and certainly hasn’t disappeared, even in the church. Knott unpacked Acts 10, Peter’s dream of the unclean animals. Finishing with verse 28, Knott concluded that “God is not calling you to eat unclean meat, but to eat with strangers.” Knott addressed racial prejudice in the church and laid out what God wants His end time people to be: a daring and caring faith community. He warned that accepting diversity is going to challenge us and call us out of our comfort zones. We have a special mission: To tell the world that no matter what language you speak, whether you are rich or poor, slim or wide, tall or short, old or young, this is where you belong. You are welcome!