[bksvol-discuss] Re: Looking for a Book: U.C.C. hymnal
- From: "Sharon" <mt281820@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:09:35 -0500
Maybe this guy can help.
Sharon
Massillon Independent, OH, USA
Friday, February 23, 2007 Born blind, UCC pastor has knack for seeing into
souls By STEPHEN HUBA
Stephen.Huba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Caption: Rev. Barry
Stirbens stands behind the pulpit at Grace United Church of Christ, where he
has been pastor since September. PHOTO BY KEVIN WHITLOCK/THE INDEPENDENT
Rev. Barry Stirbens preaches with his hands.
No, he doesn't gesticulate wildly to make a point - he needs his hands to
preach.
Blind from birth, Stirbens uses his hands to read the Bible in Braille or
refer to sermon notes from the pulpit. Those hands have served him well in
33 years of ministry, whether typing in a sermon or shaking a hand or
comforting someone in a time of grief.
Now they're helping him serve the people of Grace United Church of Christ in
Massillon.
"I still don't know every nook and cranny in this building, but I'm
learning," Stirbens said, walking down the aisle past the wooden pews.
Stirbens, 59, of Jackson Township, began his pastorate here in September,
during which time the people have come to love him and his ministry.
"He sees more than the average person," said longtime member Stan Crofut,
70, of Massillon. "He's inspiring."
Crofut feels a special connection with Stirbens because he rebuilt the
pulpit so that it would better hold the pastor's large, floppy Braille
Bible. His first Sunday at Grace UCC, Stirbens could barely hold the Bible
and read from it at the same time.
As Stirbens readily admits, "It hasn't always been an easy road. It's been a
lot of hard work."
A native of Youngstown, Stirbens and his twin brother were born six weeks
premature. His blindness resulted from medical complications after the
birth, he said.
Stirbens' calling to the ministry came early in life. By age 14, he felt
"conscious of the fact that there was a God," and by 17, he felt "very
definitely" called by God, he said.
Once, in college, some well-meaning people laid hands on him and prayed for
God to heal him of his blindness, but nothing happened. That didn't shake
Stirbens' nascent faith any.
"I do believe in healing," he said. "I believe that God heals us in the ways
which are most profitable for him."
Stirbens went on to seminary, got married and was assigned to his first
pastorate, in Talmage, Neb. He and his wife, Kathy, have a daughter,
Elizabeth, who is now a freshman at Kent State University.
After Nebraska, Stirbens spent 10 years serving three small UCC
congregations in Holmes County. His arrival in Massillon last fall came
after 20 years at a church in Alliance.
Church council President Bev Denholm was on the committee that extended the
call to Stirbens and eventually hired him. "I was just very impressed,"
she said. "I was in awe."
Denholm, 62, of Massillon, said Stirbens was selected for "his sincerity,
his honesty and his feeling for the position." She remembers talking to him
on the phone and then meeting him for the first time.
"He arrived at the church before I did that night, and somebody had already
let him in. He heard my voice, and he said, 'Well, Beverly's here.' He
recognized me, and I was so impressed. Then he rattled off my phone number,"
she said.
At first, Stirbens' blindness was a distraction to some, Denholm said. But
now, most parishioners are used to it.
"I forget he's blind. Most people do, too," she said. "I once told him,
'Barry, we forgot you were blind,' and he said, 'That's the nicest thing you
could say to me.'"
Crofut thinks Stirbens' disability still bothers some people in the church
but that the majority are supportive. "He's overcome a very severe handicap,
and he's done it quite proudly," he said.
Stirbens uses public transportation to get to and from work, but he relies
on congregants to take him on hospital calls and shut-in visits. He also
defers to lay leaders for things like communion and the collection.
"I don't handle the (communion) elements," he said. "I don't have the best
stability in the world, and that grape juice stains."
Because of his dependence on others, Stirbens sees his blindness as a
blessing in disguise. It prompts others in the church to step up to the
plate and help out, he said.
"I believe the blindness helps to contribute to a ministry where a lot of
people get involved," he said. "I can't tell you the number of times people
have told me, 'I never knew Mrs. Jones, or some other shut-in, before.' It
turns into a whole additional ministry for them."
In other ways, especially computer technology, Stirbens is mostly
self-sufficient.
He uses a machine called a Braille 'n' Speak to type notes and have them
either printed or read to him later. He also uses adaptive screen reading
technology - the software is Job Access With Speech (JAWS) for Windows - to
read the computer, prepare sermons and develop the order of weekly worship
services.
Sometimes, people ask him if he is angry at God about his disability.
Stirbens always has a ready answer.
"I'm not angry at God. I think that God has been able to use me in the
capacity that I am in a positive way," he said. "God can take any disability
and use it for his glory."
http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=14172&r=0&Category=3
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-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Shelley L.
Rhodes
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 5:11 PM
To: brl@xxxxxxx; bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Aernet list serv;
blindtech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: visionrehabtherapist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Looking for a Book: U.C.C. hymnal
hi you all,
I got a question and wondering if anyone has an answer to match. I just
joined a Presby church that uses the United Church of Christ Hymnal. I have
the Presby hymnal, but a lot of the hymns are different, and so is the
numbering and most of the ones I need are of course not in the public
domaine and there for searchable on the internet.
Does anyone know if a Electronic version or a braille version of this hymnal
is available and the cost of such a book. I would be extremely interested
in the electronic as I can put it on my Braillenote, cut and paste the hymns
right into the bulleton before I emboss it so that I have complete access to
everything while sitting in the pew just like everyone else. Plus my church
is two to three towns over, and a taxi, subway, subway and car trip away
from me on Sunday morning so i don't really want to carry big books, but if
I have too... smile.
If this book isn't available does anyone know of anyone or business willing
to make a copy available. I KNOW this is going to be expensive and is why i
am trying to explore all my options on finding one.
Thanks for the help.
unfortunately they don't scan well, smile, or I would just borrow one and
scan it though perhaps that will be what I will have to do. And just usede
willing readers to edit it.
Thank you.
Shelley L. Rhodes B.S. Ed, CTVI
and Judson, guiding golden
juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.
Graduate Alumni Association Board
www.guidedogs.com
Dog ownership is like a rainbow.
Puppies are the joy at one end.
Old dogs are the treasure at the other.
Carolyn Alexander
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