Interview
Sarah Dawkins, CEO of Torch Trust, reflected not only on Sight Loss Sunday but on the emerging technologies that enable production of more accessible resources.
“The thing that has changed in the last year is that we have a whole library of Christian books for people to access—and we have managed to download that library onto an SD card,” she said.
What’s that mean? More portable and accessible versions of the Bible, for starters.
The Braille Bible, produced through a large embossing machine after being transcribed, is about 45 volumes of large, bound books. While a tremendous resource for blind people, it’s not very easy to carry around.
“It’s quite bulky If you’re going to church,” explained Dawkins. With the SD card, Torch has been able to load large and small texts, then engage volunteer readers—or even AI—to turn them into audio versions.
The advent of new resources is just one facet of the theme for Sight Loss Sunday: “Who does God call?”
Dawkins believes that churches are good at welcoming people with all sorts of disabilities. “But churches sometimes struggle with letting people with disabilities to lead,” she said. “The church is missing out if we don’t let people serve and use their gifts.”
She offered the example of a man who lost his sight quite suddenly. “He was a really gifted reader in church—and he missed doing it,” she said. “People said, ‘let’s find a way he can do it,’ and so the audio technology is the way he could do it.”
Another example: a women who is an exceptional musician. “You can tell she’s gifted and we benefit from letting her lead,” said Dawkins. “They are not honored guests—but they are pat of the family.”
She urges churches to take a moment to think about what it would like to be part of your church if you didn’t have sight or have limited sight. “Every church is different,” she said. “For example, if you are in a place where chairs can move, are you setting them out each week where everything is the same place?” she asked. “That means people can have security in knowing where they’re going.”
Dawkins also said churches need to be aware of how much of the service appears on a screen. “It means if someone sat here with limited sight, they are feeing excluded if there is no one to describe what is happening,” she said.
Even the end of a church service is an important time. “Are there people wondering who they want to go and talk to, of how they can get a coffee?” she asked. “That moment is the hardest. They don’t’ know who is there. Guide them and introduce them.”
Blind Faith podcast
Walking by Faith podcast
Behind the Scenes
A series of videos showing how resources are created at Torch Trust
