20/09/2024
Rev Dr Hannah Lewis, Lead Chaplain with Deaf people for the Diocese of Oxford, will preside over the service in BSL with a voice over provided from Tom & Kat Pearson.
The service has been recorded at the only purpose-built chapel for Deaf congregations, the Chapel of St Mark with St John at Reading Deaf Centre where there is a monthly Parish Holy Communion Service in BSL. Members of the congregation will provide the reading and prayers.
The Preacher is Rev Canon Cathy Nightingale, Deaf Chaplain in the Church of England Diocese of Manchester.
She will talk about the role of Deaf people in ministering to the Deaf Community including Charles Davis, a Deaf cobbler from Stoke on Trent, who founded Stoke Deaf Church in the nineteenth century.
“He gave up a good job to encourage other Deaf people, to let them know they could learn about God. The examples we have of those Deaf people who have founded Deaf churches so that other Deaf people could learn about Jesus demonstrate how we can all follow God’s calling.” she will say.
The Church of England shares national online services every Sunday at 9am across Facebook, YouTube and churchofengland.org. Each service receives an average of 150,000 views per week.
Find out more about Deaf churches near you here.
The Autumn edition of the Disability Matters newsletter to be published later this year will feature a range of articles by Deaf writers and speakers, as well as signposting to other related resources and events. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.