3rd Most Unreached

Hello, Church Family! We are absolutely thrilled to let you know about a new resource we have available to our congregation and anyone else who might benefit.

Did you know that American Sign Language is the third most-used language in North America after only English and Spanish?1 It is estimated that there could be as many as 2 million deaf people in the United States alone, and there are many more who have some level of difficulty hearing.2 However, less than 8% of deaf people in the United States attend church and less than 4% claim to have a personal relationship with the Lord.2 Some mission organizations even say that the deaf community is the largest unreached people group in North America.2 There are many complex reasons why most deaf people do not attend church, from a history of exclusion dating back to at least the Middle Ages3 to the obvious communication issues that they face when there aren’t interpreters to the fact that most parents of deaf children never learn to sign and, therefore, don’t often explain deep theological concepts to their kids.3 The sad truth is that church just hasn’t been accessible to most people in the deaf community.

Recently, we have started having a live American Sign Language interpreter at our 9:15AM service. She is very gifted and has already been a blessing to our church. She sits facing the congregation at the front of the right section of the Worship Center as you view the stage. If this would be helpful to any of you reading this, we hope that you are able to come to the 9:15 service and sit in view of her. She interprets for the whole service, including the worship time, announcements, and message.

The other reason we wanted to let everyone know about this is that we are hoping you will invite anyone you know who uses ASL who might be in need of a church family. We hope that this resource will provide an opportunity for local members of the deaf community to participate in worship and receive the Gospel in their own language, perhaps for the first time!

We look forward to worshiping with you all this Sunday! Have a great weekend!

Sources:
1 - American Sign Language | Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CDHH).
2 - 3ADM Deaf Ministry
3 - Church access for the deaf | Lifestyle | fredericknewspost.com