Signs of Grace Deaf Ministry

www.signsofgrace.org

The greater Cleveland area has a very large deaf population, but current statistics show that only a small percentage of the Deaf community attends church. Sadly, language and cultural differences often prevent the Deaf and Hearing community coming together to worship and fellowship. The Signs of Grace (SoG) ministry provides an opportunity for those barriers to come down!

We welcome Deaf and hearing people to fellowship with us by providing needed accommodations and respecting each other's differences! We also network and resource with other Deaf ministries and churches to reach the Cleveland area for Christ!

Signs of Grace provides opportunities for the Deaf and hearing community to fellowship, worship, and learn God's Word together. Special events, ministry interpreting, sign language training, and opportunities to volunteer are available through this ministry.

Since beginning SoG, God has established a new community of faith where Deaf and hearing people worship, serve, and socialize together. A number of Deaf individuals have accepted leadership positions in the ministry!  Several people have completed interpreting degrees and several more people are currently working toward the degree. We have begun a ministry for new believers to grow in their faith and are working toward providing a kids program to serve the needs of Deaf kids.

When & Where:

ASL Bible Study with Deaf teachers meets at 12:15 pm on Sundays.
The 10:30 worship service on Sunday is interpreted.

Be sure to visit our website: www.signsofgrace.org
You will discover information about Sign Language classes as well as Upcoming Special Events

History/Development of the ministry:

God made it clear that He was calling Grace Church to establish a Deaf ministry! So one woman with ‘rusty' sign skills received tutoring from a Deaf friend and began to teach a basic beginner sign class while she entered intense ASL training through an interpreter degree program. Three more people from that first sign class pursued an interpreting degree also and the group PRAYED like crazy. In the beginning, the ministry served one or two Deaf people while many hearing people at Grace learned sign in the ongoing sign classes. Three more people from the classes became degreed interpreters so that now Grace has 7 highly trained professional interpreters. Soon, the ministry began to experience amazing growth! We now serve 25 Deaf and Hard of Hearing members for church every Sunday. Outreach and community events are attended by hundreds of Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing signers, and God is faithfully drawing people to Jesus through SoG.