St. Gallaudet Deaf Prayer Group Grows in 2022

St. Gallaudet Deaf prayer group saw tremendous growth in 2022, adding 74 members to its roster.

The group welcomed new English voicer Phil Berrie. Berriel is a faithful Episcopalian who has a love for American Sign Language (ASA) and continues on his journey of learning our language. His role contributes to St. Gallaudet’s mission of worshiping in ASL and English simultaneously, with neither language acting as a secondary or lesser language. The group is also blessed on many occasions with guest voicers, including Bishop Doyle during Holy Week.

To facilitate those of St. Gallaudet participating in the livestream, Amy Waltz-Reasonover signed Eucharist alongside Bishop Doyle during the opening worship of Council. This opened doors to travel to parishes throughout our diocese to do similar work.

Representing St. Gallaudet, Waltz-Reasonover began traveling to parishes to sign worship and invite congregations into the welcoming of Deaf worshippers in their communities. The group visited Emmanuel Episcopal, Katy; St. Phillips, Hearne; Grace Episcopal, Houston; Calvary Episcopal, Bastrop; and St. Mark’s, Houston, Integrity Worship. Also visited were Lord of the Streets, Houston, as it relaunched worship on Christmas Eve. Regular participation continued with Houston Canterbury and St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston, Third Ward. St. Gallaudet also facilitated a time of online remembrance and memorial for the University of Houston's Dr. Scot Pott, who was a leader in Houston's deaf community. Leading nearly 150 people in memorializing Pott, the group nenewed a profound connection to our local community and service to those who were hurting.

After participating in Easter Vigil at Grace, St. Gallaudet’s was featured in an Episcopal News Service article on April 28, 2022 by Egan Millard. This article generated several new inquiries about deaf worship, both throughout our diocese and in the larger church, opening opportunities for people of our group to serve the church in new and exciting ways. The group is seeing a movement surrounding justice and freedom for deaf Episcopalians and is pleased to be part of that movement of the Spirit.