Come Let Us Sing & ASL in the United Church

The team after a day of filming at the General Council Office: (front) Rev. Phil Weston; (left to right) Helen Bickle, Kim Upton, Leah Riddell, Alydia Smith; (back) Owen Sheppard, PJ Boyd.

Credit: Rev. Phil Wilson

 2 Open my ears, that I may hear

voices of truth thou sendest clear;

and while the wavenotes fall on my ear,

everything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!

While I was minister of Bridge St. United Church in Belleville (my final pastorate) we were approached by the local Quinte Deaf Fellowship about using our space for the small congregation. The building in which they gathered had been condemned and they were homeless for worship. Would we have room for them for a few weeks until they found a suitable home? We gave them use of our lovely chapel as well as a small office and in the end they stayed for a year -- an unexpected relationship we made work. 

That Fall we had a guest speaker for our anniversary service who had a connection to this community so we invited their congregation to join us and found an ASL interpreter. There were members of the congregation who could sign as well because of their involvement with the Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville. 

I was interested to see that the United Church has developed an online video resource for the deaf and that the pastor of the Belleville congregation is one of the team.  There are different ways of seeing and hearing the Good News and we may take our senses for granted. As we attend worship today we might give thought to those who are hearing challenged to varying degrees and what this means for full participation in congregational life, including singing. Here is a portion of the recent news release. 

Published On: September 11, 2024

At the same time as we commemorate 100 years of The United Church of Canada in 2025, we also consider what we’d like to sing for the next century, and how this reflects full participation for everyone. Developing new resources is an investment in the faith formation and spiritual health of the Church.

Then Let Us Sing! is a Centennial project, and the ASL videos are mandated within the project. Most of the ASL videos on the YouTube channel originate in the United States, so expanding the availability of Canadian options was important to consider in the development of the project, says Rev. Phil Wilson, consultant interpreter and coordinator.

The videos are recorded with high-quality music, vocals, and signing, and are available to include in worship alongside traditional ways of singing hymns. They are available on The United Church of Canada’s YouTube channel

Communities of faith would need to report the songs using their own copyright license.

“Any inclusion of ASL hymns is always a way of introducing a hearing congregation to Deaf ministry,” says Wilson. “Deaf ministry has had a history of lacking resources and is primarily self-resourced; as such, any expansion of resources can only be a positive.”

Amen!
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