Unique Deaf Ministry in UK

Deaf Baptist Minister Commissioned

"The Revd Susan Myatt was commissioned as the new Deaf Chaplain for the Diocese of Lichfield at a special service in Penkridge. Susan's appointment has come about in a unique partnership between the Church of England and the Baptist Association in the Midlands"

"Deaf Church...services that use British Sign Language (BSL) as the main means of communicating....has spread to various congregations across the Diocese of Lichfield – an area with a population of over two million which includes Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, the Black Country and most of Shropshire – in recent years."

"Colin Townsend, who uses sign language at St Matthews in Walsall and was at the commissioning service, said: 'It's truly wonderful to have a deaf person overseeing this ministry - at last! I cannot over emphasise just how much it means to the deaf community to finally have BSL first and not have to rely on an interpreter to access services, Bible studies and so on. It's so empowering.'"