Theology being my major, I chose to reflect upon and research how deaf people worship religiously. It had never occurred to me before. Growing up there was no interpreter at Mass. Now I had to ask myself: What kinds of religious deaf groups are out there? How difficult is it to find a parish near your residence that can sign for you? I also was able to experience a few Masses for myself with an interpreter that gave me a better understanding of all of this.
             I was surprised as I searched the Internet for religious sign. Although the groups of people and organizations are not enormous, there is a larger quantity of these types of groups that I would have thought.
             There is a church called Valley Bible Church located in Lancaster, California that has an informative website about deaf ministry. They have at least one service every Sunday that is signed for the hearing impaired. On top of that they have a specialDeaf Worship? in a separate room exclusively for those of the Deaf community. According to Deaf in America Deaf is different from deaf. There are people who cannot hear who are not part of the Deaf community. Hence this worship at Valley Bible Church is for theDeaf? community, not just anyone who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. This website impressed me most with its video ASL dictionary of religious words. It has more words that I can count. Any word you would want to know in ASL concerning religion is easily found here.
             The Catholic Deaf Community of the Syracuse Diocese was extremely helpful as well. I am impressed to see that this community has a camp called Camp Mark Seven, which is mainly a Catholic camp focusing on deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Prices range from $300 to $700 for one week. The programs look awesome. It is neat that deaf children have the option of having theirown? summer camps too.
             The Syracuse Diocese Deaf Community mission statement is as follows:We are a c
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