Church by Sign, the new initiative of the Anglican Church in Egypt for deaf people, was launched on 2nd September 2023 and it’s already sailing along!
Egypt has over seven million deaf people and the Anglican Church has been a pioneer in catering for them (see https://www.jmeca.org.uk/latest/news/digital-signing-changing-lives-egypt). Much of what has been provided so far has been geared to practical needs. So the deaf school on the site of Jesus the Light of the World Church in Old Cairo teaches children how to communicate, and provides adults with literacy and vocational skills. The school has recently been completely renovated thanks to a substantial donation from the Embassy of Japan. It has not resumed residential training since Covid, but the updated facilities are ready when the time is judged to be right.
Alongside this work, there has been great development in the provision of church for the deaf. Deaf people no less than hearing people need to worship, get spiritual support and increase their learning about the Bible and Christian faith more generally. The Church is led by Fr Clement, himself profoundly deaf.
The in-person meeting attracts around twenty people on Saturdays, but the actual ‘congregation’ far exceeds that – thanks to digital technology and the enthusiastic support of the Diocese’s media department, headed by Moheb Naeem.Church by Sign has an average live view of 1200 people. The average weekly view is 3010 people. Unique overall viewers number 876. Moheb has developed a unique way of accompanying hymns by turning the base to its loudest setting so that those present can sense the tune from the vibrations.
The church uses a new and unique signed version of the Gospel of Mark, and new resources are being provided all the time. There is now a deaf Alpha group of thirty-five people. The idea has attracted plenty of attention. Its Facebook page reach (according to Meta) is 1600, and there have been 1300 page visits since the launch. New ‘likes’ and followers are reckoned to be 221.
The hope is to develop the work by training new ministers, signing other parts of the Bible and using digital technology to its fullest extent.
