In an Orthodox parish serving the Deaf in Moscow, a priest signs one of the readings in Russian Sign Language
Here is something exciting for those of us who have been longing to see Orthodoxy in America make a firm commitment to ministry to the Deaf. One of the resolutions to be considered at the upcoming 16th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America (held October 31-November 4, 2011 in Seattle, Washington) is a call for the Church to reach out to the Deaf:
WHEREAS we are called to spread the Word of God in many tongues (1 Cor. 14:9), yet the languages of a specific group of people throughout North America, namely, the deaf community, have been underrepresented, Whereas members of the deaf community, most of whom use sign language as their primary mode of communication, find it virtually impossible to enter into the liturgical fullness of the church,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Holy Synod be requested to explore the creation of a deaf outreach ministry to help every level of the Orthodox Church in America more effectively meet the specific needs of the deaf community.
I ask readers to join in prayer that the Council in Seattle will embrace the resolution for this ministry which is long overdue for Orthodoxy in America.
Sub-deacon Tigran explains the use of incense in Orthodox worship in ASL (American Sign Language). Captioning is available on the video for the ASL deficient:
On Sunday, June 26, 2011, Armenian Orthodox acolyte Tigran Khachikyan will be ordained as a sub-deacon at St. Leon Armenian Church in Burbank, California by H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian.
This is a first for the Armenian Church in that Tigran is the first Deaf person to be ordained in the Armenian Church. I believe he is also the first Deaf person to be ordained in any Orthodox jurisdiction in the USA. More on his ordination to the sub-diaconate can be read here. Tigran has also been a strong advocate for the Deaf community in the Los Angeles area.
I have had the privilege of meeting Tigran and I feel sure his ministry will be a great asset to the Armenian Church. For example, he has produced a series of videos in American Sign Language explaining the Orthodox faith that are very well done. Here he explains the significance of lighting a candle in Orthodox worship:
I hope this will encourage other Orthodox jurisdictions to commit to ministry to the Deaf here in the USA, as such is long overdue!
Many years to Tigran in his ministry in the Armenian Church!
Update: here is a video from Tigran’s ordination to the sub-diaconate:
My friend Tigran Khachikyan continues his series on “Who is God?” This is part 2. It’s presented in American Sign Language and captioning is available for the ASL impaired.
I remember once visiting an Eastern Orthodox parish in Phoenix, Arizona and during the Divine Liturgy I realized the woman sitting in the row ahead of me was deaf. Not hard of hearing, but stone deaf. I caught her attention and starting signing in ASL (American Sign Language) to her. It turned out she had gone to the same Deaf school as my parents and was a classmate of theirs. I asked her if she wanted me to interpret some of the Liturgy to her? She told me no. She had been going to this parish for over 30 years and never had an interpreter before–nor had anyone ever offered one.
I marveled at her simple faith for I wonder if I could have persevered with so little understanding of what was happening at the services. One could argue, perhaps successfully, that her faith was stronger than many of the hearing people and that her understanding of the mystery encountered during the Liturgy was more profound.
Still, I felt bad that she had never had an interpreter all these years. I thought of my own parents who also are deaf. They were not, at that time, at a stage where I felt they would respond to an invitation to come to Liturgy. But, if they did, how would they be received? Thus began the realization that here in North America there really is very little ministry to the deaf in Orthodox parishes — even in large metropolitan cities with larger deaf populations.
Now, this is not the case in Russia. Here for example, is a Russian news report of Tikhvin Icon of Our Lady in Moscow- a parish that serves both the deaf and the blind. The report is in Russian, but don’t let that bother you. At about 21 seconds into the video the report shows the parish and part of a liturgical service:
Services are chanted in Slavonic and simultaneously translated into Russian Sign Language. The people in the parish do the responses in sign language as well.
This parish was also featured in another news report. Besides ministering to Deaf, they also make an effort to make the blind more welcome:
A conventional Orthodox service can leave blind and deaf people feeling lost. But one church in Moscow has changed all that by catering for its congregation’s special needs.
Most of the congregation at the Tikhvin Icon of Our Lady Temple are deaf or blind, and it is only thanks to the pioneering efforts of the church that they are able to come and express their faith.
The church was founded by Archdeacon Pavel Troshenkin and over the last eighteen years the team of priests has continued his work. They have worked with the deaf community to evolve the sign language that they currently use in worship.
The services are for everyone – and the ability to go there and worship and be able to mix with people from outside the blind and deaf community is part of what makes this church so important for those who attend.
“In our family, children are hard of hearing. Taking my children to a usual church was impossible. They simply wouldn’t understand. The first time we came here, my husband and I knew instantly that this was our church,” says parishioner Elena Mifeyenkova.
The church was chosen for these special services because there are no columns, so the priest can be seen from any point during the sermon. Confession is held in sign language in a screened-off section, and whereas in most churches the icons of the religion are purely visual, in this church the blind are able to touch them.
“In a usual church, icons are only available visually. This is the first church that makes relief icons accessible to blind parishioners,” says President of the European Deaf Blind Union Sergey Sirotkin. “I asked people why this could not be done before, but got no answer. I was told icons were only intended for visual perception, and that spiritual interaction was only possible through eyesight. I think, though, that this is wrong,” he believes.
People who come to the Tikhvin Icon of Our Lady Temple to express their faith say they are happy to have such a special place of worship, but until there are other churches like this, they will remain some of the few who can. [Go to the website for the news report to see another video of this parish -- this report is in English.]
Orthodox services are interpreted into Greek Sign Language, as this example of the Trisagion (“Holy God”) from a Liturgy in Greece:
As I said earlier, very little work has been done with the Deaf in mind in Orthodox parishes here in North America. But, such is possible as the examples from Russia and Greece show. I pray the day for deaf ministry amongst Orthodox here in North America is not far away.
We know very little of Saint Mark the Deaf (some calendars have him as Mark the Deaf Mute) other than what is written in the Synaxarion probably from the 13th century on his feast day of January 2nd:
“Saint Mark the Deaf was an ascetic that lived a righteous life and died in peace.”
The following stanza is written as well:
“Mark did not hear an earthly word, and before he left the earth, his earthly ears were extracted.”
In Rethymno, Crete there exists the only church dedicated to Saint Mark the Deaf not only in all of Greece, but in the entire world. It is located on the grounds of the Holy Monastery of Saint George Arsaniou. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited this chapel in 2003 and served here a Divine Liturgy, praising the fact that the Divine Liturgy was done in sign language.
Though Orthodoxy has many deaf saints, Saint Mark the Deaf has become the patron saint of the deaf. Among other saints who were deaf, there is St. Cadoc (Cadfan) Llankarvansky (+580), St. Drogo (Drew) (+12th cent.), St. Meriadoc (Meredith) (7th cent.), and St Owen Ruensky (Eugene) (+684). Other Orthodox churches in Greece and throughout the world also have services in sign language as well, especially in Russia. Among them is Simonov Monastery in Moscow.
The Trisagion (“Holy God”) from the Divine Liturgy translated into Greek Sign Language:
The Nicene Creed and the Our Father in Greek Sign Language:
Armenian Orthodox acolyte Tigran Khachikyan explains Holy Tradition in American Sign Language (ASL). For those of you who don’t read sign, it’s subtitled into English:
Armenian Orthodox acolyte Tigran Khachikyan is a deep thinker. A sermon presented in ASL (American Sign Language) about God and faith. For those who are sign impaired, it’s subtitled into English:
A couple of readers have commented that the blog should also reflect some personal aspects from life, so here’s one installment in that department:
One of my earliest memories is asking my Grandmother to do something for me when I was about four years old: “Grandma, tell Mommy that I want her to make a chocolate cake today.” My Grandmother refused my request and made it a teaching moment: “David, you will have to learn to ask Mommy yourself.” Both my Mom and Dad have been profoundly deaf since birth. At the time, my Grandmother was living with us and I was starting to rely on her to interpret more detailed conversations with my parents. Grandma’s gentle rebuke taught me both responsibility and an early awareness that the language my parents used (American Sign Language) is a unique and complex language.
My Grandmother soon moved out and I started assuming the interpreting role for my parents that she had performed. When I was about six, our family got its first telephone. I can remember my Dad asking me to relay messages about loan payments and calling various stores for my Mom to see if what she wanted was in stock. Phone solicitors would recognize my youthful voice and would ask to speak with my parents. I can remember a couple of times when my reply “No, they can’t come to the phone–they are deaf” was misunderstood. Thinking I had said, “They are dead,” one solicitor said: “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.” I calmly replied: “Oh, that’s okay. They’ve always been that way.” By the time I was twelve, I had interpreted loan contracts and how escrow worked when buying a home and had accompanied my Dad to a specialist when he had a serious sinus infection.
I really never thought that our family was different or that I was fulfilling an unusual role for a child. Once when I was in third grade, a classmate came home with me after school. As I introduced him to my Mom, I noticed his mouth was wide agape. Mom was pleasant to him and he sort of meekly waved to her. As we walked away to play he said, “You never told me your Mom is deaf.” I replied: “You never asked.” The same thing happened when my folks came to teacher conferences with me when I was in Middle School. My French teacher told the whole class the next day about my deaf parents. I didn’t like that sort of attention. As I got older, I tried to get out of interpreting for my folks. I could see there were two worlds: the deaf world and the hearing world. I didn’t want to be in the deaf world any longer.
I had never heard of the designation CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) until after I moved away from home and saw the Hallmark movie “Love is Never Silent.” In the movie, there’s a confrontational scene between the deaf parents and the hearing daughter after she’s moved away from home. During that scene, I broke down and sobbed like I’d never cried in all my life. In fact, I couldn’t even talk about that movie for a couple of years without starting to cry. I wasn’t angry with my parents. Nor do I think I had an unlucky childhood. That movie began a process which helped me learn how important it is that I embrace who I am. I am in both worlds, both deaf and hearing. My personality is different in each world. When I sign to deaf people I’m no longer shy. If I see a deaf person signing, I want to go over and introduce myself. In the hearing world, I’m much more reserved. Since then, I’ve learned to recognize that I can live in both worlds at the same time.
I also came to realize that I can be proud of the unique childhood experience I received from my family. It has made me who I am. It has taught me some important lessons: that despite whatever obstacles one encounters in life, one should never give up – and that love is best experienced when it’s given liberally and unconditionally.
After that, I applied to work as an interpreter for a rural school district, got hired and have worked with Deaf and hard-of-hearing kids the past several years. Currently, I’m working towards getting my educational endorsements to be certified in this field. The Internet and high-speed cable modems allow me to call my parents (who live over a thousand miles away) several times a week and chat in ASL. This year Mom and Dad will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary!
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find much being done in the way of work with the Deaf in Orthodox parishes, at least from my online searches. A good series of videos on You Tube have recently been posted by Armenian Orthodox acolyte Tigran Khachikyan in ASL, who is himself deaf. Here he explains “Who is God?”:
One of my goals is to someday be able to post videos of parts of the Divine Liturgy with ASL interpretation. Perhaps that’s being done by someone already? I’d welcome comments from readers who have knowledge of such work among Deaf in Orthodox parishes.
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