Deaf Community

Sign the Cross is the name for the ministry among the Deaf Community in the District.

The focus of our work is presently in Norwich. Norwich Deaf Church meets on the 1st Saturday every month at Chantry Hall, Chantry Place, Norwich. The service starts at 1.30pm, with doors opening at 1pm. Refreshments are available before and after the service. Worship is in British Sign Language, the language of the Deaf Community. We try to offer interpretation into English for hearing visitors - and when we have a hearing preacher, we book a BSL/ English interpreter.

Norwich Deaf Church is the only Church using BSL in Norfolk. We link with Anglican churches for Deaf people from our neighbouring Dioceses when we gather for Harvest Festivals or Christmas Carol services.

The Deaf Community is made up of a wide range of people, of all ages and with different experiences of hearing and sensory loss. Those who identify as being members of the Deaf community claim a unique culture, drawn from a shared experience of Deafness and a shared language - BSL. There are innumerable barriers for Deaf people, mainly due to communication and lack of awareness on the part of the majority hearing society.
Changes in society have had an impact on Deaf people. Improvements in technology and the Equalities Act of 2010 for example, have improved access and given different ways to communicate. However, Deaf and Deafblind people who wish to be part of the Church still have many barriers because so much of church life and worship centres on the spoken word. From the mainstream Church perspective, Deaf people who use BSL have been an invisible and forgotten minority.
We aim to develop a project to work together with the Deaf community to address some of the daily injustices people face.

If you would like to know more, or want to get in touch, Norwich Deaf Church have a Facebook Page, or you can email them directly: .
For other information contact the District Administrator.

The Experience of Deaf/BSL users in the church

The Beds, Essex and Hert's district's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Rev Andrew Brazier, interviewed members of Norwich Deaf Church in a special online event, 'Sound Off?' To view a recording of this event, please click on the video link below.