Christian ministry in the UK is opening up to more and more people, as the Church of England has announced that deaf people wanting to train to be ministers can now join a newly designed course that will take place in sign language.

The University of Chester, will partner up with the Committee for Ministry of and among Deaf and Disabled People, which is a committee for the Archbishop’s Council of the Church of England.

The advisor or Ministry of and among Deaf People, Rev Philip Maddock said, “This is the first course of its type to be held in the UK. In the past it has been difficult for deaf people to access training in Christian ministry courses because they have been exclusively taught in the spoken word and deaf people have had to learn through interpreters.

“The Certificate in Christian Ministry course will, subject to validation, be taught in British Sign Language. It will train people for Christian ministry and lead to recognised qualifications. The first course will begin in January 2006 and can take up to 12 people.”

The course will be ecumenical in nature and be open to all people that use British Sign Language that hope to complete training to minister in their local churches.

The course has already been planned with a scheduled format. It will be delivered by ‘Signs of God’ organisation in one-day seminars, residential weekends as well as home-based learning. In addition to this, in efforts to maximise efficiency in teaching a wide range of people, online learning will also be available which will include support with local tutors.

For the opening year of the course, two modules will be on offer; ‘Reading the Bible’ and ‘Liturgy and Worship’.

Training will take place with one-day seminars and one weekend residential seminar. On top of this basis, further learning and assignments will be given to students to complete at home.

For further information on this course, and for application forms, email Rev Philip Maddock on philip.maddock@c-of-e.org.uk