Pastor Speaks God's Word, But You Won't Hear It

BIRMINGHAM, MI – The Rev. Tyler Walworth speaks the Word of God through his hands.

The lifelong lover of languages, who took an American Sign language class for fun at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, before his graduation in May, became the pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church of the Deaf in June. The church holds its services at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Birmingham.

Our Savior Lutheran Church of the Deaf is one of two deaf Lutheran churches in Michigan, The Birmingham Eccentric reports. The other is in Flint.

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Anywhere from 15 to 20 people attend the Sunday American Sign Language services, some driving as long as 40 minutes to get to Birmingham. The entire service is signed, Walworth said.

Walworth replaced the Rev. Thomas Dunseth, Our Savior’s pastor since 2001, who is now the director of Deaf Missions for Lutheran Friends of the Deaf, an organization that provides resources for the deaf nationally and internationally.

That’s Walworth’s goal.

“My goal is to find all the Lutheran deaf and make sure they are served,” he told The Eccentric.

Non-hearing people are no longer isolated at schools like the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint, a residential school that serves about 100 preschool through 12th grade students, but that’s one avenue for outreach, Walworth said.

“That’s a huge avenue for the future of deaf ministry,” Walworth said.

He and others associated with the deaf ministry are also discussing the possibility of borrowing space with existing schools — such as Dearborn, which recently cut its program for the deaf — to create a Lutheran school for the death.

Part of his goal, Walworth said, is “educating people in school and in the faith.”

» Photo and video via YouTube.