Abstract:
Theologian and Deaf activist Hannah Lewis claims that only Deaf people can fulfill their potential for life themselves; hearing people cannot help in this process. The goal of this paper is to find a way that the hearing and Deaf can work together for mutual liberation in the Church. If an “integrated church” works with both the hearing and Deaf community fully, it would take a more collaborative view on the subject of life-giving liberation. Therefore, it is possible that integrated churches can be potentially liberating and thus shows that both sides can help in the liberation of others as well as themselves. A case study of St. Catherine of Siena in Des Moines, Iowa, will be offered. Through examining this church based on Lewis’s questions, the project addresses potential liberation, how the church might improve, and an example for integrated churches in general.
Full Work: