WE ARE WORSHIPPING ONLINE AND IN-PERSON MORE INFORMATION BELOW
Thank God you are brave enough to explore spiritually !
Welcome to an Amazing Partnership (this page is currently un
- We offer ASL interpreted services every Sunday at 10:15
- St. Thoms Deaf Church and Church of the Advent are partners in Christ. For more information on this partnership please click on "History"
- Our priest for both churches is the Rev. Emily Hillquist Davis, who is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL)
Our Worship
Sundays
Special Services
What to expect
The Episcopal Church of the Advent and St. Thomas Deaf Church are open and affirming churches.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
9373 Garber Road, Crestwood, MO 63126
We offer Worship online on
Facebook and YouTube.
- We try to have the ASL interpter on a picture-in-picture so they are more visible. Better technology is coming.
- The Scripture readings are spoken and signed at the same time for inclusiveness.
- Prayers and Songs in ASL so they can be better understood.
St. Thomas is led by Deaf leaders.
Leaders do what?
- Sign scriptures & hymns
- Lead prayers & worship responses.
- Run our church & sign our checks.
- Participate & lead Diocesan events & groups.
- Social Time and/or Bible Study after the 10:15 Service.
What to expect
Special Services
What to expect
Our Worship
- is interpreted in ASL and ASL enhanced by our priest, Rev. Dr. Emily Hillquist Davis.
- focuses on God's glory, mystery & love
- for ALL people
- is "liturgical" ~ similar to Catholic and Lutheran worship.
- ASL interpreted services
- Everyone is welcome
- Open and Affirming
- Communion offered weekly.
- Coffee Hour after each service
Special Services
Special Services
Special Services
+ Baptisms and Preparation
to become a Christian.
+ Confirmation (when our Bishop visits
and education to prepare for it)
+ Weddings
(Faithful couples of any orientation may
be married in the Episcopal Church.)
+ Funerals for anyone.
Our History - Our Partnership
The Episcopal Church of the Advent was founded in 1952 by _____________. Today it is still a thriving community of faithful stewards to Christ.
In the past they have offered....
St. Thomas Episcopal Church of the Deaf is traditionally considered to have been founded in 1876, and became a Mission Church on May 30, 1930. Over the years the church has had its ups and downs, mainly regarding the access to a priest fluent in ASL (some deaf themselves).
In ______ the Rev. Emily Hillquist Davis was made Vicar of St. Thomas. Rev. Emily did not know ASL, but because of her love of languages (she is fluent in French and German spoken language), she was willing to learn. Rev. Emily led not only St. Thomas through the COVID-19 pandemic, but asked other Episcopal Deaf Churches to join them in what was called the East to West Service. This was a great opportunity for all the Deaf Churches in the Episcopal Church to come together and wroship in their language every Sunday.
Rev. Emily was offered a full-time position at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in the fall of 2022, and knew it was a perfect fit when the search committee asked her if she would bring the Deaf Church with her. This was Emily's dream as her leaving would leave St. Thomas wihtout a vicar. On October 3, 2022, St. Thomas processed into Church of the Advent and felt immediatlely welcomed as each hearing person was wearing a clear mask so the Deaf could read their lips. On Nov. ____, 2022, St. Thomas voted to move their office from Grace Episcopal Church in Kirkwood, and become partners with Church of the Advent.
The transition was not easy and over a year later, we are still trying to figure out the best ways to continue to incorporate the Deaf and ASL into the Church to allow the most inclusiveness possible.
The partnership between Church of the Advent was made in order for both the Deaf Church and the Hearing Church to keep their unique identity. Throughout history the Deaf have been oppressed by the hearing in that they were thought not to be smart enough to make their own decisions. Yet in 1876, they were smart enough and proud enough to form a church and to join the Body of Christ. St. Thomas and Advent do not mix their money and have different administrators. What they do share is Rev. Emily as she offers pastoral care to both churches, inclusivness in being offered the Word of God in their own language, the sharing of our resources such as building, office equipment, hand outreach ministries. We also share in the commandment "to love thy neighbor, the same as Christ loves you." This is the greatest commandment of all and it is also the greatest part of our partnership.
Please scroll down for history of both St. Thomas Deaf Church and Church of the Advent.
The members of St. Thomas Deaf Church with the Right Rev. Deon Johnson, Eleventh Bisoph of the Episc
Proud Deaf History
St. Thomas Deaf Church traces its ancestry back to the Reverend Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851), elder son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who introduced Sign Language to the United States. In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, founded the American School for the Deaf (ASD). In 1821, he married Sophia Fowler, a Deaf woman. They had two sons, Thomas (1822-1902) and Edward Miner (1837-1917).
The younger son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, was the first superintendent of a school for deaf and blind children in Washington DC, which became in 1864 the first college for the Deaf, now known as Gallaudet University.
The older son Thomas Gallaudet (no middle name) became an Episcopal priest. In 1852, he founded in New York City St. Ann's Church for the Deaf, which still exists to this day. He frequently traveled to different cities where he would gather Deaf people for worship in Sign Language. He also advocated for and mentored Deaf people who became deacons and priests in the Episcopal Church and carried Deaf ministry even further.
In 1876, Henry Winter Syle (1846-1890), became the first ever Deaf ordained clergyperson. Syle became a deacon in the Episcopal Church. A few months later, another Deaf Episcopalian —Austin Ward Mann— was ordained deacon. They were ordained to the priesthood together in 1883.
In 1876, the Rev. Austin Mann traveled to St. Louis, sought out Deaf people and asked them to invite their friends to worship together in sign language at Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal). In 1891, this Deaf congregation officially joined the Diocese of Missouri as St. Thomas Mission for the Deaf, named in honor of Thomas Gallaudet, our Episcopal "Apostle to the Deaf."
Now meeting in partnership with The Episcopal Church of the Advent in Crestwood, MO, St. Thomas worships every Sunday. St. Thomas continues to have Deaf lay leadership with the Reverend Dr. Emily Hillquist Davis serving as Vicar. Rev. Emily is fluent in ASL and ministers in English and ASL during along with an ASL interpreter. An all-SIGNED service is held on the third Sunday of the month.
References
A Missionary Chronicle: Being a History of the Ministry to the Deaf in the Episcopal Church
(1860-1980) by Otto B. Berg 1984
wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hopkins_Gallaudet
wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gallaudet_(1822-1902)
wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Miner_Gallaudet
wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Winter_Syle
www.gallaudet.edu/history.html
www.gallaudet.edu/a_historical_guideline.html
Photo Credits
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, wikipedia.org/wki/Thomas_Hopkins_Gallaudet
Thomas H. Gallaudet, Episcopal Conference of the Deaf
Edward Miner Gallaudet, Gallaudet University Archives
Henry Winter Syle, Episcopal Conference of the Deaf
Austin Ward Mann, St. Thomas Church for the Deaf
1881 ECD Conference, Episcopal Conference of the Deaf
2014 ECD Conference, St. Thomas Church for the Deaf
Deaf founder of St. Thomas Deaf Episcopal Church in St. Louis and Deaf ministries in many states.