Churches are places where people gather to hear the word of God but in one south Belfast church holy words are signed.

Kinghan Church, on Botanic Avenue, is a worshipping community for those who are deaf and hearing-impaired.

‘KC’, as it is affectionately known, was founded in 1857 by Rev John Kinghan, a Presbyterian minister who became the principal of the Ulster Society for the Promotion of the Education of the Deaf, the Dumb and the Blind in Belfast.

About 1898, the church moved from its site on the city’s Sandy Row to its current location before going through extensive renovation and remodelling in the early 1990s.

For more than 150 years, the church has provided an escape from isolation for those in the deaf community.

‘It feels like home’

Mary Carson, from Belfast, has been attending Kinghan Church since she was a child and describes it as “feeling like home”.

“I’ve been coming to KC from the age of eight and I still come now, I have been coming all those years,” she said.

“I don’t know if you want to know what age I am but I’m actually 82 years old.”

Mary says she loves the church and is grateful for all it offers.

“When I come here, it’s just so easy to chat to everyone because everyone is like me, they are deaf,” she said.

“There is a lovely happy atmosphere and we get on so well together and honestly it’s where I feel so much love coming to me from KC.”

Mary says the rest of the congregation are her “best friends”; many of whom she has known most her life.

“Obviously over the years some people have passed on but then new people come and there is younger people who come in and I really enjoy that as well.”

‘I should be retired’

Rev Will Murphy began his ministry with deaf people almost 45 years ago but he is the first to admit he did not at first believe it would be a lifelong ministry.

“I thought I would do maybe 12 years in ministry, my predecessor had done eight but it just continued,” he said.

“I should be retired X years ago but I am still doing it, still loving it because they are a loving community.”

Rev Murphy said it was odd to leave music and singing behind for this “totally different atmosphere” but he quickly found it had “a warmth of its own”.

“I came from a hearing community, from a hearing church, I had never met a deaf person,” he said.

“My first task was to learn sign language, which to be honest I am still learning.”

Rev Murphy said the church is a great place for overcoming the isolation that so many deaf people feel.

“They come together not just for worship, but for tea, coffee and friendship and fellowship.”

However, Rev Murphy admits there are some differences when it comes to giving a service to the deaf community.

“If a deaf person closes their eyes, end of contact with the service,” he said.

“In a hearing church you can close your eyes and continue to listen but if you see that happening it’s time to shut up and get out and finish the service.”

In the intervening years, Rev Murphy said there have been great advances in communication with the mobile phone being the biggest.

“When I came to ministry to contact a deaf person at home you would phone the next door neighbour.”

Rev Murphy said the mobile had “revolutionised the life of deaf people”.

CODA

Rosie Budd has been coming to Kinghan Church for her whole life.

She was christened there, she was married there, she had been a committee member there but she is not deaf.

Rosie grew up as a CODA, a child of deaf adults. Her father, John Heron, became deaf in his childhood and her late mother Coralie was deaf from birth.

“Growing up it was always my experience to come to this church, I came to the youth club here and it just felt part of my life.

“I have had people say to me ‘well surely you’re not a member of the Kinghan Church because you’re not actually deaf’ and I say ‘no I am very much a member’.”

Rosie said the church has always had a ethos of being a place for deaf people and their families to worship.

“It is a church like any other and it open to everyone.”

John said: “I think why I want to come is because I want to come and be where other deaf people are and chat in sign language.

“That’s the element that’s most important for me.”

‘Famous’

Now 91, Rosie says it is as important as ever that her dad knows the church is always there for him.

But during the Covid pandemic, John struggled with not being able to come to church and did not enjoy the online services.

“He started signing hymns and I would film him and they would have been put on the Kinghan Church Facebook page.

“They were shared many many times and he has had 4,000 or 5,000 likes on his Facebook posts and think he is now considered famous in our little world.”