Thank You!
We are so glad that you are visiting the Deaf House Fellowship website! We are a Deaf House Church Network, focusing on establishing and planting new House Churches, as well as mentoring and support.
We pray you find all of the information that you need. Please contact one of the leaders if you need additional information.
"For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in Spirit and Truth."
John 4:24
About Us - What is Deaf House Fellowship?
Purpose
"What DHF Does"
DHF Vision: "That all Deaf people would experience and know Jesus through inclusive, interactive, and empowering small group fellowship with other Deaf believers and allies."
DHF Mission: "To meet in homes and community spaces where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is communicated in effective ways that address the spiritual, wholistic, and global needs of Deaf people."
Identity
"Who We Are"
We are a Christ-centered, love-compelled, and Bible-based church body network where Deaf people are empowered,through ASL as our primary language, to communicate the gospel of Christ.
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Matthew 18:20
Goals and Purpose
"What We Do"
Our primary call is to share the gospel and make disciples according to Matthew 28:18-19. We are also committed to deep fellowship with other disciples, support for each other in spiritual recovery, and encouraging obedience to God's call as workers in all righteousness. God expects us to move on to spiritual maturity.
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Our secondary purpose as a Deaf fellowship is to create a safe and empowering environment where Deaf people can develop, express, and communicate through American Sign Language and understand the gospel visually and through the Deaf cultural experience.
Operation and Worship
"How We Operate"
We do "open worship" and "open sharing," which means we are taking a non-traditional approach to interactive worship where we sit in a circle and allow individual expression through the guidance of the Holy Spirit via prayer, song, and/or testimony. We also include Scripture meditations, planned songs, and individual quiet prayer time. Intimate and heartfelt worship is created where we revere and adore our Lord Jesus Christ.
The worship is followed by another hour of open-sharing discussion on Scriptures based upon a scheduled reading. We have prepared questions that create thought-provoking and heart-based discussions which encourage heart searching and spiritual changes in each person with their relationship to God and others.
Affiliation and Accountability
"Who We Affiliate With"
We are non-denominational and are not affiliated with any other church, organization, or denomination. DHF is overseen by a team of elders from house churches in the DHF network. The elders provide spiritual leadership and financial accountability. We have a DHF financial committee and accountant to operate the DHF organization finanaces and help keep separate accounts for any small house churches in our fellowship who need it so that they don't have to apply for tax status for each small gathering.
We also collaborate and fellowship with other house churches out of our network, and/or with "celebration" (traditional) churches. We share, listen, and exchange spiritual support, consultation, admonishment, and love from our brothers and sisters in Christ from Bible-based churches in our communities.
House Church Rationales
"Why We Meet in Homes for Church Services"
1. It is Biblical - (Acts 2:2, 2:46, 8:3, 10:22, 12:12, 16:40, etc.) It can be in any place, or where 2 or 3 meet in His name.
2. It maximizes fellowship, relationship, and accountability
3. It promotes Hospitality from your personal home, where your heart is.
4. Spontaneous worship by "each one" involved (1 Cor. 14:26)
5. Interactive, Participative, Intimate, and Family Style
6. Simple, Flexible, Duplicative, and Fast-Growing!
7. Shared Leadership breeds more strong leaders. No hierarchy, denominational structure, and rigid regulations.
8. Free. No building to pay for. No money or tax status required
History
"How we started this Deaf House Church Movement"
We began as a Deaf program under Celebrate Recovery in Fife, Washington in 2016. Later, a strong and steadfast group of Deaf men wanted to establish their own recovery support group catered to the needs of Deaf people. They formally established a group consisting of both Deaf men and women with a new name: Deaf Recovery, now known as Deaf Heartlight.
Later a house church idea was born from this and developed into a regular Sunday fellowship at homes and remotely on Zoom, which continues to this day.
After some successful growth and challenges, we decided to have several house churches and leaders come together for training, cooperation, support, and spiritual guidance with eldership. We established Deaf House Fellowship, a Deaf house church network which includes mentoring, church planting, and training for anybody wanting to start a church group at their house.