THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997            TAG: 9701300419
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
                                            LENGTH:   20 lines

CHURCH WILL OPEN DEPARTMENT FOR DEAF

CHESAPEAKE - Sixty members of Temple Baptist Church are finishing a course in American Sign Language (ASL) in preparation for the opening of the New Deaf Department at the church.

The department will open Saturday with a special meeting and dinner for the deaf and hearing impaired at 6 p.m. at the church. Beginning Sunday, all of its church services will be interpreted for deaf people.

The ASL course was taught by Dr. Eugene Kimmel of Celina, Ohio, who has been teaching sign-language and starting deaf departments in churches across the country for 27 years.

For more information about the services provided by Temple Baptist Church, contact the Rev. Allen Dooley at 485-5828 or 457-1306.

KEYWORDS: HEARING IMPAIRED DEAF CHURCH