Seventh-day Adventist work for deaf persons is mentioned as early as 1879. At that time Ellen White wrote, “We were interested in Brother Kimbal, who is a mute and has been a missionary among the mutes” ( 4T 300).
Although for many years Seventh-day Adventists had no organized work for deaf individuals, there were persons who devoted their time to giving the SDA message to them. As early as 1914 Agatha Kroeker, of Lincoln, Nebraska, instructed a young deaf woman in the SDA message in exchange for instruction in the use of sign language. Miss Kroeker then proceeded to carry on active evangelistic work for deaf persons, and even published a small missionary paper, The Best Friend of the Deaf . In one year she had collected more than 4,000 names of deaf persons in the United States.
In 1949 E. H. Adams, an SDA minister, and his wife became burdened for deaf people, and began work among them in the Oakland, California, area.
At the General Conference session in 1950 a committee, consisting of A. V. Olsen, A. L. Ham, and E. D. Dick, was commissioned to make recommendations concerning a proposal presented by a young man, John Issler, that a mission for deaf persons be organized. In a letter to the General Conference two years earlier, he had stated that he had a burden to work for deaf people in the North American Division. He had been told that his burden was appreciated, but that at that time there were no plans to open a special department among deaf persons.
In 1953 the following recommendation was adopted by the General Conference as presented from the union conference presidents: “ We recommend , That a survey be made in each local conference to secure names and addresses of deaf people, and that plans be laid in the conference to send them literature of the message” (North American Division Committee on Administration, Minutes , Apr. 13, 1953, pp. 53, 54).
In the meantime, from 1951 to 1953, Issler had canvassed in the Los Angeles, California, area and had collected 7,000 names of deaf persons.
The next year responsibility for directing work for deaf persons was assigned to the Home Foreign Committee. The General Conference recommended “that efforts be made to develop workers to preach the present truth in the sign language to the deaf-mutes, and that in North America the Home Foreign Committee be encouraged to study this problem with interested union conferences” (General Conference Reports, vol. 131, no. 29, p. 224).
At the 1958 General Conference session, held in Cleveland, Ohio, the following recommendations were made to enlarge the work for deaf persons:
“1. That the General Conference Committee study ways and means to strengthen the work on behalf of persons thus afflicted and to encourage the training of workers in the use of the sign language.
“2. That the responsibility of fostering our work among the deaf-mutes be assigned to one of the departments of the General Conference as may be determined by the General Conference Committee.”
The same year (1958) Arthur W. Griffith, a lay worker for deaf persons, joined Issler in the development of a monthly newsletter for SDA deaf persons called Dawn , standing for Deaf Adventist Witness News. It is now called New Dawn and is published bimonthly by Christian Record Services.
About this time (1958) C. N. Kohler, an SDA minister, was called to work for deaf persons in the Central and Northern California conferences, especially in the Bay Area. He served in this phase of the work until 1960, when he returned to ministry for those with no loss of hearing.
In 1960 the North American Missions Committee was given the responsibility of the work for deaf persons. The same year (1960) Neil Davidson and his wife were invited by the Southern California Conference to fill the vacancy left by Issler, who resigned because of ill health. Arthur Griffith was called by the Oregon Conference committee to work for deaf persons part-time on salary. In July 1961 he was taken on as a full-time licensed minister to deaf individuals. In the same year Rex Rolls, a colporteur from Nevada, was invited by the Central and Northern California conferences to take up the work laid down by Kohler.
In 1968 Alfred Griffith, son of Arthur Griffith, graduated from Walla Walla College and was called to the Potomac Conference to work for deaf students in the Washington, D.C., area. He conducted a six-week evangelistic effort for deaf persons at Gallaudet College. By 1971, 20 students in that area had joined his group.
In 1970 Arthur Griffith was the first deaf person to be ordained to the gospel ministry, and, in addition to his work in Oregon, began spasmodic work for scattered deaf persons in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1975 he was called to the Potomac Conference and continued the ministry at Gallaudet College. Rex Rolls then accepted a call to succeed Griffith in working for deaf persons in the Oregon Conference.
In 1979 the Northern California Conference called Alfred Griffith to work for deaf persons in the Bay Area. Alfred expanded his work to most parts of northern California. In 1993 Alfred was still working in northern California.
In 1980 the General Conference called Thompson Kay, who had taught at the Ohio State School for the Deaf and was then teaching at Alcy Junior Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, to start a deaf ministry. Kay became director of Deaf Services at what is now Christian Record Services. He worked with the Adult Sabbath School Lesson editors to produce an Easy English Adult Lesson Quarterly designed for those who had a limited vocabulary as a result of their hearing problem. Kay also was responsible for the production of such Easy English materials as The Story of Redemption , Amazing Facts, and sign language coloring books. He conducted numerous deaf awareness programs for SDA churches throughout the world field.
In 1987 a deaf layperson, Max Gallimore, was called to work for Deaf Services as editor. He edited Deaf-Light , an inspirational outreach magazine, and New Dawn , a newsletter for deaf persons.
In 1993 four deaf persons were working for the SDA Church: George Belser in the Oregon Conference, Raj Witteborg in the Potomac Conference, Paul Kelly in the New York Conference, and David M. Trexler as editor in the Deaf Services at Christian Record Services.
Church Membership and Population . The exact total of deaf members among the SDA churches in North America is not fully known, but CRS serves approximately 600 SDA deaf persons in North America. According to the 1990 census, there are 23 million deaf and hearing-impaired persons in the United States alone.