The travelling minister’s diverse tasks

Ministers for the deaf were employed by the state, and therefore the Senate decided on their general tasks and the cathedral chapters compiled the practical guidelines. The travelling ministers were tasked with holding church services, providing pastoral care, offering confirmation studies and taking care of ceremonial rites. The significance of Christian teaching was emphasised, and the ministers helped deaf children access schooling. In addition, they maintained registers of deaf people in their regions.

Before the ministers were appointed, it was proposed that they could also act as officials of the Association for the deaf. In practice, this meant that they would take care of the spiritual and financial well-being of deaf people by giving lectures on suitable topics, for example. It was also decided that they should find out about the living standards and livelihoods of the deaf people and assist them in legal issues. The ministers had to work as social workers and interpreters, because deaf people needed someone who was able to sign in their many day-to-day situations.

The travelling ministers were obliged to travel within their own district for eight months a year. The rest of the time, they worked in their hometown. As a rule, the ministers visited each location in their district once a year and the devotionals they arranged also attracted people from further afield. When the ministers for the deaf began their work, about 15 towns had a deaf association and activities for deaf people in the countryside were nearly non-existant.  The events arranged by the ministers offered deaf people an opportunity to meet one another and therefore they also had an important social role. The ministers kept in touch with their parishioners via circular letters, and in 1938 the Hiljainen Seurakunta (silent congregation) magazine began to appear. It contained articles on religious matters and current affairs.

Once the church began to arrange activities for the deaf, various forms of meeting emerged in different parts of Finland that grew into traditions. The most significant of these was the deaf church gathering. The first gathering was arranged in Tampere in 1908. The gatherings, which lasted for a couple of days, soon became an important tradition. Participants made the journey from the surrounding regions and the programme contained not only devotionals but also  educational talks. After the wars, the church gatherings became the second most important social gathering, right behind church services. Their programme became more religious and other educational topics were left out. The church gatherings were typically arranged by local deaf associations. Deaf people also gathered for Bible study groups, which were often organised by sisters for the deaf.