Last week we interviewed Fr. Walt Rydzon, a retired priest from the Diocese of Pittsburgh who ministered to both hearing and deaf communities for his priesthood. If you haven’t listened to it, we encourage you to. This week we take the conversation one step further and talk about deaf ministry and music ministry working on a week-by-week basis together. We speak to Karen Shepherd, Director of the Deaf Choir at Saint Mary of the Mount Parish, the official home for the deaf community in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Karen has been the director of the deaf choir for almost 20 years.
Karen explores what is a deaf choir, as well as the subtleties of an “interpreted” Mass versus a “signed” Mass. Karen also spearheaded the installation of a “hearing loop” system in her church and shares what we need to know, as pastoral musicians, should we ever want to install one in our own churches.