OPEN CHURCH - 11th International Ecumenical Congress on Pastoral
Care to Hearing Impaired Persons
The latest congress in of IVSS Churchear took place in Vienna, Austria, September 18th - 22nd, 2000. Read some of the congress materials here:
We shall be glad to mail you a printed copy of the Congress Program.
Click here to send an email with your wish and your address.
You Are All Invited
by Jan Grønborg Eriksen, president of IVSS Churchear 
IVSS – Churchear Invites You to the Vienna Congress 2000
Any hearing loss changes a person's life. It is a disability that builds barriers between the hearing impaired individual and the fellowships he/she wishes to be part of.
IVSS Churchear is the international, ecumenical forum of churches, organizations, and individuals joining forces to help integrate hard of hearing and late-deafened persons in the community and particularly in Christian congregations.
IVSS Churchear invites you to our 11th International Ecumenical Congress to be held in Vienna, September 18th - 22nd, 2000.
The theme of our Congress is OPEN CHURCH. By that we mean that all kinds of services offered by congregations should be accessible also to hearing impaired persons. When a hard of hearing or late-deafened person comes to a church, he/she should be met with understanding and with a will to break through the barriers of his/her hearing loss.
Our Congress in Vienna this year will deal not only with communication and technology but also with psychological and theological issues relating to the encounters of hearing-impaired persons with the churches.
We are grateful to our Austrian partners who have invited us to Vienna: the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Graz-Seckau, the Evangelical Church A.u.H.B. of Austria, the Austrian Federation of Hard of Hearing Persons ÖSB, and the VOX Association of Hard of Hearing Persons.
We invite you to study the program of our Congress and to join us at this inspiring event.
Jan Grønborg Eriksen
President of IVSS Churchear
What is IVSS-Churchear?
IVSS Churchear was founded in 1979 with the goal that hard of hearing and late-deafened persons have access to pastoral care and active church membership equal to that of persons with normal hearing.
IVSS Churchear is ecumenical, open to all Christian denominations. Members are national churches, organizations, and individuals who work with hearing impaired persons in their national churches.
IVSS Churchear is not a mission society but an instrument of integration, respecting national and denominational differences.
IVSS Churchear works mainly in three ways:
1. As a network of persons, organizations, and churches benefiting from each ot-her's experience. We assist those who wish to establish new initiatives by sending experienced staff members as counselors to countries where church efforts for hearing impaired persons is new and weak.
2. By arranging international conferences, normally every two years.
3. By publishing news and information materials on the Internet in various languages (www.churchear.org).
In some countries, this work is closely con nected with the ministry for the culturally Deaf. In other countries, the Deaf and the hard of hearing persons are seen as having very different needs. The position of late-deafened persons in the work of our members varies.
IVSS Churchear has member churches or organizations in these countries: Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Russia, and the USA. In addition, we have individual members in another seven countries.
IVSS Churchear is a member of IFHOH, the International Federation of the Hard of Hearing, and of Eurodiakonia.
IVSS Churchear is led by an international board whose president since 1998 is Rev. Jan Grønborg Eriksen of Denmark. Vice president is Dr. Dietfried Gewalt of Germany.