Hymns for Signing (American Sign Language)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for worship, with old and new songs
Review: Curt Keller and helpers in the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church have provided an excellent resource for worship with the Deaf. The hymnal contains, in ASL format, every song in the United Methodist Hymnal. The hymns are conceptually accurte, with references to the "American Sign Language Dictionary" for proper signs of more obscure concepts. Although the Deaf understandably are left out during hymn singing, the interpreter can include them in the worship through use of this reference. The hymns contained in this book include standard, traditional titles and several more contemporary songs, as well as songs from different ethnic backgrounds. This hymnal need not be used only by United Methodists, as the hymns it contains are standard throughout denominations. This is a "must have" resource for interpreters of worship.

Rating:
Summary: Where are the signs!
Review: From the previouse review I was expecting a great book filled with words signs and music. All you get is a book of words and reference to a signing dictionary. You would be better off collecting the most popular hynms from your own church and making a signing chart yourself. Diffently a, pass it by!

Rating:
Summary: Very useful
Review: This is just what I needed. After taking ASL classes, I knew the signs, but it was difficult to know how to put some some of the language and phraseology of the hymns into terminology that would be signable and easily understood. Having this book makes for a lot less pausing and fingerspelling.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Resource for Signing Hymns for the Deaf
Review: What a wonderful resource for a deaf ministry! Its focus is on relaying the concepts in the hymns to the deaf, not the exact words of the hymns (it is in ASL not Signed Exact English.) It does not have pictures of how to sign the hymns because its focus is not for people who just want to let the hearing watch an interpreter and see the beauty of the signs. It is to allow the person signing to get the message of the hymns to the deaf person in the congregation without having to spend countless hours thinking of how to put English into ASL. So it is written for those who have a signing vocabulary and a little experience. And the dictionary references are helpful so if there is a word you don't know how to sign...you can look it up. It is easy for even a beginner like me to use. Again, its purpose is to allow the signer to look at the words in this hymnal and sign them as they are written. It definatly cuts down on the amount of time needed to prepare for worship.