Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Guidance leaflet (Methodist, for churches)

An Introduction to Supporting People with Hearing Loss in your Church

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/mwib-2019-hearing-loss-in-church/ · record checked 9 October 2026

  • Methodist Women in Britain
  • Methodist Women in Britain (MWiB)

Independent (Methodist Women in Britain, an organisation within the Methodist Church in Britain, writing for Methodist churches; it states that it has set aside funds for churches' provision for deaf people, but not for a basic loop system)

Summary

A four-page Methodist guide for ministers, preachers and stewards on welcoming people with hearing loss, including running the church loop and using microphones in services.

Key findings

  • States that "Churches have a duty to provide a loop system", and that its grants will not fund a basic loop system but will consider other resources and training, such as signing.
  • In services: ensure the church loop system is on and that a sign shows it exists; anyone speaking in a service or meeting should use a microphone and preferably come to the front; train those who speak to use microphones correctly; have one person speak at a time.
  • Warns that background noises can be amplified through the loop as well as the main speaker, and that "Switching off the microphone during singing can leave deaf people in a vacuum": keep it on, or use a microphone that picks up the singing.
  • Suggests a portable loop for meeting rooms, visible hymn boards or projected words, written orders of service, and that speakers not hide behind a lectern or other furniture so that lip readers can see them.
  • Notes that speech-to-text aids are increasingly available and that interpreters may be needed for larger meetings, and that people's preferred way of communicating must be respected.

Limits

Basic welcome guidance without data or technical detail; it names no loop standard and does not mention other assistive listening systems. Its statement of a duty to provide a loop is not tied to a named law. Dated August 2019 on the leaflet; the copy read was posted in October 2020.

Read the original

cdn.mwib.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Supporting-People-with-Hearing-Loss.pdf

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Cited in

Cite this source

Methodist Women in Britain. An Introduction to Supporting People with Hearing Loss in your Church. Methodist Women in Britain (MWiB). August 2019. https://cdn.mwib.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Supporting-People-with-Hearing-Loss.pdf (accessed 9 October 2026).

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