July 28, 2025, 7:36am MDT
Ogden, Utah – For more than a century, the Ogden Valley deaf branch building has stood as a sacred home for deaf and deaf people in Latter-day Saints’ Church of Jesus Christ.
On Sunday, July 27th, the Latter-day saints and friends gathered once more at the restored 1917 meeting hall.
The historic building, the first Latter-day Holy Chapel, and one of the first in the United States, designed specifically for the deaf, the historic building, has recently been renovated for new purposes.
It serves as a meeting hall for the church’s water tower correction branch. This provides a sanctuary for those who rebuild their lives after incarceration.
Before that next chapter continued, the day belonged to a community that members once called the building theirs.
“Welcome,” Doug Stringham, a member of the Church’s Sign Language Accessibility Committee, said he is emotional and expressive in American sign language. “Here was a different place from the other hearing churches you could find.”
Emily Utto, historic site curator for the Church History Department, said, “For over 80 years, this location has been home to the deaf community.”
A chapel built by the deaf
The deaf branch building in Ogden Valley, dedicated to 1917, was imagined and defended by church members Max Woodbury and Elsie M. Christiansen.
After years of petitions and letters, President Joseph F. Smith and church leaders approved the project, which they fully funded from general church funds.
Architect Leslie S. Hodgson, known for designing prominent local buildings like Peery’s Egyptian Theater, worked closely with leaders of the deaf to design chapels where communications can flourish through sign language.
Elder Jason C. Jensen, 70, was sign language representative for the Church’s Sign Language Accessibility Committee, moderated the conference and represented the Utah Regional Presidency. He cited Doctrine and Covenant 90:11.
“This building is a manifestation of its prophetic vision and obligation,” he testified.
Elevated feet, sloping floors, natural lighting and wide gaze make it a sacred and accessible space for the deaf.
UTT said, “From the 1840s, there were deaf saints living in Utah, but they were always in a rented space. It was never my place.”
This building changed that.
“This is our home.”
For decades, deaf people travelled across and beyond Utah to worship in this inclusive building.
All deaf units in the church today can trace their roots to this branch, UTT explained. “The first deaf primary election, the first deaf Sunday school, the first deaf roadshow, the first deaf banquet.”
Elder Jensen explained that there are currently more than 25 hearing impaired units throughout the church.
Gay Collins Bird, who first came to the branch as a young girl in the 1950s, walked from the dorms at the deaf school to the chapel, reminiscing about primary elections, mutual and Sunday services. “We had so many social activities,” she said. “It was our life.”
For Mark Irwin, who served as the branch president for 14 years, he described the building as retaining generations of memories.
“As soon as I walked in, I felt history – a spirit,” he said, adding that the building carved the history of his community.
“This is our home,” he said. “I just know that we are with this close relationship and that we are all the same. We have the same culture, the same communication, the same language. That’s great.”
In 1999, the growing hearing impaired branch moved to a larger, more accessible meeting place. As the second counselor for the then Branch presidency, Irwin held his final meeting in the sacred building.
“We knew the need to move,” Irwin said. “But I felt the loss of this building, so there were a lot of difficult emotions, lots of tears. It was really tough at the time.”
New chapters of the Ministry
Since 2001, the building has been serving other communities. Previously incarcerated individuals – a place where men and women seeking spiritual renewal can gather, worship and heal after prison.
However, in 2024 the building was closed and much needed renovations were made possible.
“It’s more than construction, it’s a restoration,” Elder Jensen said. “Not only the building, but the heritage.”
Correctional members often feel invisible or forgotten, as the hearing impaired communities once did. President Charles Adams serves as branch chairman of the Water Tower Correctional Branch. He and his wife, Diane Adams, have seen their hearts soften and change their lives in the building.
“They call me ‘grandma’ or ‘mama’,” Sister Adams said. “This is the only place they are truly, really loved and not judged.”
“Access to Jesus Christ”
A doorbell illuminated instead of natural light, raised pugh and chimes – every detail was built for access, and Elder Jensen referred to Mark 2 in the New Testament. He described four friends who lowered a paralyzed man from the roof to reach his Savior.
“They discovered the roof for access,” Elder Jensen said. “The increased access to this building represents access to Jesus Christ. This building is more than a building, it is a sanctuary.”
At the Sacramental Conference on Sunday (the first meeting of the Sacrament of the Deaf in the Building for the First Time in 25 years), hymns were sung and tears were signed to flow down the faces of both the old and young.
Darlene Cochran, a third generation deaf late-day saint, remembered being taught to pay a ti in this building by President Woodbury, the first leader of the branch that had served more than 50 years. “He taught me about the gospel, and I will never forget it,” she said.
She hopes that the Latter-day saints will “continue to go and continue to learn the gospel” everywhere.
“Where I go, I can see deaf church members,” she said. “We are very fortunate to have the gospel. We are very fortunate to have a church we attend together.”
Legacy to turn on
“The best story here is really about the community,” UTT said. “We all want a place to belong. We all want to find a place where we can call home.”
As the deaf community continues to grow and worship in new spaces, and the Correctors step into the new season of mission, the building spirit endures – not only in bricks and architecture, but also in the hearts, hands and stories.
President Jimmy Adair, the current president of the Ogden Valley (sign language) chapter, quietly stood in the chapel, which first entered the 24-year-old in 1984, acknowledging where the Latter-day Saint community was at the time.
“In 1917, this was the world’s first hearing impaired branch,” he said. There is currently a sign language ward in Riverside, California. Mesa, Arizona. And Salt Lake City.
Looking around the renovated space, he smiled and said, “God loves everyone.”
