PASTOR'S DESK 

Let me introduce myself to you as Phillip Boyd, the Deaf pastor: 

I was born in Alabama (Gadsden) into a family of my parents and two older brothers (and a sister, 11 months later). When my parents found out that I am deaf, they decided to send me to Atlanta Speech School in Atlanta, Georgia, when I was three years old. All of our family moved there afterwards. My parents were really concerned for my spiritual welfare, so they taught me the word of God and took me to their Baptist church, although I did not understand what the pastor preached nor my Sunday School teacher. I was not really paying attention to the word of God, although they instilled in me a fear of God (discipline according to Proverbs 22:6). I really thanked them for their patience and sacrifice. 

When I was in a hearing high school, I was involved in sports like football, basketball, and track (shot put and discus throwing). But I searched for the truth to meet my “empty” life, although I had a good family and friends. My friend gave me the Chick tract “This Was Your Life,” which really awakened me by the Holy Spirit. Also, I read the book titled “666” by Salem Kirban, and I realized that Jesus Christ is coming anytime and other eschatological events. One thing led to another and led me to ask the Lord for His forgiveness and let Him take over my life in my bedroom at home when I was a senior in 1972. When I went to Gallaudet University, I met my friend and roommate who introduced me to a pastor to the Deaf at Riverdale Baptist in Maryland, and I learned more in the Scriptures and began to grow in faith since there was a church where the Deaf attended, where their own pastor taught in American Sign Language (ASL). 

God led me to preach to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing here in Nashville, where there is an urgent need to share the Gospel. There are many who are unable to understand God’s word due to a lack of interpreting services and Deaf teachers. Our church was founded in 2018 as Metro Nashville Baptist Church, formerly Metro Nashville Deaf Community Church. 

I (Sylvya) grew up in a nominally Catholic family. But my grandmother, who was not a Catholic and was reared in a Baptist background, influenced me spiritually. She taught me how to make right decisions but has not shared the gospel due to communication barriers.