Building on Wesley's Contribution: A Religious Community Prays for Healing

Historically, support for active healing ministries in local churches has fluctuated. Depending upon the needs and interest of the congregation, the availability of clergy who are interested and trained in healing ministries, and abuses of power in this area have affected the support for such ministries. And yet healing ministry would seem to be important in the United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church encourages health and wholeness, as stated in its Book of Resolutions 2004:

The United Methodist Church believes that its mission is to continue the redemptive ministry of Christ, including teaching, preaching, and healing. Christ's healing was not peripheral but central in his ministry. The church, therefore, understands itself as called by the Lord to the holistic ministry of healing: spiritual, mental emotional, and physical.¹⁸

In my own experience I was fortunate to serve a local congregation, Foundry United Methodist Church, in Washington, D.C., which has had an active healing ministry for more than forty years.¹⁹ This specific ministry began because of the needs of a woman diagnosed with cancer who came to the church and requested that the clergy provide such services. As a result, an active lay group was recruited who had overall responsibility for the administration and continuance of this ministry. It was early recognized that one of the best methods for bringing about healing is the experience of the Eucharist. Since in Methodist polity only ordained clergy may officiate at the celebration of Holy Communion the clergy were required to be present and support the healing services.

At Foundry the structure for such services have followed a pattern developed over many years. The evening selected was usually mid-week, a Wednesday, and began with a simple meal provided by the church staff. This usually included soup, sandwiches, dessert and beverages for a nominal fee, currently about $5.00. This provided for a time of fellowship and also allowed persons working in the city to be able to participate without having to make a commute home to suburbs of Washington.

Following the meal all were invited to attend an hour-long class on various aspects of healing. Usually time was spent upon learning various techniques of prayer, such as meditative prayer or how to pray with persons who came to the services. In addition many aspects of the healing ministry were studied, such as Jesus' ministry of healing in the Bible, the underlying theology of healing including such practices as anointing with oil or laying on of hands.²⁰

Following the class an hour-long service of worship was held in a chapel especially designed for such services. The chapel is plain with a square altar centered within a four sided kneeling rail beneath a large plain cross. Kneeling pads and space were provided for about twenty persons at a time to kneel, receive communion by intinction and then remain kneeling or return after the entire congregation had been served to request individual prayer with those leading the service. Background piano or sung music was usually provided so that conversation between the supplicant and the clergy or lay persons assisting could not be overheard by the congregation seated in pews. The pews seat about 100 persons with a central aisle leading to the enclosed four-sided prayer rail area. For many years the attendance averaged between 20 and 30 persons.

Persons coming for prayer would state their need to clergy, would have hands laid upon their heads, prayers said for them, and if a request had been made prior to the service they would be anointed with oil. Often a few members of the congregation would come forward and participate in the laying on of hands by placing their hands on the shoulders of the person being prayed for after that person had spoken his or her need to the person providing the healing prayers.

It is important to note that in these services the assumption is made, and frequently stated both verbally and in brochures describing the healing ministry that none of the persons involved is per se a healer who can provide what the supplicant asks for. Rather the belief is that only God provides healing. All that the church community provides is a space and time in which persons may come to experience healing from God. It is in this setting that a sense of hope and expectation of healing is affirmed.

Prior to the celebration of Holy Communion and the actual rites of healing, there was usually the singing of hymns, a reading from Scripture, a brief meditation and intercessory prayer for persons who have made written requests to the church community. The Christian names of these persons are read from a list compiled by lay persons during the week. Only the first names are read aloud and seldom is a description of specific needs given.

The service concluded with a hymn, a gathering in a circle with a holding of hands, followed by a benediction and passing of the peace prior to departure.

Dale Matthews in his book Faith Factor²¹ argues that communities of persons who practice a faith in communities are more likely to be healthy than persons who do not have faith and do not worship together. In addition religious persons normally pay attention to avoiding practices in life style which are deleterious to health. They often do not smoke, do not indulge frequently in alcoholic beverages or drugs, and are more likely to be non-promiscuous sexually.

Matthews, a physician himself, encourages patients to explore the spiritual side of their relationship with their doctor. He encourages patients to request that their doctor pray with them at each visit. Needless to say, this is a controversial position and many argue that it is an inappropriate mixing of faith with the scientific objectiveness of the physician. Two arguments are made against the practice. First, if the physician has a different faith than the patient, there could be trouble. Second, even more important, though many medical schools now require physicians in training to take courses in spirituality and the necessity of pastoral care to the whole nature of the patient, most physicians are not trained to engage in prayer or other pastoral needs. It is better to rely upon persons who have had specific training in these areas, such as chaplains with many hours of clinical pastoral education and experience who are part of the hospital and medical team.

Discussion Questions:

• What is the difference between healing and a cure?



• Do Christians agree that dying well is as important as living the abundant life Jesus promised?



• How will you continue to learn more about the interactions between science and religion?

18. The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2004 (The United Methodist Publishing House: Nashville, Tennessee, 2004), p. 308.



19. Alice Armstrong Ward with A. Dudley Ward, I Remain Unvanquished (Abingdon Press: Nashville & New York, 1970). This autobiographical work contains a detailed history of the formation of the Healing Ministry at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. as well as the theological rationale for and description of weekly services beginning the first Saturday in June, 1963.



20. Foundational books studied during the last ten years at the healing classes for training laity include:
    
    Roy McVicar, A Way to Christian Healing (The Fellowship of Meditation, Billing & Sons Limited: Guilford and London, 1967.
    Marian Vaughan Dunlop, Stillness and Strength: Studies in Contemplative Meditation (Beckett Publications: Oxford, 1982).
    Morton T. Kelsey, Psychology, Medicine & Christian Healing: A Revised and Expanded Edition of Healing and Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco: New York, N.Y., 1966).
    Martin Dudley and Geoffrey Rowell, editors, The Oil of Gladness: Anointing in the Christian Tradition (SPCK: London, 1993).
    
    Books studied during five years of classes (1998-2003):
    
    Robert Lawrence Friedman, The Healing Power of the Drum: A Psychotherapist Explores The Healing Power of Rhythm (White Cliffs Media: Reno, Nevada, 2000).
    John Wesley, A Longing for Holiness: Selected Writings of John Wesley, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe (Upper Room Books: Nashville, 1997).
    J. Ruth Gendler, The Book of Qualities (Harper & Row: New York, N.Y., 1984).
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: A Discussion of Christian Fellowship, John W. Doberstein, translator (Harper & Row: New York, N.Y., 1954).
    Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Life: A Guide for Spiritual Growth (Ave Maria Press: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1997).
    Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home (Harper San Francisco: New York, N.Y., 1992).
    Toyohiko Kagawa, Living Out Christ's Love: Selected Writings of Toyohiko Kagawa, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe (Upper Room Books: Nashville, Tennessee, 1998).
    Roger Housden, Ten Poems to Change Your Life (Harmony Books: New York, N.Y., 2001).



21. Dale A. Matthews with Connie Clark,The Faith Factor: Proof of the Healing Power of Prayer (Viking: New York, NY, 1998).