Resource List – Sacramental Healing, Healing Prayer, Charismatic Healing

Answered Prayers?  Investigating the Healing Power of Prayer

Films for the Humanities and Sciences

This video presents responses to a child’s nearly miraculous recovery from a horrifying accident in the context of the family’s Pentecostal church affiliation.  Includes segments from doctors, pastors, family and community members, considering prayer as a powerful tool in healing/curing.

Bates, J. Barrington  Extremely Beautiful, but Eminently Unsatisfactory: Percy Dearmer and the Healing Rites of the Church 1909 – 1928

Anglican and Episcopal History 73, #2 June 2004

In this article, Bates describes Dearmer’s life at Oxford and his efforts to reclaim the sacramental Rite of Anointing of the Sick in the Church of England.  The article focuses on sacramentality and on Dearmer’s conviction that the rite was a pastoral response to Christians in need, intended to heal the spirit and soothe the soul – the sacrament might not restore persons to a disease free state, but is healing nonetheless.

Carlozzi, Carl G.  The Biblical Message of Healing.  Church Publishing, 1992.

This brief paperback is a sourcebook rather than a theological work.  Using a lively contemporary translation of the Bible, Carlozzi cites nearly 100 Biblical texts on healing and arranges them according to various pastoral concerns. This text would be a useful reference work for seminarians and pastors alike.

Enriching our Worship 2  The Standing Commission on Liturgy

This official Episcopal Church publication looks at ministry with the sick or dying, and includes specific liturgies related to the death and burial of children.  It includes a substantive section on praying with (not for) the sick, as well as associated liturgies.  Appropriate prayers, collects and psalms are included.  This seems an excellent resource for those who will be ministering to the sick and/or dying.

Groopman, Jerome  The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness
In this book, Jerome Groopman shares with readers what he has learned about the need to keep hope alive, especially in the face of serious illness. The key themes he explores are the extent to which hope features in the experience of patients with chronic and terminal illnesses; the importance of hope in enabling patients, families, friends, and physicians to meet the challenges of serious illness; the various forms that hope can take; and the role of the physician in fostering or at least not extinguishing hope. The Anatomy of Hope is not about the science of medicine but, instead, examines the art of medicine.

Larson-Miller, Lizette  The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

In this book, part of the Lex Orandi series, Lizette Larson-Miller explores the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and the crucial role played by a biblical text from the Letter of James in reconstructing a rite for the sick rather than only for the dying.  She looks at the central sacramental ideas surrounding the anointing of the sick that emerge from the three primary actions: the prayer of faith, the laying on of hands, and the anointing with oil.  The book provides an overview of the current rite through the lens of contemporary liturgical, theological, pastoral and cultural issues.

Larson-Miller, Lizette  Healing: Sacrament or Prayer?

Anglican Theological Review 88, #3

In this article, Larson-Miller addresses the issue of anointing by proxy by considering the practical and psychological importance of touch and presence.  After documenting and discussing the emergence of anointing by proxy, she reflects on the meaning of the ritual actions, with reference to the longer theological and liturgical traditions and the current official liturgical texts of the Episcopal Church in the USA.

Larson-Miller, Lizette  Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying

Liturgical Ministry 16, Fall 2007

In this article, Larson-Miller describes the historical role of the church in caring for the sick and dying.  She notes the basis of care as having derived from Jesus’ actions during his earthly ministry and discusses the development of healing rituals from the time of Jesus to the present. 

MacNutt, Francis. Healing.

Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1974.

A popular work by a pioneer in the Roman Catholic revival of healing ministries. He gives an account of how he was called to this ministry, addresses several skepticisms and doubts, gives direction for different varieties of healing prayer, and writes extensively on the process of discernment - how, when, and in what manner should we pray? The book contains many short anecdotes as testimony to the power of healing. Over all it is rather balanced and reasonable.

Mitchell, Christina E.  Expectation, Perception and Management of Answered Prayer - Journal of Psychology and Theology 17, #1

In this article, Mitchell describes the “locus of control” theory developed by Rotter in 1954.  Locus of control is a learned approach to assigning causes to outcomes – some see events as self-determined, some see events being determined by factors outside themselves.  Mitchell discusses expectations in response to prayer as well as prayer styles relative to internal/external orientation, and offers therapeutic responses to work in conjunction with client’s prayer lives.

Ryan, Regina. The Fine Art of Recuperation, A Guide to Surviving and Thriving After Illness, Accident or Surgery.

A guide to many facets of coping with illness, this book includes chapters on coming to terms with the losses presented by an illness, coping with the day to day challenges of illness, dealing with health care providers, caregivers and visitors, finding opportunities for growth throughout, and welcoming a new life after recovery.

Talley, Thomas J.  Healing: Sacrament or Charism?

Worship 46, #9 November 1972

In this article, Talley addresses healing charisms and sacramental rites, especially in light of the Roman effort to use anointing primarily with the sick, rather than primarily with the dying.  He discusses the definition of healing and the relationship of sacrament to healing.  Talley notes that God (rather than charismatic healer) is in every act of healing and finds interesting balance points between charism & sacrament.

Wimber, John and Kevin Springer  Power Healing
This book's dedication is underlined with the verse, "Death has been swallowed up in victory." This may be a triumphalist take on the practice of healing, and a generally conservative point of view (Wimber was founding pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship), but I believe the book gives us an important perspective on healing. Read it as "what the other side believes," if you will, but give it a read. Most of it is written as a personal account from his point of view, and it is full of adventures, visions, and exhortations. It is widely available and is in the GTU library... but if you're skeptical, you might want to read MacNutt first.

Websites for the Charismatic Episcopal Church

http://www.iccec.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_Episcopal_Church

Write-Up for Group 6: 

 From the earliest days of the church, miraculous healings were seen as crucial elements of God’s revelation to humanity. Miracles sustained belief throughout the medieval age, and went unquestioned until the rise of Enlightenment rationalism. With advances in scientific knowledge, the very existence of miracles could be brought into question, and this has remained a live issue in the church. Many mainline churches moved away from any emphasis on miracles.

Faith healing has however experienced a new articulation in recent decades, possibly as a reaction against the dry intellectualism of enlightenment thought. Francis MacNutt, a Roman Catholic healer, writes that praying for healing is essential to building a Christian community that is centered not just on doctrine but on experience. He warns against “over intellectualizing” miracles by interpreting them as proof of doctrinal statements. Christianity has sufficiently proved itself by now and does not need additional signs to point to correct doctrines. Instead, he says, the purpose of miracles and healings in the church today is to fill the shell of doctrines and truths with life and power, and to build up a people that has EXPERIENCED God (Healing, 1974, p 75).

More recent faith healing, excepting Christian Scientists, usually accepts the power of modern medicine, but also knows that medicine has its limits. A healer, or a prayer group, steps in wherever medicine has not been effective, and also intercedes for emotional healing. It is accompanied with a vibrant belief in the power of God on earth, and an Immanuel Christology where Jesus has compassion on all suffering, and does not will that anyone suffer. There is a rejection of any theodicy that glorifies suffering or that emphasizes the soul over the body. A theology for this ministry of physical healing proclaims that God wants wholeness and happiness for us on earth, and that God is glorified in our wholeness.

            From Carren:  Old-school Episcopalian decorum may play a significant role in resistance to unfamiliar faith practices. 

            One Easter Sunday, at the 8 o’clock service, I watched a beloved elderly friend across the aisle (each of us sitting where our families had sat for generations) slump down in his pew. I will never forget their panic-stricken faces, or my paralysis. And the liturgy droned on. The best I could do was poke my father in the arm and point to Roy and Betty. Thank heaven the new rector, celebrating her first Eucharist with us, saw what was happening – and had the presence to stop the liturgy, hold Roy’s hand and pray with us, while we waited for the ambulance. That parish has Roy’s illness to thank for opening the way to a powerful bond made with the new rector on that day – and for showing us something important about presence and ministry.

            The Chinese ideogram for “crisis” is a combination of the ideograms for danger and opportunity. That’s from Regina Ryan’s book The Fine Art of Recuperation. Karla’s illness and partial remission present danger and opportunity for her and for her congregation.  But there is more at play in the resistance to Karla’s theology, than simple WASP decorum.

            Regina Ryan’s book is about recovery of wellness, but it’s not at odds with death. There may be such a thing as a well death. As a member of our group said, “my sister died of cancer last year: and she was fully healed.”  Coping with illness begins with coping with loss, in that “whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it” kind of way. Losses have to be grieved and that takes time. Ryan quotes CS Lewis: “No one ever told me grief felt so like fear.”  Whatever the status quo is, even if it’s killing us, is something we often fight to keep – in a Friedman kind of way. Think of the heart attack patient who’s loathe to give up a life of brinksmanship in the marketplace, or the all-too-common COPD patient who can’t quit smoking.

            If the patient grieves whatever loss the illness reveals: loss of lifestyle or mobility or even life, then maybe it’s possible to accept or even embrace illness, pain and death as transformative, portals: dangerous opportunity. Not as God’s willing us to suffer, but God’s willingness to carry us through it.

            We begin in childhood to process existential questions, such as the meaning of death, and the struggle continues until we declare peace. Ryan writes of this as “reconciliation with death.” Ryan quotes a friend who’d crashed his car and waited a long time for help.  “I felt as calm and at peace as I have ever thought possible. I said to myself, ‘I suppose I might die or I might live.’ I had no energy going either way, just a realization that it would go either way and that either way was okay with me. I really felt deeply unafraid. I did not will to live, nor will to die. By quietly just being, I consciously set aside my preferences. This was a real sense of relief. Not a letting go of anything or any specific result. I prefer to describe it as an opening…an opening to the profound mystery of life.”  We might call that a “conversion experience.”

            One way of approaching Karla’s pancreatic cancer, including the partial remission, is as an opening.  How do we, as congregations, embrace illness and death? Do we try to run from them or segregate them, or do we accept them as gifts?

Have you ever been asked about death in church? Have you ever heard anyone talk about death in church? What about the losses inherent in illness? Anybody ever approach those existential questions in church?  Do we talk about death in sermons and small groups? Could we have a Lenten series on death? What if we shared experiences with death and near-death?  We might go a long way toward appreciating life, if we brought death out of the closet and stopped trying so desperately to escape from it. 

            Stanley Keleman broke new ground in that field, way back when the 1979 prayer book was still just “services for trial use.”  Keleman speaks of the body as a vehicle which holds life’s energies; a… “living process that in some way organizes itself around a set of nouns called I…I have experiences of love, of appetite, of being distant from others and close to others. And out of that ground of experience… – as a living process – I have certain experiences which people want to call spiritual or soulful. Experiences like feeling that life itself is without end; feeling that the question of death doesn’t end a life process…” (The Intuition Network)

            Facing death and illness, painful, messy, disruptive realities and all - gives us a dangerous opportunity to engage our existential questions, together, in community: inviting the Holy Spirit to inform that conversation and receiving the transformations we’re offered, appreciating what unfolds, rather than trying to proscribe outcomes. 

From Brian:              When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations delight my soul ~

Ps. 94:19

            Contemporary society is increasingly interested in alternative forms of healing, and the practices of Christianity reflect this growing interest.  Most mainline Christian churches have remained traditional, but ambiguous in their theologies of healing, whereas various Pentecostal and evangelical denominations have developed elaborate forms of charismatic healing that address concerns ranging from flu to exorcism.  But what does the Bible say about healing?              The Diversity of Healing in the Holy Scriptures - It is important to realize that there is no one model of healing presented in the Holy Scriptures.  The Old and New Testaments record many methods of successful healing, and not all of them meet the theological expectations of Christians living in the 21^st century:

Old Testament

Exodus 15:26 – Those who listen to the commandments of God are spared from disease

Numbers 21:7-9 – Anyone who looks upon the bronze serpent receives healing.

I Kings 17:21-22 – Elijah heals a young boy by stretching himself out upon the boy three times.

II Kings 5:10 – Naaman is restored when he dips in the Jordan River seven times.

II Kings 20:7 – Isaiah directs Hezekiah’s servants to make a fig-cake and place it upon his boil.

New Testament

Mark 5:25-34 – Jesus proclaims that a woman’s faith has made her well.

Mark 7:32 – Jesus heals by putting his fingers in a man’s ears, spitting in his eyes, and invoking an Aramaic phrase.

Matthew 8:3 – Jesus heals with a touch

Matthew 8:8 – Jesus heals with a word

Matthew 9:18 – Jesus heals by laying on of hands

Matthew 14:36 – Those who touch the fringe of Jesus' garment are healed.

John 9:6 – Jesus heals a blind man by making mud with his saliva, putting it on the man’s eyes, and telling him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.

            Implication - There is no mechanical process of healing in the Christian faith.  The Holy Scriptures are filled with scores of healing stories that defy any simple categorization.  Also, how God works and heals in the world is itself a mystery, and we must be careful to avoid over-literalizing analogous language.  While Christians must confront the fact that God can not keep any person healthy forever in this mortal life, the Bible suggests that God care deeply about illness and that God will never abandon those who struggle with illness. 

            The Relationship between Prayer and Medical Care - Though there are a variety of healing practices described in the Bible, it would be a mistake to believe that the Bible gives no clear teaching about the relationship of God to healing.  The Bible does present a coherent picture of God as source of healing, and this message should not be forgotten or lost in the midst of trying to discuss the various nuances of Biblical tradition.

            God as the Ultimate Source of All Healing in the Scriptures - Although the Bible presents many different methods and styles of healing, it names just one source of healing: God.  Indeed, the Holy Scriptures teach that God has created this world and all things in it for good (Gen 1-7), and that God delights in the healing and health of His Creation (Exodus 15:26, Psalm 103:3 etc).  Thus, sickness has never been the will of God for this world (Romans 8:22-23).  Even when our physical bodies suffer, Christians must remember that we will be raised up by Christ, who will bring healing, health and restoration of our bodies (I Corinthians 15:53-53). In the final analysis, there is no distinction made between the various forms of healing available to human beings and the healing power of God.  All healing knowledge flows out of the same source. Thus, from a Biblical perspective, the critical question Christians must ask is not "Shall we go to the doctor or shall we ask for prayer?", but rather, "To whom do we look as the source of our healing?"  And the answer, unequivocally, is God.

            Conclusion - Even if we are able to name God as source of healing and admit a diversity of healing practices, one question still remains:  Is God responsible if I am not physically healed?  Here the Biblical narrative becomes fuzzy.  There is no easy Biblical answer to this question.   However, Rabbi Harold Kushner suggests that this question presupposes that healing is a matter of God choosing whether or not to intervene in life.  One can argue whether or not the Biblical narrative supports this worldview, but Kushner offers an answer that may make a great deal more sense to modern theists wrestling with this question.  He writes, “I believe that God is the answer to all sickness, even when there is no happy ending in sight.  The God I believe in does not send us the Problem; God gives us the strength to cope with the problem.”  This, in a holy nutshell, affirms God as the source of all healing rather than dispenser of cures.  Christians should be encouraged not see prayer and medicine as adversaries, but as companions.  For the Bible assures us that God is with us in our times of trial.

            From Karen:  What does it mean to have a healing ministry?  Karla feels very strongly that she has a healing charism that is biblically based and effective.  But what is Karla’s definition of effective, and how is that helpful to her community?  There is a distinct difference between healing and cure, and Karla seems to be defining them as one and the same.  What has happened to the members of her congregation who have been prayed over, but have not been cured? Is their faith not strong enough? What does it mean when Karla says “God wants everyone’s body to be perfectly healthy,” and implies that her healing ministry can provide that?  What happens in a congregation when someone has been set apart for a specific ministry and has used that ministry to speak the truth for God? As the healing minister, Karla has defined healing according to her own terms, and attributed those terms to God.  So where is God in all of this, and what does the church have to offer those whose illness continues despite Karla’s healing prayers?  How do we minister to Karla, whose cancer may or may not go into total remission?  And how do we minister to the “healer” Karla, whose words and actions may be contributing to suffering rather than healing in her congregation?

            “In Ministry with the Sick or Dying, the Church acts in the grace of God for the health and salvation of its members.  This ministry is based on Jesus’ constant witness of concern and care for the sick.  It is also shaped by the Epistle of James’ direction to the sick to call for the elders of the Church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of Jesus Christ: Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed… (James 5:14-16).  James expects these actions to have three effects:  the prayer of faith will save the sick, the Lord will raise them up, and their sins will be forgiven” (EOW 2). This congregation has recognized in Karla a healing ministry, and in accordance with this passage from James, has called her into a ministry of prayer and healing.  Yet while James tells us that the threefold result for the sick one will be healing, raising up and forgiveness of sins, Karla tells us the result will be cure from disease.  There appears to be a significant misinterpretation.            Praying with the sick affords a different sort of communion than does praying for the sick.  Praying with the sick reminds us that we are all together the people of God, each of us integral to the Body of Christ.  Praying together reminds us that illness and death are circumstances affecting all of us and while some of us may appear to be healthy now, we can sympathetically share in each other’s circumstances, whatever they may be today.  “St. Augustine wrote, “One becomes sick, oneself, to minister to the sick, not with any false claim to having the same fever, but by considering with an attitude of sympathy, how one would want to be treated if one were in the sick person’s place.”  When we pray with the sick, we enter into their suffering and endeavor to bring to them Christ’s redeeming love.

            Our prayers with the sick ought to be filled with the certainty that God hears us and will answer us, and filled with patience so that we don’t contribute to further suffering by encouraging a belief in instant recovery.  Our prayers may not be answered in a way that we hope they will, and still, our healing occurs in our communion with God and the people of God.  We can best serve by entering into prayer with our attention on the sick one’s relationship with God, with the people of God, and with self.  Healing happens in this trinity and is not in any way dependant upon remission from disease.  When focused on true healing, prayer with the sick can ensure that God’s goodness and love will prevail in all circumstances. 

            “Caring for the sick and dying is a basic human act of charity and justice, not limited to Christians.  But when Christians engage in care for the sick, they do so in imitation of both the compassion and actions of Christ himself” (Zimmerman, p. 172).  Focus on remission of disease as representative of healing, looses sight of the focus of Jesus’ earthly ministry, which was relationship with the Father, and relationship with one another; theology and ecclesiology.  With theology and ecclesiology at the center of our healing ministries, the Sacraments of the Church can be employed to assure God’s grace to the sick.  In the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, we seek a Trinitarian sort of healing for the one who is ill.  We seek a reconciling with self… a kind of peacemaking and acceptance of the whole self, however well or ill or frightened or hopeful that self is.  We seek a reconciliation of the sick one with her community, reassuring her of her place in the body of Christ and assisting with any sort of disconnect between self and others.  And we seek the certainty of being a beloved child of God, forgiven and blessed, redeemed by Christ and completely whole.  “Imbedded in a rich collection of prayers, rituals, and …scripture, the anointing of the sick is part of a series of ritual interactions and texts designed to communicate the reality of the abiding presence of Christ to the sick through the ministry of members of the Christian community” (Larson-Miller, p. ix).  The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick seeks to raise up the sick one, and to overcome the estrangement she feels from her own body, from her community and from God.  Praying, laying on of hands and anointing with oil are rituals that for millennia have indeed healed the sick.

            The apostle Paul spoke of the many charisms given by God, the charism of healing being among them.  Since the first century, charismatic healers have been found both within and outside of the church.  Some people experience charismatic healing.  Others do not.  For the church, the responsibility is to work toward true healing for all.  There is a wholeness that we seek in Christian healing, a beautiful trinity that is far more complete than the mere curing of the physical body.  This is the threefold healing ministry of the Body of Christ, and it is always efficacious.

            From Dan:  The rector has the makings of quite a church fight on her hands. She has a controversial parishioner who is drawing a great deal of attention and who is in personal crisis because of her own medical condition. The controversy is heightened because her approach to healing falls on the fringes of the teachings of the church. On top of that people are beginning to take sides. It’s a triangle in the making.

            Karla though is not just a person leading a faction within the congregation. She is also in need of personal support for her medical condition, particularly as it is likely to worsen. Whitehead squared talks about a “holding environment” for situations such as these, where conflict is forming and people are exploring their feelings about personally important theological subjects. The rector needs to establish a prayerful environment and foster a community of open dialogue. This can be started by the rector demonstrating that there is space in the sacred to celebrate differences in belief, and to make it clear that our care for each other, in this case Karla’s well being, is primary in the equation. Among other things, Karla’s current remission is taking a lot of energy and she needs support now.  While emphasizing the teachings of the church, the Rector must also call for the parish to be thankful for God’s healing grace in Karla’s life and in the lives of all the parishioners.

            Friedman would tell us that the Rector must make certain not to take on the negative attitudes of any one perspective, but rather encourage open dialogue among her parishioners.  This can be done by the Rector’s support of and participation in an environment of communal love. Comments made to the Rector about Karla should be met with a response that clarifies the need for open and loving communication directly with Karla.  Not only does this alleviate inappropriate conversation, it also allows the parishioner to consider his or her words in the context of a person facing life and death issues. The feelings of those who are not in Karla’s situation might seem minor when placed in that context.  If the Rector engages in conversation with parishioners about Karla rather than encouraging them to speak directly to Karla, will only create the illusion that the Rector is taking sides. Meanwhile, if she redirects the concerns to Karla and comments that no matter what happens Karla is going to need the love and prayers of the parish, this will keep God in the midst of the situation and create the type of space which will be more likely to produce to a positive outcome.

            Parker Palmer talks about focusing our attention on God when dealing with conflict. His approach is much like that of Whitehead. What is the point, if we don’t hold God in the middle of our lives when we confront the unexpected. If we allow the conflict to dwell in the words of people and not in the heart of God, we abandon our faith and leave room for the worldly to erode the sacred nature of our community.

            Dealing with this situation is going to take all the pastoral skills the Rector can muster. Karla needs to be supported personally while not being allowed to dominate the dialogue. There is the opportunity that many will get in touch with unresolved pain they feel because of the loss of loved ones or their own medical issues. In the midst of this situation we’ll find great joy and great sorrow, both of which can be held and made holy in an open, honest and loving community.