Starting a healing group in your local church
Mike Hutchinson
Begin small, move within your faith experience but remember it is
small faith in a great abundant God who can move mountains.
In June 1985 our vicar knocked on our door to ask that my wife and I
join the clergy and church wardens to pray for the sick. We came from a
medical background and I guess had a gift of compassion as well as
giving a degree of respectability to the concept of supernatural
healing. It had taken ten years from leaving a church that practised
this ministry to that point in time. Note well that ‘you need
patience if you are to fulfil the will of God' in this area for your
church.Now a team of 30 trained prayers operate in rota at twice
monthly Communion services with four to five hundred consultations
annually. Prayer for healing also occurs in cell groups and pastoral
prayer ministry. How do we raise the profile of ‘preach and heal'
as Christ did? How do you raise expectant faith among your church
family?
1. Plough up the field with prayer and look for evidence of the Holy Spirit's healing power in the church family.
Four years previously two dramatic medical events followed prayer
by the church. In the second a child sustained a road traffic accident
requiring life support. For two weeks the church met for prayer. During
this a vision of Jairus' daughter being raised from the dead was
confirmed when the patient turned over and coughed indicating that she
was not brain dead. She made a full recovery. Little teaching on this
form of healing was offered in house. The church leader may be
constrained by fear of losing control if the Spirit does something
strange, and by fear of change which might upset those who are
sceptical or who may have been damaged in the past by a triumphalistic
approach. Others fear that the church will split with one group feeling
inferior to another. We learnt from outside speakers who were allowed
to take ‘altar calls' and lay on hands in public.We were helped
by the respected figure of Bishop Morris Maddox and the Acorn Christian
Healing Trust as well as by recommendations from the two Archbishops
that healing should be an integral part of the Church. Whenever I spoke
on this issue I made it clear that God had revealed His healing
programme through both conventional scientific medicine and
supernatural revelation. The former often failed to address the
holistic nature of man that he was spirit, soul and body. God always
met the supplicants at their point of need in these areas according to
His will for them.
2. Establish a team
Interested members of the congregation were invited to an open
meeting with experienced visitors from another church. Thirty people
arrived and affirmed that we should start a group for healing. The
visitors suggested we also consider a soaking prayer group for those
with longstanding illness or problems meeting on a week night. We now
had joint agreement from clergy and laity. It was up to the small group
to select, train and equip suitable members of the church family. You
need a leadership team that leads by example and is open to the Holy
Spirit. So we learnt from Acorn, Christian Listeners, John Wimber,
Graham Dow and Ellel Ministries. From these came listening prayer
before healing Communions where prophetic words and pictures for that
congregation were received. They were then vetted by the president and
read to the congregation. Up to 70% of these words were honoured and
needs met. As a scientist I recorded the prophetic words and with
permission the requests of the supplicants and the outcome. Supplicants
could request that no one but those who prayed should know the content
of the request. We learnt to pray with our eyes open, to see the Holy
Spirit at work and to receive further words of revelation during the
prayer time. Each prospective team member attended a six week in-house
course and each member is reviewed annually. Confidentiality is vital.
Any members who ‘leaked' were advised to leave!
3. Encourage expectant faith
We minister in pairs (opposite sex) out of sight of the main
congregation and during the receiving of bread and wine. This respects
the client and reduces the risk of gossip. However, regular open
testimony to God's intervention is necessary to build up faith and
enable the congregation to own the ministry. Use a team member who is
good at interviewing. Written testimony pinned on a board is an
alternative. I reported back to the APCM the numbers of clients and the
responses to prophetic words - again to make healing openand
transparent.The Cross is central to our ministryFaith is taking a risk.
Healing and suffering are intertwined at the cross which should be
central in our ministry. You may meet opposition, scepticism, demonic
activity and spiritual warfare but the joy of seeing the power of the
Holy Spirit meet people at their point of need is an exciting reward.
Start small, move within your faith experience but remember it is small
faith in a great abundant God who can move mountains. Go for it!
About Dr. Mike Hutchinson.
Dr Mike Hutchinson was for many years a consultant haematologist at
Leicester Royal Infirmary. He and his wife, Ann, founded and developed
the healing team at Holy Trinity Leicester, have worked closely with
the Acorn Healing Foundation, and have trained many in the healing
ministry both in the UK and in Africa. They live in Sussex.
