The Church’s healing ministry at St Michael and All Angels, Summertown
Our Lord Jesus Christ went about preaching the gospel and healing. He commanded his disciples to lay hands on the sick that they might be healed. In obedience to this command the church has the ministry of healing. We have introduced the healing ministry through the laying on of hands and anointing for oil at the 10am service on the third Sunday of the month.
What can we hope for through this ministry?
We believe that God loves us and wills the very best for us. But we also know that suffering of all kinds and ultimately death are conditions from which we cannot escape. In Jesus Christ he shared in this life’s suffering and death on the cross, and he can draw close to us in times such as these. However, his resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit gives us hope that we might have a foretaste of his kingdom here and now and that through the Church’s ministry we shall receive his love, strength and healing touch. What form that healing will take we cannot tell.
It may:
o Help to carry us through a prolonged illness or disability;
o Lead to recovery more rapidly than expected;
o Mean we lose our fear of death as it is driven out by God’s love;
o Be a healing which is so unexpected that we immediately want to thank God.
We can also seek this ministry for difficult situations, seeking God’s healing and being open to God changing us (for example taking away our fear) so we can play our role in the healing of the situation.
What will happen if I go to be prayed for?
On a Sunday, after receiving communion, you go through to the Lady Chapel. A steward will direct to you to one of the trained team who will offer to lay hands on you, or you will be asked to sit and wait until one of them is free. You do not need to say what you are seeking prayer for but you may if you wish to, and if you are seeking prayer for someone else please say so.
After receiving the laying on of hands you may if you wish be anointed with oil by a priest. Oil is anointed upon those who have a specific need and cannot by definition by applied to any who are not present. This, then, becomes a personal prayer for God’s help.