Physician and theologian John Wilkinson writes, “Healing extends to all areas of human life and being. It cannot be
confined to the body and the purely physical phenomena of the repair of wounds and the union of fractures. If human
beings are indivisible entities, as we believe them to be, any disturbance of their health affects them as a whole and if it
is to be effective, healing must also extend to the whole of their life and being.”(The Bible and Healing: A medical and
theological commentary) The vision of Hope is to extend healing not only to individuals but to the whole of family and
community life and being.
Jesus gives the ministry of healing to all believers in the great commission (Luke 9:1-2): When Jesus had called the
Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them
out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Then he commissioned 72 more to do the same (Luke 10:17). Mark tells in even more detail the signs that will
accompany those who preach the gospel (Mark 16:17, 18). "They will place their hands on sick people, and they will
get well." The Book of Acts is filled with examples of healing by followers of Jesus after they receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The Epistle of James (5:14-16) states that the congregation and clergy and lay leaders should be expected to
exercise a healing ministry. 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. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Although, we who consider ourselves modern and educated members of the church tend to shy from taking up the rest
of the great commission beyond preaching the gospel, because "the very idea of ministering in signs and wonders
sounds presumptuous...the plain fact is that [while] the Church is never to supply signs and wonders on
demand…neither must it deny signs and wonders, which are part of the Church's commission." (Come Holy Spirit by
Bishop David Pytches)
This is how it feels it has happened, and is happening at Hope. Even before Hope Episcopal mission church launched
in June 1999, many of us, though we’d never even discussed healing ministry much less felt we had any equipping to
pray for healing, somehow knew that Hope would have an active healing ministry. We knew our congregation would
not only hold healing services, according to the Episcopal/Anglican tradition, but also offer healing prayer at regular
services. But there was more. The scope of Hope’s healing ministry was expanded by a surprising and potent vision
of a healing center serving the community with a wide range of activities to help people with their own healing and that
of loved ones. Over the years, an increasing number of Hope's parishioners are finding themselves gifted by the
power of the Holy Spirit with effective prayers for healing and a sense of calling to supporting a growing healing
ministry.
At Hope we are careful to follow scriptural guidance and the wisdom acquired by other successful healing ministries.
The healing ministry is shared by lay members of the congregation with clergy. Continuing education and supervision,
under Hope’s vicar, are a regular part of the ministry. The teaching and preaching ministry of Hope includes
proclamation of the healing work of Christ and His disciples in scripture and in the Church today.
Ongoing education is a part of the healing ministry. In addition to book studies of seminal works on the rationale for
Christian healing prayer, and ethics and techniques for healing prayer, members of Hope’s healing ministry have
studied at the Christian Healing Ministries (CHM) School of Healing Prayer (levels I through III) founded by renowned
teachers and practitioners of healing prayer Francis and Judith MacNutt. Hope’s healing ministry members were even
invited to be the MacNutt’s support healing prayer team when they were on a healing and deliverance mission in Las
Vegas, New Mexico. Hope also has a chapter of the international healing Order of St. Luke, and has also sponsored
two community-wide classes in healing prayer using video course materials from CHM supplemented by Hope teachers,
with practice prayer time, which attracted students from beyond Albuquerque and from different churches.
Healing prayer is offered at Hope's regular Sunday services during and after communion, and continuing after church
at the prayer station at the rear of the church. For longer-term or more intensive prayer needs “soaking prayer”
sessions are offered by appointment. Consider how in chemotherapy, for example, treatment is regularly scheduled
over a period of time; in the same way, a series of appointments for soaking prayer can be especially effective for
certain physical conditions, or healing of memories and emotions. Hope’s prayer ministers are not counselors or
spiritual directors; we know that the healing comes from the Lord, and we are called to listen, love, and pray. Hope’s
soaking prayer ministry serves the larger community, with many clients coming from other denominations and parishes.
As part of Hope’s outreach into the community, and to provide a quiet and discreet welcome to seekers who might not
be ready to commit to a traditional Sunday service, Hope holds a Service of Healing and Wholeness the third Tuesday
of every month at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 6901 Wyoming Blvd NE. All are welcome and childcare is
provided. This service attracts people from all over town, from other denominations, and even people of other faiths.
The healing service follows the worship style of the ecumenical community of Taizé, in Burgundy, France. The service
is dedicated to healing not just the individual but, following the Taizé community’s principles seeking to reconcile the
Roman, Orthodox, and Reform divisions in the church, also the body of Christ. In just under one hour, beautiful
melodies support sung prayer, interspersed with scripture and a litany of prayer, and two 10-minute periods of silence
offer an oasis of peace and respite. Healing prayers and laying on of hands by trained prayer ministers are offered
quietly in the latter part of the service for those who want it. The congregation enters and leaves in silence, allowing
for anonymity and contemplation. The healing service music group includes instrumental support by cello, guitar,
flute, clarinet, and piano. Our healing service musicians come from a variety of denominations, and are part of the well-
regarded and internationally known Center for Action and Contemplation’s major international conferences in
Albuquerque. .
If you scratch the surface of any person in our society, you will find they have grappled with, are dealing with, or are
worrying about the health (mental, physical, spiritual) of themselves and/or a loved one (child or parent or friend).
Thus, the vision for Hope includes not only a healing prayer ministry, but a healing center for our neighborhood and
broader community, offering services and healing modalities to help individuals and families navigate, cope, and find
peace in this era of fragmented and alienating medical care, the aging and dying of baby boomers and their parents,
addictions at all ages and levels of society, and much more. The name of Jesus means healer and rescuer. His
ministry and call is to show that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Lord has called Hope to a vision and ministry of
healing and service; to serve as instruments instrument through which God’s power, grace, and mercy flows to any
person, at any stage of belief, or status.
confined to the body and the purely physical phenomena of the repair of wounds and the union of fractures. If human
beings are indivisible entities, as we believe them to be, any disturbance of their health affects them as a whole and if it
is to be effective, healing must also extend to the whole of their life and being.”(The Bible and Healing: A medical and
theological commentary) The vision of Hope is to extend healing not only to individuals but to the whole of family and
community life and being.
Jesus gives the ministry of healing to all believers in the great commission (Luke 9:1-2): When Jesus had called the
Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them
out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Then he commissioned 72 more to do the same (Luke 10:17). Mark tells in even more detail the signs that will
accompany those who preach the gospel (Mark 16:17, 18). "They will place their hands on sick people, and they will
get well." The Book of Acts is filled with examples of healing by followers of Jesus after they receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The Epistle of James (5:14-16) states that the congregation and clergy and lay leaders should be expected to
exercise a healing ministry. 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. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Although, we who consider ourselves modern and educated members of the church tend to shy from taking up the rest
of the great commission beyond preaching the gospel, because "the very idea of ministering in signs and wonders
sounds presumptuous...the plain fact is that [while] the Church is never to supply signs and wonders on
demand…neither must it deny signs and wonders, which are part of the Church's commission." (Come Holy Spirit by
Bishop David Pytches)
This is how it feels it has happened, and is happening at Hope. Even before Hope Episcopal mission church launched
in June 1999, many of us, though we’d never even discussed healing ministry much less felt we had any equipping to
pray for healing, somehow knew that Hope would have an active healing ministry. We knew our congregation would
not only hold healing services, according to the Episcopal/Anglican tradition, but also offer healing prayer at regular
services. But there was more. The scope of Hope’s healing ministry was expanded by a surprising and potent vision
of a healing center serving the community with a wide range of activities to help people with their own healing and that
of loved ones. Over the years, an increasing number of Hope's parishioners are finding themselves gifted by the
power of the Holy Spirit with effective prayers for healing and a sense of calling to supporting a growing healing
ministry.
At Hope we are careful to follow scriptural guidance and the wisdom acquired by other successful healing ministries.
The healing ministry is shared by lay members of the congregation with clergy. Continuing education and supervision,
under Hope’s vicar, are a regular part of the ministry. The teaching and preaching ministry of Hope includes
proclamation of the healing work of Christ and His disciples in scripture and in the Church today.
Ongoing education is a part of the healing ministry. In addition to book studies of seminal works on the rationale for
Christian healing prayer, and ethics and techniques for healing prayer, members of Hope’s healing ministry have
studied at the Christian Healing Ministries (CHM) School of Healing Prayer (levels I through III) founded by renowned
teachers and practitioners of healing prayer Francis and Judith MacNutt. Hope’s healing ministry members were even
invited to be the MacNutt’s support healing prayer team when they were on a healing and deliverance mission in Las
Vegas, New Mexico. Hope also has a chapter of the international healing Order of St. Luke, and has also sponsored
two community-wide classes in healing prayer using video course materials from CHM supplemented by Hope teachers,
with practice prayer time, which attracted students from beyond Albuquerque and from different churches.
Healing prayer is offered at Hope's regular Sunday services during and after communion, and continuing after church
at the prayer station at the rear of the church. For longer-term or more intensive prayer needs “soaking prayer”
sessions are offered by appointment. Consider how in chemotherapy, for example, treatment is regularly scheduled
over a period of time; in the same way, a series of appointments for soaking prayer can be especially effective for
certain physical conditions, or healing of memories and emotions. Hope’s prayer ministers are not counselors or
spiritual directors; we know that the healing comes from the Lord, and we are called to listen, love, and pray. Hope’s
soaking prayer ministry serves the larger community, with many clients coming from other denominations and parishes.
As part of Hope’s outreach into the community, and to provide a quiet and discreet welcome to seekers who might not
be ready to commit to a traditional Sunday service, Hope holds a Service of Healing and Wholeness the third Tuesday
of every month at 7:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 6901 Wyoming Blvd NE. All are welcome and childcare is
provided. This service attracts people from all over town, from other denominations, and even people of other faiths.
The healing service follows the worship style of the ecumenical community of Taizé, in Burgundy, France. The service
is dedicated to healing not just the individual but, following the Taizé community’s principles seeking to reconcile the
Roman, Orthodox, and Reform divisions in the church, also the body of Christ. In just under one hour, beautiful
melodies support sung prayer, interspersed with scripture and a litany of prayer, and two 10-minute periods of silence
offer an oasis of peace and respite. Healing prayers and laying on of hands by trained prayer ministers are offered
quietly in the latter part of the service for those who want it. The congregation enters and leaves in silence, allowing
for anonymity and contemplation. The healing service music group includes instrumental support by cello, guitar,
flute, clarinet, and piano. Our healing service musicians come from a variety of denominations, and are part of the well-
regarded and internationally known Center for Action and Contemplation’s major international conferences in
Albuquerque. .
If you scratch the surface of any person in our society, you will find they have grappled with, are dealing with, or are
worrying about the health (mental, physical, spiritual) of themselves and/or a loved one (child or parent or friend).
Thus, the vision for Hope includes not only a healing prayer ministry, but a healing center for our neighborhood and
broader community, offering services and healing modalities to help individuals and families navigate, cope, and find
peace in this era of fragmented and alienating medical care, the aging and dying of baby boomers and their parents,
addictions at all ages and levels of society, and much more. The name of Jesus means healer and rescuer. His
ministry and call is to show that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Lord has called Hope to a vision and ministry of
healing and service; to serve as instruments instrument through which God’s power, grace, and mercy flows to any
person, at any stage of belief, or status.
| Quietly and Joyfully Sharing the Healing Power and Loving Mercies of Jesus Christ By: Rebecca Lynn Hemphill |