Star Tribune Article June 27 text version

Faith healing: From fringe to the masses By JEFF STRICKLER  (reprinted from June 27, 2010 Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Frank Williams doesn't care that faith healing "seems like a lot of mystical mumbo-jumbo" to many people. With his ailing back supported by his cane, he was one of the first to go forward into the circle of 10 healers at recent healing service at Spirit United Church in southeast Minneapolis."I know one thing for sure: I feel better now than when I walked in here," he said afterward. "Chalk it up to whatever you want. Some people say it's just psychosomatic, and maybe it is. I don't care. It works for me, and that's all I need to know."It's time to update the clichéd image of faith healing as Elmer Gantry-inspired revival meetings and televangelists promising to cure everything from bunions to cancer as soon as they get your donation (operators are standing by). Slowly but surely-and, many would add, inevitably-the focus on the link between spiritual and Faith continues and physical health is moving from the religious fringe to mainline churches, fueled by the growing general interest in alternative medicine and mind-body. Minnesota is at the epicenter of the movement. The Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis held its first healing mass 18 months ago; now it's holding three of them a year. Bethlehem Lutheran Churchin south Minneapolis has established health ministry that offers classes on healing touch. Nine years ago, Diane Waarvik, director of Bethlehem Lutheran's curing and health ministry attended a conference of 1, 500 church representatives at which she was the only one involved in a health ministry. Today, she'd have no trouble getting together a conference of 1,500 people all involved in health ministries. "When we started these program 10 years ago, 25 percent of the congregation asked why we needed it, and another 25 percent said it was silly,"she said. "When people saw what we do, they started to support us. Now they get it. We have 100 percent support.

Reasons for the boom can be seen all around. A 2008 survey by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute found skyrocketing interest in spirituality, especially in people under 30. Eastern philosophies involving the mind-body connection, such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, are packing people into exercise studios and community end classes. Meanwhile, health professionals have become more accepting of alternative treatment- to the point that St. Catherine University now offers graduate degree in holistic health studies. At the same time, with health costs climbing and insurance coverage shrinking, many people are turning too their churches for some of their medical needs, from flu shots to blood pressure tests, in the process making congregations more comfortable with the church-health connection. The swine flu scare kicked it into hyper-speed, said the Rev.Eileen Linder, a sociologist and Presbyterian pastor who co-wrote the National Councilor Churches' 2007 report on health ministries."That really opened the doors," she said. "Many congregations started offering flu shots. They'd set up shop on Saturday morning and tell their members, ‘C'mon in for bagels, coffee and a flu shot.' "The Rev. Bill Baldwinis both a United Church of Christ minister and a therapist who offers healing massage. "It was while making hospital visits [to ailing parishioners] that I became aware that touch can very powerful, "he said. "Coming at this from a Christian perspective, I look at Jesus and his healing, most of which involved some physical contact. I believe Jesus was the first one to make the connection between spirituality and healing.

‘Minnesotans' wide support for churches and healthcare put us ahead of other states, said Wanda Alexander, a member of the board of directors of the Faith Community Nurse Network who recently returned from a national summit of the Health Ministries Association."This is happening all across the country, but we lead the nation in faith community health programs," said Alexander, a nursing supervisor for Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department. "We have 240 congregations in the Twin Cities, representing all faiths -Christian, Jewish and Muslim-serving more than a quarter of a million members."Linder said that in conducting her study she was amazed by the number of churches nationwide that have started faith ministries. If you count things like offering yoga classes and having volunteers check on elderly parishioners to make sure they're taking their medication, "nearly a third of all congregations engage in some form of health care," she said. "We're seeing many more churches anointing the sick or starting prayer chains."St. Catherine Prof. Janet Dahlem has had a front-row seat for the evolution. The school started offering classes in holistic health in 1984, long before the notion was widely accepted in medical, religious or academic circles."We had to write our own textbooks," she said. "We were the first ones in the country to offer this in an academic setting."As a Roman Catholic university, the school always has been cognizant of the theological aspect of the courses. "We encourage spiritual wellness," Dahlia said. "We are spiritual beings living in physical bodies. The spirit is central to health.

Because of the negative image that shadows faith healing, practitioners often use other terms, like "faith and healing." "We're not going to cure cancer or make a blind person see, "the Rev. Ron Moor, pastor of Spirit United Church, which offers healing services. "We're not trying to replace medical care. We're coming into a spiritual place to express a deep sharing and caring for one another, and that makes people feel better. "It worked for Ensile Isomer-Wilson, a church member and the mother of two preschoolers who said she wanted a healing to get a little piece of mind. "I was looking for gentleness, patience and forgiveness, which I need as the single mother of two kids," she said. "I came away feeling more tender, more aware and calmer." The healer, Audrey Schroeder, said she uses the pressure of her hands "to send love and light to wherever people are hurting. It's about dynamic energy. Every cell in the human body is dynamic, it's constantly moving, and energy can pass from one cell to another."As phenomena go, this one's nowhere near its peak, the people involved with it predict. Waarvik said there are people "who still have trouble with it on an intellectual level." Baldwin added that he gets the occasional raised eyebrow when he tells his fellow clergy about his healing work. But the skeptics are becoming fewer in number everyday. "When we started this, society had their toe in the water,"Dahlem said. "Now we're in up to our hips, and we're going all the way into the lake."