In Lieu of Email

Here is an elaboration on my brief email response to previous conversations on healing:

I simply don't see the church being a healing place as a redefinition. The Ann Landers reference, "Church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners," helped me when I was younger to tolerate the "perfect" people at church. When you consider that Jesus did more healing than any other work while he was walking around here in the flesh, how else could his ministry through the Holy Spirit be? I have, and do, experience healing by God's power and love all the time, including while worshipping at CHBC. He is the only healer.

In the recent conversations about this I sense a kind of anxiety about how we do church. There are churches that I know of, that have weekly healing services that specifically address the injuries, illnesses and pain of body, mind and soul. Do we want to introduce something like that into worship at CHBC? I've done a bit of reading on healing. It is something that can be led. There are forms used for a broad congregation that are powerful, but not quite as personal as imaging and meditations, the latter not always being comfortable for some folks. I had a copy of one congregational prayer, but couldn't find it in my stacks of paper.

This summer I sang in the Duke Chapel choir with Nelson. One morning I realized that something was missing there that is very commonly found at CHBC. I called it to Nelson's attention. He completely agreed and we both thought back on other churches we've attended that also had, other than in the pastor's office, a lack of this one element. You know what it was? It was Kleenex! CHBC has more boxes of Kleenex around than any buildings I've been in except funeral homes and hospitals. Our read on that is not that other churches are insensitive to the emotional needs of struggling congregants, but that the Bible Church might just have more emotionally fragile and needy people there. Remembering this anecdote after writing the first couple of paragraphs was kind of like zooming out in perspective about why this topic seems so urgent to the group. Something to ponder.

For me, some of the most profound healing I experience is singing in worship.

Regards,

Marilyn

My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84:2