I’ve been to several days organised by the Healing and Wholeness team and they’ve all been excellent, this time I asked my husband if he would like to go. He surprised me and said yes!
The day looked well planned and full and it didn’t fail to live up to expectations, the consensus from those gathered was that real learning was taking place.
The day began with worship led by Adrian Scott. Adrian, a poet, a writer a photographer, a spiritual director, and retreat leader, used music and poetry to still our souls and bring us into a sacred space where we could enjoy Gods presence.
In the morning, we had a talk on the theology of healing from the newly appointed Spirituality Advisor, Rev Dr Julian Raffay. Dr Raffay, who has extensive experience as a mental health chaplain and a parish priest, talked about the biblical perspective of healing, using research his talk included some of the tougher issues around healing. His talk was very helpful and informative.
There were 2 out of 3 workshops to choose from in the morning and the afternoon, namely Creating a Sacred space run by Adrian Scott, Practical skills for prayer ministry, led by Rev Chris Low and Rev Louise Yaull and an introduction to listening, led by Linda Gascoyne, which I told Ricardo he should do! Needless to say, he didn’t listen to me and signed up to something else! But when the time came, he did go to the listening workshop. Afterwards I asked him how it was and he said “Yes, it was good”, which means it was very good!
In the afternoon there was a question-and-answer time with the faculty and Healing and Wholeness team, who, it must be said, are the loveliest bunch of people! The questions weren’t in short supply as were the comments of people pleased to be there, or attesting to Gods healing and sustaining presence in their own lives.
This was followed by a healing service which modelled different approaches to healing ministry, and different prayer stations including: laying on of hands; anointing with oil; praying in nature; making a prayer cloth; using labyrinths; or pausing to sense Gods presence. The afternoon allowed some of the knowledge gained in the morning and in the workshops to be put into practice. There was a tangible sense of peace and joy, and a real appreciation for the opportunity and time to experience this ministry.
To finish we joined together in worship led by the worship group which included Louise’s son and husband who is always such a helpful presence at these events.
In summary, this was a really valuable day of learning and experience which my husband and I both enjoyed.