An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

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CHAPTER SEVENPRAYER AS A HEALING ACTIVITY7.1 IntroductionThis chapter aims to explore the ethnographic findings on how prayer is regularly used inthe delivery of spiritual healing in the two churches and to interrogate and attributemeaning to this evidence. It also presents extracts from interviews under the headings ofhow the churches pray for healing, prayer for specific illnesses, distant healing versuscontact healing and discusses how prayer links with models of health as presented in thesociology of health and used in the NHS by professionals health care workers. Thisleads to a discussion on how prayer is used in spiritual healing and the perceivedoutcomes for those who deliver and receive prayer. Dossey (1997), Byrd (1998) andNarayansamy and Narayansamy (2008), outline, illustrate and contextualise the socialprocesses on how prayer can be seen as an independent variable affecting healthoutcomes.Prayer is used in both churches under study as a health seeking behaviour as well as aworship activity. In the URC, prayer for healing is focused during prayers of intercessionand there is also a special service where the whole service if focused on healing, whichconcludes with prayer and the „laying on of hands‟ by the minister and elders for anyonewho wishes to take this opportunity to receive a focused prayer. Seeking prayer is notgiven as one of the examples of health seeking behaviour which constitutes conformityto the sicole in Parsons‟ (1975) original discussion. Nonetheless when a the personsee prayer steps out in a public way to say „I am not well and therefore I am see g227
prayer to ma e me better‟, as though prayer were a therapy, we can look at the factorsleading to this behaviour within models derived from the more empirical studies of socialresponses by the individual to illness from Dingwall (1976) to Weiss and Lonnquist(2005).The findings from this research show how prayer is used in distant healing and contacthealing in the two churches in the study. There are differences, however. In thePentecostal church prayer for healing is not separated from prayer for repentance,sanctification, justification and becoming a born again Christian. It is always presentbecause, since Pentecostal eschatology suggests we are already living in “the end times”,and so Christians can always claim the possibilities of healing right now. For the URC,while Christians may always ask for healing, they accept it may not arrive until we areall in heaven, so healing services are something extra to normal everyday Christianworship in this world. There is no evidence that the differences in the services havedifferent outcomes, although Dossey (1997) maintains that an impressive body ofevidence suggests that prayer and religious devotion are associated with positive healthoutcomes.Unsurprisingly, there are also gender and ethnicity-related variations. Levin and Schiller(1987) found that generally in the USA females and African Americans prayed morefrequently than those who are males and white. The majority of church attendees in bothURC and COGIC in my study happen to be female and black. There is also a similarityin those who volunteered to be interviewed. However, these results may be related to thegeographical location where the study was conducted and cannot be generalised even in228
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Greenwich Academic Literature Archi
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AcknowledgementsI extend much grati
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Chapter 3: Methodology 633.1 Introd
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7.3 Prayer as Health Seeking Behavi
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CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
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healing, bricolage and the use of s
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To remedy these gaps in the discour
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do with me‟ so she sent me to sch
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Interestingly, after 30 years of pr
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listening to a group of people that
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that I felt within the Black majori
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Chapter 3 describes the methodology
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espondents‟ perception of sufferi
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CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Int
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themes, it became necessary to revi
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suggests a combined approach where
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and healing as a kind of self-impro
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eports that the English believed th
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According to Davey et al (2002) ill
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deviant behaviour. The difference b
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church concretised the ideas of rel
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theology. It is no accident that th
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concept of culture we inevitably do
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When we look at the effect of cultu
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to help us to understand the totali
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information about the association a
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when emotional wounds are healed or
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climatic conditions, shelter and a
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cancers has been documented by Phil
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concepts of reality and destiny are
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healer intentionally through a proc
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attachments that meet humans' funda
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distinguish from mental disorders.
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take a phenomenological and ethnogr
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coming but her method is not primar
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from posters on the church notice b
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Healing services in both churches f
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Qualitative method can, however, be
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3.5 Problems of participant and non
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difficulties that were to be presen
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isolating experience was certainly
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not necessarily addressed through t
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It may not be possible for all the
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signed to their awareness and appro
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Consequently the practice relating
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problem free. Ethnography requires
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ecommended by the Pastor. When they
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The greater proportion of females i
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difficulties involved in constructi
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musical Pentecostal style of worshi
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The different emphases in soteriolo
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literature may remain in its infanc
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does not mean „Pentecostal‟ nor
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church, the cultural differences we
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umbrella of churches. The leaders c
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local autonomy, the majority of Con
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The post-1905 Pentecostals saw thei
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the Holy Ghost). Interestingly the
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the churches they are busy breaking
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friends started to meet in the home
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such as COGIC, have developed a str
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the church group to strangers. In t
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and illustrate the oral tradition o
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4.8.1. Description of the inside of
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The order of service below is based
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forgiving note may signify partial
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Table 3 Organisational hierarchy of
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One of the original churches which
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communion table. To the right of th
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Minister used an acronym to illustr
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GloriaPrayer for grace or collectSc
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service whilst URC church attendees
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mainstream Christianity, their doct
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on the project and make requests to
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made to integrate the white people
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‗Garlic is good for reducing high
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4.13 ConclusionThis chapter began w
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organization. This role can only be
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5.3 The Authority and Power of the
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to become approved (professional) m
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majority. In recent years with Brit
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leadership although it is about aut
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Azusa Street outpouring in 1906. Af
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other who wal sorderly, and not of
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Although the Holy Spirit was presen
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Respondent 3 covered topics includi
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Respondent 10 (below) has similar v
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of rejection by the host community
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ehaviour model. In this situation,
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and they feel. It is not everybody
Page 185 and 186: many sections of society. It also s
Page 187 and 188: people. These qualities, however, a
Page 189 and 190: came across as though he was presen
Page 191 and 192: very important for this.On occasion
Page 193 and 194: CHAPTER SIXSUFFERING AND HEALING6.1
Page 195 and 196: mind body and spirit implies that i
Page 197 and 198: suffering. Most of these situations
Page 199 and 200: Respondent: Not for my sister she h
Page 201 and 202: man to repent and return to the cre
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Page 205 and 206: gift of miraculous powers go with t
Page 207 and 208: What I teach on this matter is, tha
Page 209 and 210: The bible does not condemn, forbid
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Page 213 and 214: prayer or they are rested. What is
Page 215 and 216: „Whatever the educational attainm
Page 217 and 218: „The message of Job is a comfort
Page 219 and 220: he has questioned God‟s purposes
Page 221 and 222: pray for them. In the words of seve
Page 223 and 224: demonic forces. Explanations of spi
Page 225 and 226: In the observation example quoted a
Page 227 and 228: employed by the mother had she live
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Page 231 and 232: in the account of a young mother in
Page 233 and 234: y not having a normal relationship
Page 235: and not related to any one cultural
Page 239 and 240: Non-academic, or „popular‟ Chri
Page 241 and 242: when the healer petitions God in pr
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Page 249 and 250: ministers like Harris (2002) 3 . Th
Page 251 and 252: Healing services in the URC are mor
Page 253 and 254: Respondent: You have to have the gi
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Page 259 and 260: Prayer for distant healing takes pl
Page 261 and 262: Although prayers for healing are sa
Page 263 and 264: The healing services also include f
Page 265 and 266: The method and processes of closing
Page 267 and 268: 7.7. ConclusionThis chapter has exa
Page 269 and 270: This chapter was born out of observ
Page 271 and 272: website (http://www.stonybrookmedic
Page 273 and 274: For those who reject traditional Ch
Page 275 and 276: hands on the forehead of each perso
Page 277 and 278: The minister also invited the rest
Page 279 and 280: service closed with silence accompa
Page 281 and 282: In this respondent‟s‟ account,
Page 283 and 284: Below are brief parts of extracts p
Page 285 and 286: service was when the speaker came t
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observed believed the aura of the h
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Ministers/healers of these two cong
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constituent of worship even where t
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to herself, and argues that music h
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could not read or write. Such music
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linking the psychic/mythological an
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group coordination through rhythmo-
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People can become so involved in a
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visual and auditory areas which act
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Campbell (1998) argue that as music
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The extracts from fieldwork notes b
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In COGIC the singing is accompanied
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when I was ill. Then my mum died th
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The passage cited from Respondent 1
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CHAPTER TENCONCLUSION AND RECOMMEND
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etween health professionals and chu
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The initial aim of the study: „to
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part of worship services a priority
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health professionals and spiritual
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are culturally conditioned rational
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professionals. Despite the differen
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prominent amongst people who attend
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ReferencesAchterberg, J., (1985) Im
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Bentham, J., (2001ff, originally 18
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Department of Health, (1999) Saving
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Hall, S., (1985) “Religious Ideol
Page 339 and 340:
Katz, J. J., (1990) Metaphysics of
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http://emedicine.medscape.com/artic
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Pullar, P., (1988) Spiritual and La
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Comparative Perspective, Berg, Oxfo
Page 347 and 348:
International, London and New York.
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