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

This chapter was born out of observations of church services and healing services in bothchurches and the outcome of interrogating the data. Laying on of hands will be shown tobe capable of being analysed as a health promotion activity within the administration ofspiritual healing, and outside it in alternative complementary therapies such as massagetherapy, demonstrating care and compassion. This activity takes place in an organized wayin the URC whilst in COGIC it takes place in an unstructured way as the fieldwork datareported below shows, which demonstrates the contrast noted throughout this research that,Belcher et al. (2001) note for this activity, that in most Pentecostal churches it isimpossible to separate a theology of healing from the life of the church.It will be noted that reports about the „laying on of hands‟ and anointing with oil from therespondents and from observation during the administration of spiritual healing indicatedsome similarities with therapeutic touch administered during medical and nursingexaminations, osteopathy, physiotherapy and massage therapy.8.2 Definitions and Use of the Terms within the Clinical and Popular LiteraturesIn Chapter 2, the discussion of the clinical and popular literature (Lambert et al. 2008,Krieger 1975, Krieger et al 1979, Barlow et al 2008) showed the closeness of Christianunderstandings of the laying on of hands from biblical times to the present concept oftherapeutic touch, actually defined by Krieger (1975) as consisting of “the simple placingof hands for about 10-15 minutes on or close to the body of an ill person by someone whointends to help of heal the person.” Hallett‟s (2004) case study treats therapeutic touch andlaying on of hands as more or less the same thing.260