Movement 123
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out of<br />
touch?<br />
a resource on healing services<br />
fails to hit the spot<br />
oll (:<br />
ot iEA(rN6<br />
^ ?t^cIrc^!<br />
lrin,1 ''Pla'e<br />
HArotooK<br />
i1r: r,1 \:!l(liii<br />
a touchin(, place<br />
fohn Gunstone, Canterbury Press,<br />
the best thing<br />
about the book<br />
was that it<br />
encoura$ed<br />
me to<br />
consider other<br />
resources in my<br />
quest for more<br />
information<br />
ln his book ln the beginning there was darkness, fohn Hull talks of a healing service<br />
he attended as a teenager. lt sounds horrible, complete with the hoaxed attempts to<br />
claim that healing has happened. As this is the style of healing services most of us<br />
tend to hear about, I was interested to spend time learning more about some other<br />
approaches, not only in the style of services available but also the approaches people<br />
take towards them. When planning for the SCM conference this year, the suggestion<br />
of a healing service was met with fear and concern by some, and with enthusiasm by<br />
others. ln the end, with the help of Holy Rood House, a centre for health and pastoral<br />
care, the healing service went off very well. I was also very glad to be in a position of<br />
inviting people whose knowledge and experience in this field is excellent.<br />
ln my attempt to learn more about healing services I read A Touching P/ace by John<br />
Cunstone. The subtitle of the book is A ministry of healing in the local church: a practical<br />
handbook' so I thought this would be a good starting point. The book is set out<br />
in nice gentle chunks with questions at the end of each section. lt would be a good<br />
resource for groups involved in healing services in a local (Anglican)church. It is good<br />
at referring people on to other resources but, at 85 pages, can hardly be described as<br />
the most comprehensive guide. That, in itself, is no bad thing, as the stages it takes you<br />
through are certainly manageable.<br />
John Gunstone admits to beingAnglican-centred in the book but hopes that it will still<br />
prove to be a useful resource for people from other denominations. However, the majority<br />
of sources it refers the reader to are either Common Worship, other Anglican-specific<br />
resources or John Cunstone's other book on healing ministry. The lack of ecumenical<br />
consideration makes it a hard resource to develop into something of use. A quick<br />
internet search made this all the more irritating, as apparently he used to be a diocesan<br />
ecumenical officer - but at the end of the day he is supposed to be talking about a ministry<br />
of healing, not of ecumenism.<br />
The book presents a number of different aspects of healing ministry that I had not previously<br />
been aware of and it was certainly interesting to explore - especially through his<br />
charismatic, evangelical point of view. lt also primarily places expression of the healing<br />
ministry in the context of a eucharistic service. ln some ways the most interesting<br />
section was that on 'confidentiality and boundaries'. The emphasis was far more on<br />
appropriate relationships between male and female members of healing teams, rather<br />
than on what to do with situations that are challenging for those involved in the ministry.<br />
He also offers little guidance on the considerations that need to be made for those who<br />
have been hurt by, or are scared of, healing services. The situations presented were really<br />
quite alien to me.<br />
The best thing about the book was that it encouraged me to consider other resources<br />
in my quest for more information. Even the brief mentions of a ministry of healing in<br />
John Hull's book provided a better context than the work of John Cunstone in A Touching<br />
Place. John Hull spends time addressing the concerns of a fellow blind person who<br />
longs for a successful healing ministry while being sceptical - a conclusion confirmed<br />
by his own negative experience.<br />
To broaden my search for information I attended several healing services and spent time<br />
in discussion with many people, including those preparing for their first healing service<br />
and those who have been involved for many years. I learned a huge amount from all<br />
these people and it provided me with a lot of useful background. I would encourage<br />
people looking into this field to talk to as wide a selection of people as possible and I<br />
found the folk at Holy Rood House particularly noteworthy. As ATouching Place was the<br />
catalyst for this, I am immensely grateful to John Cunstone for his work. I<br />
Jo Merrygold is SCM's Links Worker.<br />
30 movement
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