The clergy need to put healing and deliverance back at the heart of the Church's ministry, a new report by the Bishop of Chelmsford claims.

The Right Rev John Perry is behind a newly published 58-page report'A Time to Heal' which has the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bishop Perry says that healing the sick is a gospel imperative.

It's the first guidance on healing issued by the Church in England in 42 years and Bishop Perry, who chaired a working party of senior clergy, theologians, and health care professionals, is concerned that it has lapsed into a Cinderella ministry.

He hopes parishes will use the booklet as a resource, with its 200 detailed practical suggestions for developing good practice in the healing ministry.

"Healing is often marginalised, but healing is what the Church is all about. Healing was shaped from the ministry of Jesus and should therefore be a normal and natural part of parish life, like Sunday School," said the Bishop.

"Many are expressing keen interest in alternative approaches to health and we should be meeting their needs, however, the introduction of concepts or imagery commonly associated with the New Age movement like crystals and pendulums should be avoided."

The report's vision sees churches as places where congregations don't merely sing hymns and listen to sermons, but expect Jesus Christ to touch them in a wonderful and miraculous way.

Some churches in Chelmsford diocese already hold healing services, but the majority claims Bishop Perry, need to study the report and seek God's will in a spirit of openness.

Bishop Perry, who says he has seen lives changed by healing, encourages Anglican clergy to form teams to promote New Testament-style 'Gifts of the Spirit', which empowered the early Christians.

He commented: "We are not necessarily talking about physical healing, sometimes God heals the mind turning bitterness and depression into joy, peace and acceptance."

The report encourages the practice of charismatic gifts, which include healing of mind and body by the laying on of hands; speaking in tongues and deliverance from oppression and possession.

e-mail: steve.clow@essex-chronicle.co.uk

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