Healing Ministry Research

 ‘Go and preach the Gospel…Go and heal the sick’

The last large report into healing ministry, A Time to Heal, says that this ‘summarizes the commission Christ gave to his Church.’ The emphasis on healing has not gone unnoticed in the Diocesan Healing Forum. As all of us in Chester Diocese seek to reach out to the 1.5 million, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ and the healing that can be found through God, we’ve been wondering things like:

How do we understand healing ministry in Chester Diocese?

What does good practice in healing ministry involve?

What challenges are found with healing ministry?

How can healing ministry be best supported in the diocese?

As we seek to celebrate, support and encourage healing ministry in the diocese, to help answer these questions, both with words and actions, we’re planning to undertake some research.

Two academics from Chester University, Professor Lisa Oakley and Dr Ben Fulford, are leading its design and implementation with a piece of work called,  ‘Exploring understandings of healing ministry in the Church of England, Chester Diocese'. We’re hoping to start with input from people in the diocese with wisdom about and experience of healing ministry, with a day of focus groups to guide the shape and direction of future work. Could you help?

If you are:

-          A clergyperson or licensed minister involved in healing ministry

-          A safeguarding lead in your church/chaplaincy context

-          Involved in healing ministry in any other way

could you spare 90 minutes on Saturday 27^th September, to join with others in a focus group to talk about your experiences of and understanding of healing ministry?

As the name indicates, we would like to understand how healing ministry is understood and practised in the Diocese, identify areas of good practice as well as challenges and learn about experiences of support for this ministry. As a first step, we would like to invite clergy and lay ministers, safeguarding leads, and people involved in healing ministry in the Diocese to participate in a focus group. We hope this will be a good opportunity to share your experiences and hear from others. You can find out more in the attached Participant Information Sheet.

We plan to hold these focus groups on Saturday 27^th September at the following times:

• 10.00-11.30am – Clergy and licensed lay ministers

• 12.00-1.30pm – Safeguarding leads

• 2.00pm-3.30pm – Those in voluntary roles in healing ministry

If you are interested in taking part, please get in touch with Ben (b.fulford@chester.ac.uk) and Lisa (l.oakley@chester.ac.uk).

Timothy Hupfield – Diocesan Healing Advisor