The Healing Course
Most mainline Protestant congregations have made an uneasy peace with healing. We believe in it theologically — resurrection is the ultimate healing, after all — but we're not quite sure what to do with it liturgically or pastorally. We've ceded the territory to television evangelists and left our people without a serious, grounded framework for understanding what the Scriptures actually say about God's will for human wholeness.
I've been working in this territory for more than twenty years. What I've found is that congregations are hungry for a thoughtful, Word-and-Sacrament-grounded approach to healing ministry — one that takes Scripture seriously, honors the tradition, and actually invites people to experience prayer for healing rather than just study it from a safe distance.
The Healing School is a weekend retreat I've offered to congregations across multiple states. It is theologically substantive, pastorally practical, and experiential — meaning we don't just talk about healing prayer, we pray.
The Theological Foundation
Healing ministry didn't begin with Pentecostalism. It began with Jesus, who healed lepers, blind men, the lame, the hemorrhaging, the demon-possessed, and the dead — and then sent his disciples to do the same. The book of Acts continues the pattern, and Paul lists healing explicitly among the gifts of the Spirit.
For nearly three centuries, holistic healing was woven into the fabric of Christian community as a sign of God's love, compassion, and the in-breaking of the Kingdom. The shift came in the fourth century, when illness began to be understood as punishment or correction from God rather than as a condition contrary to God's perfect will. Spiritual and physical health were increasingly divided and compartmentalized — and the church has been living with that division ever since.
The good news is that division is not final. The tradition has resources for healing ministry that most congregations have never accessed. The Healing School is an introduction to those resources — and an invitation to use them.
What the Weekend Covers
The Theology of Healing
We begin with Scripture and the history of healing in the church — not to make a case for something exotic, but to recover something that was always already ours. Participants leave with a coherent, defensible theological framework for healing prayer that they can explain to their council, their pastor, and their skeptical uncle.
Physical Healing
Prayer for physical healing — for the sick, the chronically ill, the suffering. We look at the anointing of the sick as a sacramental practice, the ministry of laying on hands, and how to pray for physical healing in a way that is honest about outcomes without being faithless about possibility.
Emotional and Inner Healing
Some wounds are not physical. Grief, trauma, shame, broken relationships, the accumulated weight of a life — these are also proper objects of healing prayer. We look at how to bring the whole person before God, not just the presenting symptom, and how to pray in ways that invite the Holy Spirit into the interior life.
Healing and the Sacraments
The Eucharist is a healing meal. Baptism is a healing rite. Confession and absolution carries healing power. One of the weekend's richest conversations is about the healing that is already present in what most congregations do every week — and how to help people actually receive it.
The Hands-On Clinic
We don't just talk about healing prayer. We practice it. In a structured, pastorally safe environment, participants pray for one another — learning a simple, repeatable model for healing prayer that they can take back to their congregation and begin using immediately.
A Typical Weekend Schedule
Friday Evening
5:30 – 7:00 pm Registration and Supper
7:00 – 7:30 pm Opening Worship
7:30 – 8:30 pm Introduction: Does God Heal Today?
8:30 – 9:30 pm An Experience of Healing Prayer
Saturday
9:00 – 9:30 am Q&A from Friday Evening
9:30 – 10:15 am Physical Healing — Ministry to the Sick
10:15 – 10:45 am Break
10:45 – 11:30 am Emotional and Inner Healing
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Questions and Noonday Prayers
12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 – 1:45 pm Healing and the Sacraments
1:45 – 2:00 pm Break
2:00 – 4:30 pm Hands-On Clinic: The Five-Step Model for Healing Prayer
4:30 – 5:00 pm Wrap Up, Q&A, and Next Steps
The schedule is a starting point, not a constraint. I work with each congregation to shape the weekend around what they actually need.
Who This Is For
My Background in This Area
I have led healing workshops and retreats in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Canada, and Uganda. I served for five years as Director of Oil of Heaven Ministries, a parachurch organization offering healing and contemplative formation to mainline congregations. I am a member of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, the Episcopal healing ministry organization, and have published articles on healing and the Eucharist in their journal, Sharing.
I approach this work from within the Lutheran and Anglican liturgical traditions — sacramentally grounded, confessionally serious, and pastorally honest about both what we can pray for with confidence and what remains in God's hands.
Booking and Availability
The Healing School is available as a Friday evening/Saturday retreat for congregations, small groups, clergy gatherings, and ecumenical communities. I am based in La Porte, Texas and am available to travel within the Houston area and beyond.
To inquire about hosting a Healing School retreat, reach out through the contact page. Initial conversations are free. We'll talk about what your community is looking for and whether this is the right fit.
"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them" — James 5:14
I've been working in this territory for more than twenty years. What I've found is that congregations are hungry for a thoughtful, Word-and-Sacrament-grounded approach to healing ministry — one that takes Scripture seriously, honors the tradition, and actually invites people to experience prayer for healing rather than just study it from a safe distance.
The Healing School is a weekend retreat I've offered to congregations across multiple states. It is theologically substantive, pastorally practical, and experiential — meaning we don't just talk about healing prayer, we pray.
The Theological Foundation
Healing ministry didn't begin with Pentecostalism. It began with Jesus, who healed lepers, blind men, the lame, the hemorrhaging, the demon-possessed, and the dead — and then sent his disciples to do the same. The book of Acts continues the pattern, and Paul lists healing explicitly among the gifts of the Spirit.
For nearly three centuries, holistic healing was woven into the fabric of Christian community as a sign of God's love, compassion, and the in-breaking of the Kingdom. The shift came in the fourth century, when illness began to be understood as punishment or correction from God rather than as a condition contrary to God's perfect will. Spiritual and physical health were increasingly divided and compartmentalized — and the church has been living with that division ever since.
The good news is that division is not final. The tradition has resources for healing ministry that most congregations have never accessed. The Healing School is an introduction to those resources — and an invitation to use them.
What the Weekend Covers
The Theology of Healing
We begin with Scripture and the history of healing in the church — not to make a case for something exotic, but to recover something that was always already ours. Participants leave with a coherent, defensible theological framework for healing prayer that they can explain to their council, their pastor, and their skeptical uncle.
Physical Healing
Prayer for physical healing — for the sick, the chronically ill, the suffering. We look at the anointing of the sick as a sacramental practice, the ministry of laying on hands, and how to pray for physical healing in a way that is honest about outcomes without being faithless about possibility.
Emotional and Inner Healing
Some wounds are not physical. Grief, trauma, shame, broken relationships, the accumulated weight of a life — these are also proper objects of healing prayer. We look at how to bring the whole person before God, not just the presenting symptom, and how to pray in ways that invite the Holy Spirit into the interior life.
Healing and the Sacraments
The Eucharist is a healing meal. Baptism is a healing rite. Confession and absolution carries healing power. One of the weekend's richest conversations is about the healing that is already present in what most congregations do every week — and how to help people actually receive it.
The Hands-On Clinic
We don't just talk about healing prayer. We practice it. In a structured, pastorally safe environment, participants pray for one another — learning a simple, repeatable model for healing prayer that they can take back to their congregation and begin using immediately.
A Typical Weekend Schedule
Friday Evening
5:30 – 7:00 pm Registration and Supper
7:00 – 7:30 pm Opening Worship
7:30 – 8:30 pm Introduction: Does God Heal Today?
8:30 – 9:30 pm An Experience of Healing Prayer
Saturday
9:00 – 9:30 am Q&A from Friday Evening
9:30 – 10:15 am Physical Healing — Ministry to the Sick
10:15 – 10:45 am Break
10:45 – 11:30 am Emotional and Inner Healing
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Questions and Noonday Prayers
12:00 – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 – 1:45 pm Healing and the Sacraments
1:45 – 2:00 pm Break
2:00 – 4:30 pm Hands-On Clinic: The Five-Step Model for Healing Prayer
4:30 – 5:00 pm Wrap Up, Q&A, and Next Steps
The schedule is a starting point, not a constraint. I work with each congregation to shape the weekend around what they actually need.
Who This Is For
- Congregations that want to develop a healing ministry but don't know where to start
- Pastors and lay leaders curious about healing prayer but nervous about getting it wrong
- Communities that have experienced healing prayer in charismatic contexts and want a more liturgically grounded framework
- Any tradition — Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, non-denominational — that takes Scripture seriously and is willing to be surprised by what it says
My Background in This Area
I have led healing workshops and retreats in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Canada, and Uganda. I served for five years as Director of Oil of Heaven Ministries, a parachurch organization offering healing and contemplative formation to mainline congregations. I am a member of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, the Episcopal healing ministry organization, and have published articles on healing and the Eucharist in their journal, Sharing.
I approach this work from within the Lutheran and Anglican liturgical traditions — sacramentally grounded, confessionally serious, and pastorally honest about both what we can pray for with confidence and what remains in God's hands.
Booking and Availability
The Healing School is available as a Friday evening/Saturday retreat for congregations, small groups, clergy gatherings, and ecumenical communities. I am based in La Porte, Texas and am available to travel within the Houston area and beyond.
To inquire about hosting a Healing School retreat, reach out through the contact page. Initial conversations are free. We'll talk about what your community is looking for and whether this is the right fit.
"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them" — James 5:14
My articles published in Sharing Magazine:
Image credit: jurand / 123RF Stock Photo
