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Those “other forms” include reconciling with loved ones, she said.
Pastor Larry Jorgenson of Trinity Lutheran Church in Gresham said his church is doing a Bible study on healing and also is planning a series of seminars on mental health. The church staff includes a nurse, and Trinity also has “a very active health committee.”
Jorgenson said “Jesus is the healer of our every ill,” but this “ministry happens through people, some of whom are doctors, nurses, pharmacists and health care professionals of other sorts.”
The Rev. Patricia Berger, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Gresham, noted her members “believe that our faith can be very important in our healing.
“God hears our prayers; God answers prayer, although the answer is not always the answer for which we were praying,” she added. Presbyterians believe “there are physical healings that can be explained in no way other than that God answered prayer.
“Clearly, Jesus believed he could heal people, and that others who believed could also heal,” she noted. “I cannot imagine that Jesus would have issues with people seeking medical help of any kind. Physicians are God’s beloved children. Scientists are God’s beloved children. Some people have brains that are capable of coming up with solutions to physical and mental ills.”
Berger said the issue is personal for her, because her son had lymphoma cancer.
In addition to her gratitude for God, church and friends, “I was more than grateful for an oncologist who was a man of faith,” she said, noting she was also grateful for “the 15 other physicians who ultimately were a part of our son’s treatment.”
Scott Crane, program director for Menucha Retreat and Conference Center in Corbett, an ecumenical outreach mission of First Presbyterian Church of Portland, said Presbyterians “would not close the door on direct intercession by any one person or persons filled with the spirit of God to do healing work,” he said. “Neither would we close the door on an interpretation of healing today to mean the gifts that medical personnel have been trained to use as a part of their vocation to the medical field.”
“Scripture strongly affirms ministries of spiritual healing,” noted Greg Nelson, spokesman for the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
However, United Methodists also support medical universities and hospitals, a position similar to the one taken by the Catholic Church, according to Bud Bunce, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Portland.
“Catholic organizations provide a large percentage of health care in Oregon and throughout the U.S.,” he said. “Catholics value the professional care offered by those in the medical professions. As such, the Catholic Church does not prevent anyone from receiving medical care.
“We can’t explain miracles that happen,” Bunce added. “We do believe that prayer and one’s spirituality can have an effect on the healing process in conjunction with medical professionals. We see both as essential.”
The Christian leaders surveyed did not seem to see the prosecution of the Followers of Christ Church members to be a threat to their own religious freedom.
“When it comes to life-and-death decisions for minors, we must err on the side of protecting the physical health of children,” Young said. “In this limited arena the church’s ability to practice its faith, unimpeded by government intrusion, must take a back seat.”
“It is terribly sad when a child dies, and even sadder if simple treatment could have saved that child,” Berger said. “And it is terribly sad when people are convinced by a charismatic leader that it would be wrong and less than faithful for them to consult a professional who might make their child well.”
Creswell had a slightly different take on the issue, noting she believes the Followers of Christ Church seem to consist of “loving, caring families who are able to support their children.
“While I don’t have the same understanding of faith healing as the Oregon City families, I respect their faith and their struggle to live the life they are called to,” she said, noting it’s not just children of a minority faith who may be endangered by their parents’ actions.
“It strikes me that there are children all over Oregon who are hungry, who don’t have permanent homes, who are exposed to drug abuse and who are themselves abused,” she said. “And I wonder if the media and government attention to these cases might be more effectively focused elsewhere.”
Crane noted it’s important not to “only see the work of God as defined in narrow boxes easily identified with this or that scripture or some religious tradition,” questioning the reasoning behind faith healing.
“To close the door to other ways of God working though the world in which we find ourselves narrows the freedom of God’s sovereignty to be wholly present or to choose to allow other natural causes to take place,” he said.
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sara,
How about you pay for your health care and I'll pay for mine. Or does that make too much sense.
Or you can just vote democrat, it's easier than working.
(email verified)
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 06:40 AM
There needs to be a balance in all things in life. If an mentally competent adult chooses not to use modern medicine, that is there right; but a child or adult not without mental competence should not have their right to live taken away by someone else's belief system.
I also feel that the Worthington's lost all credibility when they called medical experts to the stand as witnesses in their case----they wouldn't consult doctors to possibly save their child, but they will do so to keep themselves out of jail? Why not pray for divine intervention with the courts as well?
Oh, and Tiff---thanks for the laugh---I had almost forgotten that "Vote Democratic, it's easier than working" bumper sticker! Remember the other one in that set? "Vote Republican, it's easier than thinking". Funny how much money companies make off of the two parties' dislike and distrust of each other.
(email verified)
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 08:36 AM
To Sara and Ms Mel--Democrat health plan= PRAY that you don't AGE. As you get older, your health care options will be SEVERELY restricted under Obamacare. I agree with Tiff--you pay for yours, I'll pay for mine.
(email verified)
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 10:48 AM
It is amazing to me that children who are too young to make life and death decisions are at the mercy of the religious zealots who will let them die untreated. And yet, as we saw in the last trial of a family who let their child die needlessly, the family was willing to use lawyers, hair color, and even a medical expert on their behalf. Seems to me, if they are gonna only pray for their children, they should only use prayer for legal help, only use prayer for covering up gray hair, and only use prayer instead of bringing in experts to testify on their behalf.
(email verified)
Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 01:11 PM
"Rob, it's sad that you have used so called "Christian" churches to gang up on a truly faithful group. You & commentators seem to be blasting them for their ability to practice "religion" as they see fit. While the group may not be 100% correct, do you know anyone who is?
Hundreds of thousands are injured or die annually as a result of medical malpractice, mis-prescribed or over proscribed drugs and the so called "normal" side effects of correctly using prescription drugs. Where's the story on those statistics? Should we accuse parents of Autistic children of being abusive when Thimerosal (Mercury) is used in vaccines & the recent 50% increase in Autism directly matches vaccine usage?
For the watered down, 501(c)3 "wimps for Jesus" churches that claim God gave us intelligent physicians, the exact opposite is true! Consider the verse from the book of the(former)physician Luke, that is mentioned: Luke 4:23
"And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country".
Jesus took Luke out of that line of employment & instead converted him to a follower of himself. Consider that Jesus also took Matthew, a tax collector as well. The point is that Jesus gathered all the most hated & evil, misfits, rejects & backwards people that were the exact opposite of "Christian" ideals. He converted them as an example & made them His followers. Could someone please explain how Luke maintained his former medical practice, while traveling with Jesus & then while preaching after Jesus earthly departure?
Another thought to consider is that David Rockefeller owns interest in most of the major drug manufacturing companies & he has openly called for elimination of 2/3 the world population! That fits prophecy in Revelation, so I know it will eventually happen. I will not accept their poison!"
(email verified)
Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 12:59 PM
"There are boundaries to religious freedoms. Church members must obey Oregon law and cannot claim a religious exemption for withholding medical care when someone is gravely ill." Which commandments are a matter of conscience between a man and his God? And which are commandments that establish rules for inter-human behavior? Then we can resolve since the first four commandments dictate the rules between God and man and the last six dictate the rules between man and man, that it is appropriate for human laws to protect the children from the doctrines of the religion, such as in this case. Obviously, we agree that it is necessary to have human laws to protect humans from other humans and penalties for the violation thereof, that is called justice. All accounts of this story the parents truly love their children, but I am afraid that they are deceived, that they have replaced presumption with faith. The Followers of Christ Church have a doctrine that is not in compliance with being a true follower of Christ. If this church followed Christ they would remember his experience in the wilderness. The second temptation from Satan to Jesus..."And he (Satan) brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Jesus did not put himself in danger by casting himself from the pinnacle of the temple, He responded that he would not tempt God by doing that. In turn, not seeking medical care in dire circumstances is testing God presuming that medical care has no valid part in the healing of people.
(email verified)
Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 06:39 PM
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Re: FAITH VS. MEDICINE
GOP health care= PRAY that you don't get sick.
"sara"
(email verified)
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 08:53 PM