Gifts Workshop Experience by Hawley Todd

Dear Sisters and Brothers at Grace,

Several months ago, I went to a Gifts Workshop that the Diocese offered. It was intended to be a model for what we could do at Grace. It deeply moved me and I would like to share with you what happened.

Our instructions to prepare for the workshop were to divide our lives into 10 year segments and think of

one or two persons in each segment who really inspired or touched our lives. When we came together as a group we would share how and why one or two of those people were important to us.

I prayed and asked God to bring to my heart and mind those persons he wanted me to remember. I was surprised at the two people who came to my mind. They were very different. The first memory was sitting in the living room of my home holding my infant baby daughter Tina. The second memory was living in India and meeting a holy man in an apartment in Bombay. I knew the images were important but I did not see any apparent connection.

When it came time for me to share who my two people were and why they had impacted me, it all became very clear. While I had been holding my first child, I had looked deeply into her eyes and experienced the unconditional love of God. Being present with her and simply cradling her in my arms had been a doorway into a profound experience of God's presence and love. While I had been in India and met the saint in an apartment, we were not in a religious or holy setting. We were watching Get Smart on television. Yet in that very secular and common setting, the holy man touched and blessed me. I experienced the love and presence of God in ways so deep that I cannot come close to describing it.

God had been revealed in two totally different people. Yet each had acted as a bridge to divine love. What was even more eye opening to me was the realization that both experiences were in the midst of everyday activities. God was and could be present anywhere: holding a baby or watching TV. Something about each of those souls and their very presence enabled me to be touched by God.

Hawley Todd
March 30, 2010

Common Ministry Bible Study March 14, 2010

Common Ministry Bible Study

March 14, 2010

Handout and outline of the session is attached.

Present: Ken Lyon, leader, J. White, Hawley Todd, Roger Perna, Belinda Perna, J. Tan, Tina Larkin, Fr. Howard, Wanda Miller and Carol Lyon, Mary McLain, Ray Betts

Ken opened the session saying that John 15:19-16 was part of Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples.

Ken read the scripture from the NRSV version. After a short pause, members shared the word or phrase that stuck out to them. They were:

• · “Your joy may be complete,”
• · “the father may give you whatever you ask,”
• · “If,”
• · “You did not choose me I chose you.”

Ken read the passage again, this time from the Contemporary English Version.

After sharing answers to other questions with one or two others, Ken asked what people learned or what insights were gained from this discussion

• · “to delve more deeply into what it means to be a spiritual person”
• · “to imitate Jesus’ love to one another:
• · “What does this have to do with Common Ministry?”
• “all take our church back”
• “speaks to the attitude of Common Ministry”
• · “You have been chosen to carry on”
• · “Jesus touched people’s lives. People came to him”
• · “God calls each of us. How people respond is up to them”
• · “Love one another. Celebrate the other’s gifts”
• · “I hate pain. Difficult to be with others when they are in pain. Easy to be with gifts.”
• · “Difficult to let people go through difficult times when we can’t make it better for them”
• · “Spending life doesn’t always mean dying, it can mean giving time to a friend”

Carol Lyon

Lectio Divina on John 15:9-16

Context:

Today’s passage is part of John’s record of Jesus’ “farewell discourses.” It is the night before the Passover—the night before Jesus is killed. Jesus is with his disciples. He washes their feet. Judas leaves. Jesus knows his death is near, and in five chapters, he does all he can to prepare his disciples for his departure. After Jesus finishes his last-minute instruction, they all go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Judas identifies Jesus to his enemies and they take him away.

NRSV: 9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will

Contemporary English Version: 9I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. 10If you obey me, I will keep loving you, just as my Father keeps loving me, because I have obeyed him. 11I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. 12Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. 13The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. 14And you are my friends, if you obey me. 15Servants don't know what their master is doing, and so I don't speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything that my Father has told me. 16You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.

Process:

1. Listen to the bible passage. As the passage is read, imagine Jesus speaking directly to you. Listen for one word or phrase that speaks to you.

2. Share the word or phrase with the group.

3. Pair up with a person next to you and share why this word or phrase speaks to you.

4. Listen to the passage again.

5. Pair up again and share answers to these questions:

a. What would your life be like if you fully lived the message of this passage?

b. How would your life be different?

c. Why is this so hard to do?

6. After conversation in pairs, share your insights with the group.

Ken Lyon
March 14, 2010

Guidelines for Ministers of Healing

Hawley Todd TSSF, Episcopal Healing Ministries

General Principles

All that is done is to be motivated by love for God and for those seeking healing. Everyone is to be treated with respect and dignity. Each person is a precious extension of the body of Christ. Whatever we do to the least of these, we are doing to Christ.

Everyone who serves in ministries of healing must make every effort to maintain the highest levels of ethical and pastoral standards. Ongoing training and maintaining a healthy spiritual life are normative.

Healing team members minister under the authority and supervision of the church in the locality in which they serve. One does not operate under one’s own “authority” or by being answerable only to God. Confidentiality is essential. Any information gained in a prayer session remains in that prayer session unless Federal or State law would require otherwise.

The healing ministry is practiced in accord with the canons, teachings, and worship of the Episcopal Church.

Ministries of healing are means by which God enables people to become whole. The focus is on providing opportunities for grace so that people can become the persons God created them to be!

Prior to the Prayer Session

Listen. Listen. Listen.

Ask clarifying questions only when needed. Make sure that those receiving prayer have given informed consent.

Give permission for those seeking prayer to be in whatever position is most comfortable. For instance, some may prefer to stand rather than kneel. Others may prefer to sit. Be sensitive to the wishes of those seeking healing as to whether the laying-on-ofhands is desired; and if so, what would be most appropriate.

The Prayer Session

Healing team members are to be a loving and welcoming presence. Their focus is on God and those seeking healing. Healing team members are representing Jesus Christ to those seeking prayer. In the mystery of intercession, it is easy for those seeking prayer to confuse who the healer is. God is the healer.

Content of Prayer

Pray out loud only for what has been named explicitly by the person seeking prayer. Pray out loud in a language edifying to the person seeking prayer. While at times praying in the spirit may be how one feels led to pray, one can do that quietly and in one’s spirit. Periods of silence during a prayer session are often appropriate.

Never speak for God or make promises in the name of God.

Never diagnose or give advice. Let God led the person into the truth that person “needs” to hear. It is not the job of the healing team member to fix or cure a problem. Never escalate a named problem. For instance, if someone has asked for prayers for a stomach ache, do not pray for healing of stomach cancer.

Never introduce the demonic into a prayer session. Please consult the Book of Occasional Services (2003 edition, p. 174) for specific guidelines on Episcopal Church Policy. Exorcism is a ministry under the direct supervision of the Bishop.

Never condemn or be judgmental in one’s prayers.

Trust that God knows what is needed and will do it.

After the Prayer Session

Maintain confidentiality. The person who sought prayer may initiate conversation about the session but not the caregiver. Unless required by law, never share information about the content of the prayer session without the express consent of the person for whom prayer was offered.

Only licensed professionals may give any form of counseling or medical advice. This is to be initiated at the request of the person who sought prayer.

Continue to pray as led by God.

Other Considerations

Prior to a prayer session and/or a public service of healing, explanations should be given so that all participants will have a clear expectation of what will happen. Written materials explaining the purpose and process of healing ministries should be available to all participants.

Christian modalities of healing are to be done in conjunction with medical science. Resources for referrals and follow-up should be planned in advance of sessions.

Contingency plans for medical and/or pastoral emergencies should be in place and known by those “working’ in the ministries of healing. Anointing with holy oil is one of the oldest modalities of Christian healing. Many Dioceses allow trained lay healing team members to anoint.

© Hawley Todd TSSF, Episcopal Healing Ministries

About Episcopal Healing Ministries

“The healing ministry is for all who seek a closer relationship with God; for all who seek to grow in grace and knowledge of Him. Christ is a healing Savior who heals all brokenness in every area of our lives.”

The Rev. Emily Gardiner Neal

Why were we founded?

Episcopal Healing Ministries was established in 1987 as a 501 C 3 charitable organization to implement the threefold healing ministry of Jesus Christ - to proclaim the kingdom of God, to teach, and to heal.

What is our mission?

The mission of Episcopal Healing Ministries is to proclaim by word and example the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by being obedient to his imperatives of teaching and healing. Episcopal Healing Ministries is devoted to training, instructing and preparing both clergy and laity to the highest professional standards of practice in ministries of healing. The staff of Episcopal Healing Ministries is available to lead ministries of healing through missions, retreats, liturgical services, and intercessory prayer.

What is our vision of healing?

All healing proceeds from God. Healing prayer is a sacramental activity. The best metaphor for prayers of healing is the epiclesis in the Holy Eucharist.

Who is Hawley Todd?

Hawley Todd TSSF is the Foundation Director and the Formation Director for Episcopal Healing Ministries. Having been mentored by the Rev. Emily Gardiner Neal from 1982 until her death in 1989, Hawley has 27 years of experience in the healing ministry. He was trained in the Anglican tradition at Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary, taught World Religions at McMaster University and has been an Education for Ministry mentor with the University of the South since 1996. He has been an Assistant Formation Director for the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis and was the Director of Christian Formation at St. Thomas Episcopal Church from 1990 - 2006. Also a trained spiritual director, Hawley has led retreats and missions in the United States and Canada.

Contact Information

Hawley Todd TSSF
Foundation Director & Formation Director
Episcopal Healing Ministries
Christ Church Cathedral
318 East Fourth St.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Phone: 513-967-6581

Email: todd@episcopalhealing.org
web: www.episcopalhealing.org