“Virtual Healing… What?” by Rosemary Dellinger

  Posted on September 28, 2020  by admin  No comments

St. Paul’s is known for so many wonderful worship elements. Beautiful music, welcoming ministry, fresh baked bread at Eucharist, resounding liturgy and healing prayer each and every Sunday… outside of a pandemic. But worship in the time of COVID looks and feels very different. The clergy and staff at St Paul’s have striven to reinvent worship during these times, keeping as many of these cherished elements and reimagining others. I think they have done an amazing job!

One cherished element of our worship has been healing prayer offered at communion. The laying on of hands, the prayer circle, the anointing of oil all bring comfort to so many.

When I was approached to be on a team to try to reimagine healing prayer in virtual worship I’ll admit that I was not enthusiastic. How could we offer this important ministry virtually? I reluctantly agreed to explore the possibility, though deep down inside doubted that it would come to fruition.

A team of four members of our healing ministry met over the course of several weeks. Using Zoom, Taize background music, an iconic virtual background, and prayer teams in breakout rooms, we think we have created a prayerful virtual space in which to share healing prayer with you. Although we are not physically present during prayer, you would be surprised at the intimacy of sharing a breakout room with healing teams waiting to pray with you! Come give it a try. We’ll keep the candle lit for you!