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Freedom through the Ministry of
Inner Healing & Deliverance
Mike Davis reports on the Deliverance
Weekend (25th-27th June 2010) organised by the English NSC
at Trinity & All Saints college Leeds.
Ten years ago the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith produced
a helpful document called “Instruction on Prayers for Healing”.
Although referring to the scriptural experiences of healing (“casting
out demons” etc.) this document did not clarify the need to distinguish
between healing and deliverance charisms as we have come to know them
in the Charismatic Renewal. It was to deal with this that the English
NSC organised a training weekend at Trinity and All Saints College Leeds,
for those involved in this area.
 The
main speakers, introduced by Michelle Moran, were Fr Sean Conaty, Myles
Dempsey, Fr Mike Gwinell and Pat Kennedy; addressing some 70 of us with
differing experiences of the healing ministry. The title included ‘Inner
Healing’, but the main talks seemed to gravitate towards Deliverance
which was helpful for most of us. First Fr Sean spelt out the Church’s
teaching with an overview of the last 2000 years encompassing Scripture,
the church fathers and church councils, especially, Lateran IV; Trent
and Vatican II.
Myles Dempsey made the excellent point that Matt 16:18, in the reference
to the gates of hell ‘not prevailing’ against the Church,
does not imply that hell is attacking the church, but the opposite –
for gates are not exactly an offensive weapon! Myles recounted several
of his experiences that demonstrated the power of effective prayer and
the need to be prepared – spiritually, mentally and with appropriate
spiritual and physical resources (including metal bin for vomit!!).
In particular, he recommended using the full “St Patrick’s
Breastplate” prayer.
The most helpful part of this talk was a reminder that not all demons
leave immediately and many are obstructive if the person being prayed
with does not ‘really’ want to be set free or ‘converted’.
That tied in with some of my own experiences. This demonstrated the
overlap with inner healing where, for instance, a lack of forgiveness
may prevent the expulsion of an oppressive spirit. We need to ‘see
in every person their full potential through surrender to God’
and to help them become ‘free from their self inflicted wounds
of sin’.
In his second talk, Fr Sean defined deliverance ministry as the spiritual
process by which a person is released from the power of the evil one,
whether the person is bound by possession, oppression or temptation.
He reminded us not to attribute to satan that which may be accounted
for by human wilfulness alone, otherwise we’d be seeing demons
everywhere! He distinguished between ‘solemn (or formal) exorcism’
as carried out only by the Bishop (or one specifically delegated by
him) and ‘simple exorcism’ which is what both priests and
laity may do in deliverance ministry though the power of their baptism
and the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave power to cast out demons in His name,
which means that we are acting in the person of Christ.
He stressed that it was important to be familiar with the Word of God,
as often this alone can drive out the enemy, as well as equip us to
understand different situations faced by Jesus and the apostles. We
were warned of the damage done by involvement in New Age practices which
often incorporate a wide range of mystic or magic practices with some
pseudo-rational explanation of their efficacy. Both Fr Sean and Myles
recounted dangers they had seen of some practices that gave initial
relief but simultaneously destroyed people and homes at the same time.
On the Saturday afternoon we spilt into three streams for workshops
on Discernment (led by Pat Kennedy); New Age (By Myles Dempsey), and
Healing the Family Tree (By Fr Mike Gwinell). Throughout the weekend
written questions were invited and Michelle did a wonderful job in collating
and summarising these and addressing them to the various speakers in
three sessions. To my mind these were the highlight, because it clarified
the occasional obscurity and formed a positive interaction with the
range of experience of those attending.
The social times, including tea breaks, were opportunities for the
participants to compare notes on their own experience and practice,
and I am recommending that we find more formal opportunity for this
in future conferences on this subject. For instance, I found several
people who had experienced ‘demonic’ interference with their
cars when travelling to deliverance sessions. It was something that
I had not thought to be common, perhaps it is.
Our final session included an impressive summary of the need for and
practice of safeguarding both the ministers and ministered, given by
Pat Kennedy.
CELEBRATE WEEKENDS
The first of this year’s Celebrate weekends got off to a flying
start in Brighton (26th-27th June) a the Cardinal Newman School in Hove.
The Celebrate atmosphere was created by the Celebrate banners decorating
the marquee and the presence of lots of children. Of the 380 people
who attended, 125 were young people under 21, who had their own sessions.
The speakers included David Wells, Margaret Duncan and Charles Whitehead.
Abbot Christopher Jamieson was also supposed to come, but was called
to Rome at the last moment. The music was led by Eleanor Agius and Ben
Grey from the Lay Community of St Benedict, and the Saturday night session
by Joe Wells and a band of young people who have grown up going to Celebrate
conferences. There was also a Eucharistic healing service led by two
members of the Community of St Jean, who have set up a house in Canning
Town. Chief organizer Helen Wells commented, “We didn’t manage
to get a drama group, but some of the young people attending, volunteered
to do some for us and they were great.” Prayer ministry was also
offered after every talk.
There were lots of first timers among the participants. Among these
were 30-40 people who came just for the day, to try it out. Once again,
a month before the weekend the numbers who had registered were so low
that Helen and her husband started to panic that they wouldn’t
cover their costs. But they stayed firm and in the last week people
flooded in including one family with six children. Helen comments, “There
was a really good atmosphere and we have had lots of thank you cards
with excellent feedback. One lady said that next year she was going
to come and bring all her grandchildren.”
The next Celebrate weekends in 2010 are 9th-10th October (Southampton),
23rd-24th Oct (Bristol) and 30th-31st Oct (St Albans). See Coming
Events.
MEN’S WEEKENDS
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor and Charles Whitehead enjoy a
joke with the men at this year’s Harvesters Weekend 9th-11th July
2010. One hundred and fifty men from all christian denominations gathered
at Woldingham Park School in Surrey for 2 days of teaching, fun and
fellowship. Speakers included cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, Rev. David
Matthews, Fr. Jack Finnegan OSB, a salesian priest and professor of
spirituality and psychology at Millton Insitute in Dublin. The weekend
has generated 30 local men’s group which now meet round the country
to support men in their faith and also funds an outreach to men in Africa.
Workshops over the weekend included those dealing with stress, work-life
balance, the importance of Christian Unity, the dark night of the senses,
the Church and the 2012 Olympic Games and Scripture in prayer.
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NEW DAWN IN SCOTLAND
The first New Dawn conference in Scotland took
place 5th-9th July 2010 at Madras College in St Andrew’s.
The conference followed the same format as the New Dawn conference
which has been held in Walsingham for over 20 years. It had been
the dream for many years by some of the Scottish participants
who attended New Dawn in Walsingham to organize something similar
in Scotland. And this year, following a prophetic Word at the
Tent of Mercy gathering at Carfin, the national Scottish Marian
shrine, which many of the organizers are involved in, the timing
and the team, came together perfectly (see Goodnews
May/June 2010).
The first evening there was a talk and prayer for
an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, followed the next evening by
the Sacrament of Reconciliation, with healing on the Wednesday,
and on the Thursday a rosary procession and open air Mass ending
on the Friday with a talk on evangelization. The speakers included
Ros Powell, Charles Whitehead, Fr Chris Thomas, Fr Pat Deegan,
Derek Williams, John Vaughan Neil, Sue Whitehead and Myles Dempsey.
Steve Murray also performed his powerful mimes each evening and
there was a vibrant music ministry of young people in red t-shirts.
As at Walsingham there was a children and young people’s
section. The conference concluded in typical exhuberant Scottish
style with a Ceilidh. Apart from some powerful healing and deliverances
that took place, the highlight for many was the open air Mass
concelebrated by Bishop Ian Murry and held in the ruins of St
Andrew’s cathedral. This was only the second time since the
Reformation that a Mass had been celebrated in the grounds. The
organizers had to work within a lot of restrictions here as no
candles or incense were allowed, and the Mass had to be over within
an hour. But with the sun shining and the sea gulls flapping overhead
the sense of anointing was palpable and everything finished on
schedule.
The organizing team led by Douglas & Margaret
Hunter really stepped out in faith, financially and spiritually,
as they couldn’t be sure who would turn up and needed 300
participants to break even. In the end 250 people came but as
well as a generous collection someone was so touched by the historic
Mass that she promised to cover any shortfall suffered!
Apart from the organizing team, which included
Canon William Frazer, Fr John Keenan, Fr Keith Herrera and Margaret
Duncan, several members of the Scottish NST were also there offering
support in prayer ministry. These included Ged & Margaret
Farrell and Tom & Flora Mullen, with other national leaders
past and present also showing for a day or two.
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SCOTTISH NATIONAL CONFERENCE
“United in the Spirit –
There’s always more!”
Sr Nancy Kellar from New York was the guest speaker
at the 16th National conference organized by the NST for CCR in
Scotland. It took place at Our lady of Consolation church in Glasgow
over the weekend of 25th-26th June 2010. The Scottish NST runs
a national conference every two years and about 180 people from
all over Scotland attended.
The theme for the weekend was “United in the
Spirit” (Eph 4.3) and this subject was unpacked in three
talks by Sr Nancy. At the end she prayed for a fresh outpouring
of the Holy Spirit on those present and on the Charismatic Renewal
in Scotland. The weekend also included a ministry session on the
Friday night. One woman was so impressed by the blessings she
saw the lady in front receive that she said excitedly “I’ll
have what she got, please!” There were workshops on leadership,
baptism in the Holy Spirit, Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Evangelisation.
These were led by John Lindsay, Mike Jordan, Steve Lavery and
Denise Roberts with a team from the Craig lodge Community in Dalmally.
The weekend was concluded with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop
Mario Conti and NST chairman, Ged Farrell presented Sr Nancy with
a bouquet of flowers as she had just celebrated her Golden Jubilee
as a religious sister.
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Changes on the Scottish NST
The Scottish NST meet four times a year at the house of the SMA
Fathers in Dunblane, which is ideal for travelling as it is in
the centre of Scotland. Fr Laurence Brassill OSA, has recently
stepped down from the team as he has been moved by his order to
Birmingham. He has been replaced by Canon Willie Fraser, who is
based in Taynuilt. Canon Fraser is very involved with the Craig
Lodge community and was behind the founding of the Living Water
youth ministry which operated for several years in the area. Carol
Masterton one of the new diocese leaders in Edinburgh has also
joined the team.
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YOUTH VILLAGE OPENED BY ANT AND
DEC
Charles
Whitehead reports
Television personalities Ant and Dec, who have
helped a lot with the fund raising, formally opened the Hexham
and Newcastle Diocesan Youth Village at Allensford, near Consett
on 5th July this year. Also present were the current Bishop of
Hexham and Newcastle, Bishop Seamus Cunningham, who blessed the
complex, retired Bishop Ambrose Griffiths, and several hundred
friends and supporters of the project, including Sue and me. Situated
in the rolling hills of the Derwent Valley and surrounded by outstanding
natural beauty, the Youth Village is the home of the Hexham and
Newcastle diocesan Youth Ministry Team, a group of international
volunteers living in community, who provide a variety of youth
ministry opportunities across schools and parishes throughout
the diocese. The young people visiting the Youth Village will
enjoy a retreat programme in state of the art facilities and purpose-built
amenities. So how did it all begin?
The Youth Ministry Team (YMT) was established in
1995 by Bishop Ambrose Griffiths. From the beginning, the team
gathered together young adults to live in community and to give
school missions. At the heart of the mission experience is the
message of God’s unconditional love for each one of us. Over
the last 15 years, this community has continued to be at the heart
of the work of YMT, providing peer ministry through the generosity
of young volunteers from all over the world. The leader of YMT
is Fr. Dermott Donnelly, Dec’s older brother, who has played
a key roll in founding the Village, along with Tony and Mel Lawless,
Mary Hughes, and many others.
YMT aims to help young people to discover their
own unique value and to reach their full potential. It has developed
an integrated strategy of school missions, residential retreats
and local area youth ministry encouraging young leaders to share
their unique gifts with their communities and take up their responsibility
in the world. As it has grown and developed, YMT has moved home
to many different parts of the diocese, and finally to the present
site at Allensford in September 2004. Since 2004, the Youth Village
has developed from a dream to the present purpose-built residential
centre offering accommodation to almost 100 young people in en-suite
twin bedrooms in Swiss-style chalets, supported by a large capacity
auditorium and dining hall. The residential retreats allow YMT
to offer a truly holistic experience which creates a lasting impact
on those who participate, and enables young people from many different
backgrounds and starting points to explore faith and life issues
in a relevant and interactive way. It also provides space for
young people to enjoy a range of outdoor activities and events
in beautiful countryside.
In the future they hope to also build a dedicated
prayer space and “chill-out” room. The Youth Village
is an amazing and wonderful place - an example of what can be
done when a diocese commits itself to investing seriously in its
young people. It’s well worth a visit - you’ll come
away inspired and enthused. If you would like to know more about
the Youth Village, or to support YMT in prayer or financially,
log on to www.youthvillage.co.uk
or www.ymt.org.
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