The Revd Christine Holzapfel has been appointed by Bishop John as Adviser for the Ministry of Healing. She will work with individuals and parishes to offer encouragement, support and advice to those with an interest in this area of ministry.
After spending seven years in the Bromsgrove Team as Team Vicar and then Team Rector, Christine has most recently been ministering at Harnhill Centre for Christian Healing in Cirencester. There she was part of the residential team offering prayer ministry, hospitality, worship and teaching and she was also involved in training and mentoring others. She retired back into the Diocese last Summer and is helping in the Saltway Team in Droitwich, as well as continuing to support Harnhill as a volunteer.
Christine said: “I am delighted to be able to help support and encourage healing prayer ministry in the Diocese. Healing ministry enables people to grow in their relationship with God that brings healing in the widest sense. Healing prayer sometimes involves physical healing, but it’s also about the healing of relationships; with God, with other people and with ourselves, and receiving the resources God has for us to manage sometimes very difficult circumstances. Anyone interested in the ministry of healing is welcome to get in touch with me. My role will involve listening to where people are and what they need, joining with them in listening to God in this, helping them start or develop the ministry in their churches.”
Bishop John said: “The earthly ministry of Jesus was characterised by two things: forgiveness and healing. In the church we rightly hear a lot about repentance and forgiveness but very little about healing. We all need healing if we are to experience the abundance of life which Jesus yearns to give us. It is for this reason that the Christian ministry of healing is so crucial. I am delighted and very grateful that Christine, who has a particular passion for this ministry and much experience in it, has agreed to take on this role.”
Christine is able to point people to a range of different resources and would be very happy to visit churches or deanery groups either virtually or in person when it’s possible to do so. She is also keen to hear from anyone who is interested in joining with her in this work and, perhaps, re-establishing a Healing Advisory Group in the Diocese. She can be contacted on c.holzapfel15@gmail.com
