This November I have added to the revised web site (see post: About the new-look Renewable Way) a paper called “Healing” that I wrote in 1987, which was not only one of the first pages I included in the original version of The Renewable Way, hosted by Green Net in the spring of the year 2000 but appeared in my first trial attempts to construct a web presence about five years earlier (hosted by a now defunct organisation called Unet). The best way to introduce it is to include in this post the paper that was produced to explain how it came about nearly twenty years ago. This document was originally addressed to the Members of the Trentham PCC. Trentham has had a Christian community, worshipping on the site of the present church, since at least 680 AD and its history as a site of worship is almost certainly very much older. It is located in Staffordshire, U.K., adjacent to the River Trent.
Background to the Healing Message
The message that I have attempted to convey (Healing) was received by me during the season of Christmas, 1986. The first and major part came during a morning Communion service at our church while the Intercessions were being delivered. It is impossible to find an everyday life parallel to explain exactly how the experience was. However, the nearest I can get is to say that it was as if I was both present with Jesus and his Disciples, when he was commanding them to go out and heal, while at the same time receiving an understanding of exactly how that healing could take place.
At first, I kept the message to myself but the following week, in church, the sense of the message came back to me together with a strong impression that it had to be shared. Quite obviously, it had relevance to the Healing Services proposed at the last PCC meeting of 1986. I realised then that the message should give those involved the confidence that such services would work and give guidance about how they should be conducted. However, I was well aware that I would be testing the faith of anyone I chose to deliver it to. I hope that you will all understand the reasons why I delayed mentioning the message to anyone. I have been reminded since that the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is full of stories about people who initially tried to avoid carrying out what they knew to be God’s will because they thought the world would either laugh at them or reject the message. The pressure to comply grew in me sufficiently that I eventually had to have a brief word with our Vicar after the service one morning. As a result of this we arranged an evening meeting, when I told him my story as best I could. He suggested that I present the message to the Worship Committee when they came to consider whether or not Healing Services should be started at Trentham Parish Church.
This meeting took place on the 13th May 1987 and, after they had all listened patiently and discussed the Message and the Service, it was suggested that I should put the story on paper. In part because this would make it available to a wider audience (as the Spirit dictated) and also initially so that the “message” could be shared with all members of the PCC
Paul Newman
