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Order of St. Luke in Our Parish
The Order of St. Luke began in the parish with an
eight-week seminar series on Healing Prayer in the Lent and Easter seasons
of 1999. Results of these seminars included a deeper prayer fellowship for
many participants and an opportunity to share significant life issues. Some
members formed lasting friendships. Fifteen participants became members of
the Order of St. Luke. Our chapter has continued to grow from there,
welcoming in additional Associate and Full Members and facilitating various
retreats, workshops and seminars. In the spring of 2003, we joined ranks
with members of the Geneva United Methodist Church in an effort to form a
more ecumenically-based chapter.
Some activities we have
held include Lenten teachings and seminars; two 3-day Healing Missions; a
Quiet Day of contemplative prayer; a seminar on scientific investigations of
prayer; healing narratives studies; a seminar on prayer and personality;
outreach to those in nursing homes and hospitals; and book discussion
groups.
Order of St. Luke - General Information
The International Order of St. Luke the Physician (OSL)
is:
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An ecumenical Christian healing ministry.
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Made up of clergy, health professionals, and lay
people who believe healing is an essential part of the teaching and
practice of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the healing ministry of
Christ belongs in the church today.
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An interdenominational Christian order of faith,
prayer, and service. The Order believes that God uses many avenues for
healing -- some spiritual and some medical -- and that they should be
supportive of one another.
The Order of St. Luke's goals include:
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Restoring the apostolic practice of healing as taught
and demonstrated by Jesus Christ.
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Promoting the practice of holding healing services
and an extended healing ministry in every congregation.
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Developing local chapters that will promote healing
seminars, workshops, and prayer groups in their areas.
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Teaching Christian healing for healing of the members
and others.
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Encouraging a sound pastoral and counseling ministry.
Some Scriptural foundations that OSL is based on:
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Of the 1,257 narrative verses in the four Gospels,
484 relate specifically to healing.
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Jesus describes his own ministry in Luke 4:16-19 (NRSV):
When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had
been brought up, he went to the Synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his
custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was
given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was
written:
'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good
news to the poor,
He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor.'
And he rolled up the scroll, and gave it back
to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all the synagogue were fixed
on him. Then he began to say to them, 'Today this scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing.'
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Jesus commissions the twelve Disciples in Luke
9:1-2,6 (NRSV):
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave
them power and authority over all the demons and to cure diseases, and
he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to heal. They
departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and
curing diseases everywhere.
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Jesus then appoints and sends out seventy others in
Luke 10:1-20.
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