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Faith healing
Small Christian groups
that promote faith healing
Sponsored link.
Faith groups which avoid conventional medical procedures:
Many, perhaps most, faith groups recommend prayer as a supplement to medical care. However, some religious groups go further: they teach teach that certain medical procedures are not allowed, or that members should generally reject medical attention in favor of prayer. A sampling of the latter are:
 | The Body (a.k.a. "The Body of Christ"): This is a small Fundamentalist Christian faith group in Attleboro MA, consisting of several extended families living together in a commune. It does not appear to have a formal name; however, members often refer to their group as as "The Body." They split away from a larger Bible study group circa 1980. They reject conventional medical support, even to the point where their members refuse to wear glasses. They have generally withdrawn from society, rejecting contact with education, government, medical services, banking services, entertainment. etc. They advocate faith healing. Two infants in the group, Samuel Robidoux and Jeremiah Corneau, have allegedly died -- one stillborn and the other allegedly starved to death -- and been secretly buried in Maine. 1 | ||||||||||||
| Bible Readers Fellowship: This is a small, Evangelical Christian group
in Florida. They shun medical treatment.
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| Church of the First Born: This group is mainly
active in Colorado and Oklahoma. The sect promotes the use of prayer to
heal; they do not believe in doctors or medicine.
Jason Lockhart, 9, of Enid, OK died of a ruptured appendix in 1982-DEC. Desiree Camren, 3, of Cushing, OK died after a treatable illness. Testimony at the trial indicated that the parents knew the child was dying but attributed it to God's punishment because the father had not been attending church. Angela Sweet, 7, of Olathe, CO, died in 1990-JUN of a ruptured appendix. Jordan Northrup, 4 months, in Redding , CA, died in 1991-JAN of meningitis and pneumonia. 3 Loyd and Christina Hayes are members of this church in Albany OR. They were charged with criminally negligent homicide
in the death of his 7 year old son. The son died in 1994-NOV from a treatable form of leukemia. After the 1986-APR trial,
the father was given 5 years probation, and ordered to report any serious illness or injury to any child in his care.
The mother was acquitted. He filed an appeal on 1996-JUL. The state has also appealed, because the judge did not sentence
Hayes to prison, as specified in the sentencing guidelines. Billy and Barbara Reed of Clifton CO withheld medical treatment in
favor of prayer for their three-day-old son, Billy Ray. A treatable
heart condition was not detected. He died in 2000-JUL. He seemed to be
recovering, but later stopped breathing. Paramedics were called but were
unable to revive him. In early 2001-FEB, Amanda Bates, 13, died from diabetes in Grand Junction, CO. Her parents withheld medical treatment. Her death was ruled a homicide by the Mesa County coroner, Dr. Rob Kurtzman. | ||||||||||||
| End Time Ministries: They have lost several members in a number of states due to their exclusive belief in faith healing. Members Charles and Marilee Myers in Lake City, FL, were charged with child abuse in 1990. Their son, William, needed an operation to remove a heart tumor. His kidneys and liver had failed; he had lost 30% of his weight. He was near death both because of the tumor and from the complications of long-term malnutrition. A few months later, their newborn grandson died from massive hemorrhaging; the parents did not seek medical treatment. Two other End Time Ministry families in Florida lost daughters in the early 1990's. Five newborns died in Sioux Falls SD during the 1980's. They died during unattended births of women who belonged to this group. 4 | ||||||||||||
| Faith Assembly: This is a fundamentalist faith group that shuns medical
care in favor of prayer. The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, IN, published a
series of articles on this group which revealed that in the late 1980's and early 1990's:
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| Full Gospel Deliverance Church: A member from Fayetteville, N.C., pleaded no contest in 1994-JUN to involuntary manslaughter. His 15 year old son had also died from complications resulting from diabetes. | ||||||||||||
| Faith Tabernacle Congregation: This is a Fundamentalist Christian congregation
based in Philadelphia PA, which has "stations" from New Jersey to
Africa. 5 It was founded in 1987 and currently
has about 18,000 members. They teach their members to be consistent: to
follow the will of God tenaciously as they see it. Some members practice this belief in
the area of physical health. Some health problems have become public:
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| Christ Church: This is a church with about 1200
followers in Portland, OR. It was organized by Walter White in the early 1900's. He
believed that God appeared to him in a dream and selected him to lead the group. He taught
that illness must be cured by prayer, and anointing with oil, not by medical treatment. If
the individual dies, then it is God's will. Women in the congregation give birth at home
with the help only of a midwife. No medical care is provided, no matter what the
emergency. Members have full faith in the power of prayer and anointing oil to heal
themselves and their children. The church owns a "cemetery on the outskirts of
town...[in which] dozens of children are buried...in tiny graves."
6
Medical experts have stated that the lives of many of them could have been saved if they
had received routine medical attention. "Over the past decade, 18 children have
died—a 4-year-old who suffered from an infection for 46 days, babies and mothers
dying together in childbirth." The Oregonian reported that 3 children
of Followers of Christ children died needlessly between 1997-JUL and 1998-MAY.
7
According to Dr. Larry Lewman, Medical Examiner for the state, all could have been saved.
The Oregonian newspaper has stated that of the "78 minors buried in the graveyard
over 35 years, 21 'probably would have lived with medical intervention.'"
8
According to a former member, the congregation believes that they are chosen people,
and that everybody else (over 99.998% of the human race) will go to Hell. Members who
leave the church are shunned by everyone else, including members of their own family. One needless death raised the profile of the church in Oregon. Bo Phillips, an 11 year old boy, developed childhood diabetes - a disorder which is routinely treatable. He was given liquids, prayer and oil, but no insulin. He died a slow death. "Christian Science spokesman Gary Jones describes as 'terrible' the prospect that public rage at the Oregon deaths might 'stop the inquiry into more effective means of treatment' by spiritual means. 8 |
| Grace Baptist Church: A couple and the pastor from Aberdeen, MS, pleaded guilty in 1994-MAY. They were charged because of the couple's 13 year old daughter death from complications associated with untreated diabetes. |
| Home in Zion Ministries: Carol Balizet, formerly an emergency room nurse, now heads this Fundamentalist Christian ministry, centered in Tampa, FL. She promotes what she calls "Zion Births:" home births without any input, assistance or backup from the medical system. They rely only on prayer. According to the West Austrailian newspaper, "Ms Balizet has interpreted the Bible to mean that humans should not interfere with the will of God. She claims birth is a chance for a woman to have a close encounter with God and that no doctor should be allowed to participate in the process. She believes that God will heal people if they pray to Him and there is no need for humans to interfere by taking medicine. In 2001-APR, a 31 year-old woman in western Australia suffered complications in the birth of her fifth child, who was delivered without medical attention, following Zion Birth principles. For three weeks after the birth, she was in agony. She finally died. 9.10, |
| Snake Handling Sects: George Went Hensley, a Church of God pastor founded
a Pentecostal religious group in 1909 which is now called Church of God with Signs
Following. Adult members occasionally practice what they call "preaching the
signs": the drinking of strychnine or other poison, and exposing themselves to be
bitten by poisonous snakes. They allow their natural defenses to battle the poison; they
do not seek medical attention. Their belief is that if they have sufficient faith, they
will not die or be permanently harmed by the poison. This belief is based on a Biblical
passage: Mark 16:17-18:
Hensley interpreted this passage as a command to believers to use these methods to test their faith. It is interesting that this passage is believed by many to be a forgery, not written by the author who wrote the rest of the Gospel of Mark. By the start of World War II, these practices had become widespread throughout the Church of God, although only engaged in by a small minority of its members. The church interpreted these tests of faith to be one more indication of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days before Christ's second coming. Motivated by some deaths and near deaths, the practice was denounced by the Assembly of the Church of God in 1928. However, some congregations left the denomination and continued their snake handling practices. The State of Tennessee banned the practice and suppressed the group after the death of member Lewis Ford in 1945. Hensley himself died of snakebite in Florida in 1955 in his mid-70's. After two additional deaths from drinking poison, and other near deaths, court cases led to a decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court to uphold the state's ban. Independent congregations of "signs people" are still found from Florida to West Virginia and west to Ohio. J.G. Melton estimates that between 50 to 100 "signs" congregations exist with a total of several thousand members. 11 People have continued to die in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia at the rate of about 5 a decade. Many believers handle snakes, but few are bitten. A second church: Original Pentecostal Church of God also believes in testing themselves with poisonous snakes. However they do not "tempt God" by bringing snakes into their services. Members have been known to pick up poisonous snakes and risk being bitten when they come across them in the wild. |
| Unidentified Florida religious group: The two-year old son of Wylie and Kelly Johnson of Tampa, FL was stung by wasps and died. His parents were reported by Associated Press as equating medical treatment with sorcery. The couple allegedly gave the boy an oatmeal bath and rubbed lotion on his skin. They were charged with child abuse, but were acquitted. |
| Unidentified New Zealand religious group: As of late 2001-JUN, Herman and Trijntje Jongkind, both 34, were being tried on a charge of neglecting to provide the necessaries of life to their 17-month-old son, Jesse. His parents knew that he was suffering from meningitis, but treated him at home using a combination of Bible reading and prayers. They believed that they were giving their son the best possible care. They felt that if they needed to change their approach, that God would show them. Jesse was in a moderately deep coma and at risk of being put on a ventilator. When he was taken to hospital, he had to undergo emergency surgery to drain fluid from his brain. He was in a mild coma, and had to be tube-fed. Two-thirds of his body fluids had to be replaced. |
| Other American religious groups: Time Magazine
reviewed the rising death toll of children in the U.S. due to the
refusal of their parents to obtain medial assistance. In an article
titled "Freedom of Rellgion or State-Sanctioned Child Abuse,"
they reported: "At the center of controversy are Congregants of
Church of Christ, Scientist, along with members of other, smaller
sects, including the Followers of Christ Church and the
General Assembly and Church of the First Born. All are staunchly
opposed to medical intervention in the case of illness, preferring
instead to depend upon prayer to do the healing. Their devotion to what
they call "God's will" has, according to their critics, led to the
deaths of more than 172 children between 1975 and 1995 — all because
their parents refused to seek medical treatment for their children's
illnesses. According to autopsy reports, many if not most of the
children could have been saved easily with simple antibiotics." Massachusetts Citizens for Children mentions other groups which have had children die, probably because of medical conditions that could have been cured: No-Name Fellowship in Spokane, WA; Church of God in Loranger, LA; Christ Miracle Healing Center, AZ; and Traveling Ministries Everyday Church in Spanaway, WA. There are undoubtedly many dozens of additional faith groups in the U.S. and Canada whose children have needlessly died. |
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Attleboro Cult," Apologetics Index, at: http://www.gospelcom.net/ Note: This information source is a counter-cult group that discusses The Body from a Fundamentalist Christian perspective.
- Associated Press article, "Parents charged over wasp death," 1999-MAY-10
- "Cases of Childhood Deaths Due to Parental Religious Objection to Necessary Medical Care," Massachusetts Citizens for Children," at: http://www.masskids.org/
- "End Time Ministries," AFF, at: http://www.csj.org/ Note: AFF is an anti-cult group that views many new religious movements as mind-control cults.
- "State, church clash over faith healing beliefs," Beloit Daily News, Beloit WI, 1997-APR-21 at: http://www.beloitdailynews.com/
- Diane Sawyer, "Taking Faith Healing too Far?," ABC News, 20/20, 1999-JAN-6 at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/
- Mark Larabee, "Prosecutor reaffirms decision on boy's death," The Oregonian, 1998-MAY-14, at: http://www.oregonlive.com/
- David Van Biema, "Faith or Healing?," Time magazine, 1998-AUG-31, at: http://cgi.pathfinder.com/
- Home in Zion Ministries has a home page at: http://users.southeast.net/
- Kristen Watts, "Cult death: Mother rejects doctor to put trust in God," The West Australina, 2001-MAY-12, at: http://www.thewest.com.au/
- J.G. Melton, The Encyclopedia of American Religions", Triumph Books, Tarrytown NY (1991)
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Site navigation: Home page > "Hot" religious topics > Faith healing > here |
Copyright © 1996 to 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1996-JAN-14
Latest update: 2007-JAN-12
Author: B.A. Robinson
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