Deliverance Ministry

Bishop Dominic Walker gives practical advice to pastors and others to whom people turn for help.

First Aid or Last Resort?

It has been said that deliverance ministry should be a last resort, and for many who turn to the mainstream churches for help, it is the last resort. They have often been to doctors, psychologists, mediums and advice centres. Sometimes they come from other churches where deliverance ministry has failed. They feel desperate, sometimes suicidal and are convinced that they are under some kind of demonic attack. They meet a variety of responses from pastors ranging from those who claim that this is not a ministry with which they are familiar to those who exorcise on demand. The cautious reaction is not too surprising when many of us remember cases which have gone horribly wrong; the enthusiastic response may be well meaning but could well be harmful.

The initial response should be one of assurance and a willingness to listen to the story. When people are so distressed, the story will rarely begin at the beginning. Facts and symptoms will be mixed with opinion, interpretation and the advice and projections of others. If the story has been told many times, it may well have been dramatised on the telling! It is wise to take some notes and to establish the bare bones of what was experienced. This serves as a reminder and a check on how the story may be growing.

Many people have learned how to present symptoms and how to adapt them for the doctor or the priest. Physical symptoms are presented to the GP but it is assumed that the priest will want to learn of spiritual symptoms - or more accurately, psychic or paranormal ones! Some questions about home, work, family, religious, psychological and medical background will usually give a fuller picture and enable a more holistic approach.

Symptoms are normally presented as being a problem with a place (poltergeist, ghost, cold spots etc.) or a person (oppression or possession). Sometimes people have been involved with occult activity or a seance, tarot card readings, ouiji board or a magical or satanic group. More frequently now are those who look for help after ministry from a Christian fellowship with a fundamentalist view of demons. Some may even have been physically or sexually abused during 'internal ministries'.

The most common phenomena is poltergeist activity. This manifests itself in strange knocks and raps, sounds of footsteps and other noises, interference with electricity and objects mysteriously disappearing and reappearing and objects being projected through the air. The phenomena is often associated with children or adolescents but I have also had experience of this activity being associated with elderly people. There is always the possibility of fraud or attention seeking but poltergeist activity has been caught on video and investigated by parapsychologists. The old explanation that it is an evil or even departed spirit has been abandoned in favour of the phenomena being caused by psychic or psychokinetic energy created by a person under stress. This theory is supported by the observation that when the subject is counselled the activity decreases and stops. Exorcism is quite inappropriate and might make the situation worse. In must cases assurance that the phenomena is not caused by an evil spirit and encouragement to 'own' it and talk about personal anxieties leads to a resumption of normality in the home.

Ghosts come in a variety of shapes and sizes but there seem to be two basic types - the ghost that appears to only one person and is not seen by others and the ghost that is witnessed by different people at different times without warning.

The one person ghost has a subjective reality. It is real only to the person who sees it and may be explained as a psychological projection. A number of people 'see' their loved ones soon after bereavement and this is part of the grieving process. Others 'see' a ghost because they are projecting an image from the unconscious mind; they may even convince others who also 'see' it. Counselling may help the person to speak about their inner anxieties and hurts and the description of the ghost may indicate something about their inner feelings and fears. As counselling begins to alleviate and channel the inner conflicts so the ghost will disappear.

Of more interest are the ghosts which appear to have some objectivity about their appearances in that they are seen by people on a number of occasions and without any forewarning or collusion. Some ghosts appear like a video replay - not relating to the observers and always carrying out the same action. Accounts of Roman soldiers on battlements and fox hunts going through ballrooms would fall into this category and are called 'place memories' or 'trace memories'. The theory is that places and buildings pick up memories  ('I tell you if these were silent, the stones would shout out' -  Luke 20.40), and that something, a traumatic event or a psychic person can re-energise the memory. Place memories in themselves appear to be neutral, neither good nor bad although it may have been triggered off by some good or evil. We know that the recalling of memories, as in the eucharistic celebration, can be spiritually powerful so there may be some credence in the theory regarding place memories.

The other objective ghost is less predictable than the place memory whose appearances are always the same. This ghost, associated with an unquiet soul of a dead person, appears to different people in different ways as if to try and make contact. They resemble in physical appearance the dead person although they may appear to people who never knew them. These cases are very rare and in every case where an unrested soul appears to be the explanation, it would appear that the person has died suddenly, violently or unprepared and seems to have an inordinate attachment to a place or person or some unfinished business. In these cases the celebration of a Requiem Mass is appropriate and effective.

Sometimes people will seek help because they believe they are under some demonic attack. They may express it by saying that they feel they have been cursed or that they can no longer pray. They may say they are being physically or sexually attacked by something or even that they feel they are no longer themselves and some force has taken them over. Feelings of being under occult influence or being pursued by witchcraft are sometimes expressed and the pastor or doctor is left to decide if this is a psychiatric illness or a spiritual attack.

Traditionally the church has identified three levels of demonic attack - temptation, oppression and possession or infestation. Temptation may be presented as some kind of obsessional neurosis and may indicate a real spiritual battle taking pace within the person or some deeper psychological problem which the person is trying to disown or deny. For example, a person may describe a continual inner struggle to avoid an act of violence or theft or blasphemy and the discernment that is needed is to know if this is a real spiritual struggle, an inner battle between good and evil, or a need to express repressed anger or to own a personality weakness. In other words, is it a case for prayer or therapy or both.

The distinction between oppression and possession is that with oppression people are still in control of their wills and able to reflect on their condition whereas with possession it appears that something has taken over their will. A minor exorcism is traditionally prescribed for oppression and a major exorcism for possession. In a minor exorcism, prayer is addressed to God to deliver the person from evil. In a major exorcism, the demon is directly addressed in the name of Jesus and commanded to leave.

Psychiatrists describe possession states and speak of' possession syndrome' but the question for the pastor is whether the person is possessed by some external, objective evil force or by an inner demon, a deep unhealed and repressed part of their unconscious mind which might manifest itself in bizarre behaviour including strange voices, anti-social behaviour and trance like appearance.

Possession states are open to different explanations. Claims of being oppressed by evil may be a way of denying the need to face inner pain and conflict or even repentance. The unresolved inner conflict is then projected onto an evil force, a trick as old as Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the serpent. In cases where people show great emotion, it appears that denied and repressed emotions are held in abeyance by defence mechanisms which break down in stressful situations leading to psychological conflicts. A process of dissociation seems to separate some parts of the personality function which are then released by possession behaviour or focused onto a demonic 'entity'. Some of those who go for regular deliverance session find great release in being able to express extreme emotions in a safe and caring environment.

People sometimes complain of hearing voices and are convinced that the devil is mocking them or telling them to do evil things. Schizophrenia or mental breakdown may seem to be the obvious explanations for such symptoms but this is not always the case, and I have known such symptoms to disappear after appropriate ministry.

Feelings of being under a psychic or demonic attack may have a chemical explanation such as a reaction to certain drugs or alcohol or even temporal lobe epilepsy which can result in sufferers believing that they are being tormented by demons. This indicates the importance of knowing a great deal about the person, their mental and physical history and their feelings of alienation, self esteem and relationship with God. The language used by sufferers is often one of darkness and despair and the pastor needs to enter into their darkness with them as a soul friend to discover if the darkness is their shadow, that is, an unresolved part of them or some external spiritual force which needs exorcising.

A person who claims to be oppressed or possessed is expressing a deep feeling of not being themselves. Whilst it is likely that there will be a psychological explanation, that is not to deny the possibility of possession by evil, nor the need to minister to them in an holistic way. Inner conflict and pain may need to be owned. The use of the sacraments of confession, communion and anointing is a means of unloading the burden of oppression and providing a means of grace for the person to break free from what is binding them. As grace co-operates with nature, so forces of evil can latch on to people who are without grace and people who have a negative attitude to life seem to be the subjects of negative spiritual forces.

People often seek exorcism as a form of Christian magic and want their problem solved by a prayer or priestly act. Christian groups sometimes tell people that they are possessed or in need of deliverance because there is something in their personality, past or behaviour which they find unacceptable. Indeed in some groups, the most vulnerable person is made to carry the sins of the group as a scapegoat. The group project their failings and unresolved conflicts onto one person and then seek to exorcise him or her. In the ministry of deliverance it is all too easy to confuse authority with power. A gentle ministry will use divine authority in a gentle way and set the person free, but some pastors use a personal power which makes people feel guilty and dependent and claims an infallible diagnosis of the case which in turn has sometimes led to people being 'demonised' when they needed counselling and comfort. Such power games are usually associated with a simplistic and dualistic view of the world which identifies good with God and everything else with Satan. Bad theology leads to bad pastoral care.

The House of Bishops of the Church of England, aware of the dangers which exorcism could involve, laid down guidelines. Firstly, that exorcisms could only be carried out by an experienced person with the authority of the bishop. Secondly, that medical advice and collaboration should be sought. Thirdly, that an exorcism should be carried out in the context of prayer and sacraments. Fourthly, that there should be the minimum of publicity, and fifthly, that there should be adequate after care.

The best advice to give to any pastor dealing with someone who claims to be oppressed or possessed is to look for a simple explanation first. It is more likely that there will be a natural, psychological or psychiatric explanation than a demonic one, but of course, sin, sickness and evil can be interwoven which stresses the importance for an inter-disciplinary approach. There is always the temptation to respond to a demand for exorcism by giving the person what they want in the hope that they will go away! This is an unwise and uncaring approach which is potentially harmful. Prayer and reassurance should be the first step, then encouragement for the person to tell their story and to see how they have arrived at where they are now. This may well take more than one session. In just telling the story the person often improves and through prayer for deliverance and protection and the use of the sacraments a dramatic improvement takes place.

In the very rare cases where a person has not responded to medical care and where possession is diagnosed, the exorcism should be carried out after careful preparation. The possessed person may speak in different voices even claiming to be different demons. They may appear to have psychic gifts and to contort their bodies and curse those who are going to be involved in the service. Pastors who have done this will speak of the feelings of being involved in an exhausting battle before the person is released.

Possession is very rare and whilst deliverance ministry should have a place within the ministry of the Church, it would be wrong to give it too prominent a place. It is worrying when some churches focus on personal exorcism with an air of triumphalism, power and control but neglect corporate, moral and social evil. This narrow view of evil reflects a narrow theology and neglects an incarnational approach which teaches us to engage with evil in the power of the cross. It is a ministry which requires gifts of discernment and wisdom and the prophetic courage to expose true evil whether in society or in individuals. It is a ministry which requires humility and the willingness for doctors and priests to work together, observing their own professional boundaries but recognising the insights that their respective disciplines can bring.

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