Earl C. Houck is senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Spokane, Washington. His ministry includes people in all walks of life but most often involves troubled individuals in the inner city. His church has opened its doors to groups as varied as the local Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Russian Pentecostal congregation, consisting largely of recent arrivals from Europe who are learning to adjust to their new homeland.
Rev. Mr. Houck began his ministry forty years ago as a minister of music in Methodist churches in western New York State. His special interests, in addition to music, include working with young people on youth missions and in camp settings, and the various elements of pastoral ministry to all ages. He recently shared his views on Christian healing and related subjects with Richard A Mather, a Christian Scientist friend. Mr. Mather is a contributing editor to The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel.
Richard Mather: In addition to eternal salvation, the gospel has always offered practical ideas for meeting and healing specific needs in people's daily lives. I know that John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was very interested in such healing. Tell us about his approach.
Rev. Earl Houck: Wesley had a very strict way of living, and he often prescribed for people what he felt was needed in their lives. He believed in the small group or the class meeting where people came together and would begin to share each other's lives in a very vital way. And then out of that came prayer and the ministry of healing. The priesthood of all believers, I think, is something that was displayed in our denomination and its growth. And Wesley himself, of course, believed very firmly in the conversion experience and what could happen to people when they actually gave their lives to Christ. Wesley describes in his journal people being overcome with the Spirit and crying out to God for help. He took very literally what Jesus advised his disciples to do: to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit those in prison, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Mather: And to heal the sick.
Rev. Mr. Houck: And to heal the sick, absolutely. That was a firm part of Wesley's belief. I think it's being renewed today and restored within the Christian community.
Mather: Does healing still play an important part in the Methodist Church?
Rev. Mr. Houck: Yes. In our conference every year we have seminars and camp experiences in the area of healing. It has become very much in the forefront. In my own ministry I have really seen some marvelous things happen where people are willing to submit to God, and then to let the Spirit of God work to bring about the healing.
Mather: And you've seen that healing, actually, in your own ministry, then?
Rev. Mr. Houck: Absolutely. Yes, I've seen it many, many times—people being set right with God and with themselves.
Mather: Have you experienced spiritual healing in your own life?
Rev. Mr. Houck: Over and over again. I can look back and see some of the dramatic times where God ministered to me through people, and one of those times was back in I960 when I was going through a real crisis of identity—who I was, what I was about. I was an active pastor, and I was giving about 99 percent of myself to God and His work. But I was reserving I percent for myself, to kind of "do my own thing" and go my own way. And I realized that God wanted 100 percent. I really believe that God wants us entirely.
Mather: No strings attached.
Rev. Mr. Houck: Right. At that time I went through a real crisis. I was having night sweats, and I was just emotionally drawn. My physician was doing all kinds of tests, and he said, well, you're running a temperature all the time and I don't really know what's causing it. But I knew essentially my problem was not physical but spiritual. I knew that there was a real, spiritual crisis in my life that had to be addressed. And to whom do you go when you have a spiritual crisis?
At the time, my colleagues in the ministry didn't seem the right place to go. I couldn't go to parishioners. To whom would I go? I went to a Christian Science practitioner in Niagara Falls, and she would open the Bible when I would come in to meet with her, and she would say, "Now, Mr. Houck, you are created in the image of God." And I thought, "Well, yes, that's true." I had read that so many times, but I didn't really believe it, I don't think. The practitioner just kept stressing that I was created in the image of God, and that image was perfect and whole.
One time when we were meeting in an upper room in her home, some white doves came and fluttered at the window. It was a sign, I believe, a sign to me that God did care and that I was important and created in the image of God and that God was understanding and forgiving. The forgiving nature of God was something that the practitioner helped to convey to me. I began to read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and other Christian Science literature, and it was very comforting to me. I would take these books and go up into an upper room of the home where I was living with another pastor and his family. They used to call me "The Monk" because I would retreat to this attic room and read from Science and Health and other periodicals.
I gradually began to experience some relief from anxiety, which I think was the major component of my problems at that time. The fact became clearer that God was indeed caring for me, and that God had not given up on me, which I think many people believe; they walk around with a tremendous sense of guilt. That summer I had to direct a camp, and I called up the practitioner the night before and said, "I can't go and conduct that camp. I'm weak and depleted." And she said, "Now, Mr. Houck, you are created in the image of God. You go and direct that camp." And I did. And I look back on that as a watershed experience in my life. It was a time when I really experienced the love of God in a way that I'd never known before.
And then I began reaching out to others. I remember going to a little mission church down in Niagara Falls and receiving prayer there. I went to an interdenominational meeting of women. Actually, I was asked to help with the music at it. And at that meeting was Dr. Alfred Price from Philadelphia, who was, at that time, the Warden of the Order of St. Luke the Physician. And again came the affirmation that God indeed wanted people to accept the healing that He had to give them. It was as though God was showing me, from many different directions, that indeed His will is for us to be whole, and that God wants us to have life and have it more abundantly.
Mather: The Order of St. Luke, as I recall, includes clergy and lay people from several different denominations who support the idea of Christian healing.
Rev. Mr. Houck: Yes. And that organization is still functioning, I believe, although I'm not active in it at the present time.
Mather: I want to go back just a moment to the symbolism of those white doves you saw at the practitioner's window. Most Christians would readily understand that, in the Bible, doves can be a symbol of the Holy Ghost, which perhaps most embodies the love of God in the Church today. I can see that, for you, this was a very powerful symbol.
Rev. Mr. Houck: Yes. It was especially meaningful because this practitioner lived in a wonderful house that was only a stone's throw from the rapids of Niagara Falls. And I remember thinking, "Well, if things don't work out for me, there are always the rapids." So it was especially meaningful that this sign of God's love came to me at that time, a reassurance that indeed God was there, God cared.
Mather: Have you had an opportunity to share this healing with other clergy?
Rev. Mr. Houck: You know, people are very skeptical sometimes of what we call healing experiences. And so I felt reluctant to share some of these experiences generally But with those who are receptive, I think it can be a great source of comfort and health for them, and I welcome opportunities for people just to share their stories, because I think in the sharing of our stories others will receive encouragement and will seek and find God. Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive, and seek and you will find." And that is so true. I think many people get discouraged and don't seek. If one doesn't seek, then one doesn't find.
Mather: You once mentioned to me an experience in Seattle where this particular healing was relevant to another project that some of your fellow clergy were involved in.
Rev. Mr. Houck: Yes. We had in Seattle at one time quite a wonderful group of pastors that met on a regular basis.
Mather: These were from different denominations?
Rev. Mr. Houck: From different denominations. We would meet and encourage one another. We would have a good deal of singing and of just praising God. Then we would meet for individual ministry, the laying on of hands for different members. And this, again, came at a very important time for me. At that time we were in a sort of rush of the 1960s and the whole Vietnam era, and turbulence was all about us. People seemed so divided. I think the important thing in that experience was that for many years this pastors' fellowship showed its mission to the city as one, that they weren't just separate entities but that together we were working for the kingdom of God, and that we were all part of the body of Christ. I think the Church really needs leaders to come together and to realize our common mission.
Mather: While they stood together in some respects, that didn't always include everybody.
I believe that Christian Science has shown the
Church at large that there is, in effect, a God
who would care, and would heal, and would
unify, and would bring together His people.
Rev. Mr. Houck: Right. There came at that time a real crisis over the whole matter of the "shepherding movement." We had some speakers that came from another city and were preaching the gospel of control, where people were expected to submit to the elders of their church in personal matters to such a degree that even business dealings, or maybe even their relationships with their spouses, were under the jurisdiction of another person, or a pastor. It caused real division in the group, and those who were into the "shepherding movement," the control of Christians, sort of parted from those who felt that God, the Holy Spirit, is counselor. I believe we should not usurp the power of God over people's lives to control them and their thoughts and actions.
Mather: Has your contact with Christian Science all those years ago influenced your ministry in any way?
Rev. Mr. Houck: Well, I think that the Christian Church certainly has been influenced tremendously by Christian Science. I think for many years the Church disregarded healing as anything appropriate even to mention in the church. We talked a lot about salvation, but I think it was salvation from eternal damnation rather than salvation experiences that were pertinent to this life and that could be life-changing and life-saving. I believe that Christian Science has shown the Church at large that there is, in effect, a God who would care, and would heal, and would unify, and would bring together His people. And so, in the back of all this, certainly there was that sense of oneness: God calling His people together to worship, to praise, to be edified, to be strengthened, to be healed.
However, there was, and I think there still exists today, a great prejudice against churches or groups of Christians who depart from the mainstream theologically. That was certainly evident in Seattle. I'm very aware of those who spoke to us about cults and about those who they felt were not really of the persuasion of the main body of Christians. And I think in that whole era it seemed to be rather negative, kind of a witch-hunt experience, rather than edifying. It tended to destroy the unity that we should have as Christians, when we focused on the differences rather than on that with which we could all agree.
Mather: Did your earlier experience with the Christian Science practitioner play a part at all in helping to change that atmosphere?
Rev. Mr. Houck: It helped, I'm sure, as I would feel free to share that experience. I think it did lend some significant sense of cordiality, and of openness toward the Christian Science Church. And I really believe that God enabled us all, through our experiences, to break down the walls of separation that kept us divided. He is helping us to seek "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," Eph. 4:3. which we hear a lot about in the New Testament.
Mather: In a world that seems bent on finding material solutions for every human problem, and with a highly developed and expanding medical community, what do you think is the place of spiritual healing? What does the Church have to offer that may be different or significant to our world?
Rev. Mr. Houck: I remember once having a retired nurse in my car, and we were driving up through the central district of Seattle, and she asked me to look up at what we called "Pill Hill," where all of the hospitals are. And she said, "Look at all of those buildings! They are monuments to man's failure." She said, "We have all these years, with all the research, tried to heal people, and yet we seem continually to be losing the battle." And this was a very Christian, Spirit-filled lady speaking. I've often thought of that in the face of all of the attempts to minister to people strictly through medicine and through diagnostic procedures that are often very treacherous. I've thought how little we have relied, really, on the source of healing and on the great Physician. Shouldn't that be our primary focus?
I think many people become discouraged because of all of the bad news that they receive and all of the futility of many, many drugs that they are taking. And I see that a lot today—tremendous anxiety over the whole medical approach to life rather than the holistic approach, which includes the spiritual, psychological, and the emotional life of individuals. I remember what a heart specialist said to me one day. "Earl," he said, "most of my patients only need a pat on the back." And I've often thought of that. Here was a heart specialist confessing that the greatest need of his patients was not what he had to give them through his practice, but through his friendship.
Mather: There are many dedicated people in the medical profession who yearn to be able to heal and serve people better.
Rev. Mr. Houck: One thing I've appreciated is our Methodist approach developed by John Wesley. Our belief system rests on four legs, namely, Scripture, experience, tradition, and reason. I think when people just rely on their personal view of what the Bible says, sometimes they're rejecting experiences that are valid impressions God is making in their lives. I believe we have to add our own experience and our own reasoning to what Scripture has given us. The composite can help us to determine who we are and give us a sense of the majesty of God that is not limited by human perspective.
Mather: This is really what the Bible illustrates in one respect, isn't it? It's God's truth appearing in human lives.
Rev. Mr. Houck: And God has continued to manifest Himself in recent times through people like Mary Baker Eddy and John Wesley, and other great prophets that point the way.
Mather: Thanks so much, Earl, for sharing your ideas with our readers. It's an encouraging message, and it's unifying.
