Love In Action: The Healing Heritage Of The Counseling Ministry Of The Church
     Healing ministries are not for the faint hearted. When completing my doctorate in Clinical Psychology and also working as a clinical counselor and chaplain, I was assigned to the locked ward for the criminally insane at a large Massachusetts State Hospital. I was surprised the patients seemed to know I was coming to the ward before I did. When I heard their screams and cursing threats as I walked nervously down the long hallway leading to the locked doors of the psych ward, an absolute realization dawned that I wouldneverbe adequate for this kind of ministry. The guard dangled the massive keys on his long chain as fear and trepidation started to choke my fading voice. As the burly guard slowly unlocked the massive steel doors, I shrank back as the inmates rushed out of  rooms to greet me with joy while many mysteriously knew my name and repeated "We have been waiting for you!" Puzzled, I realized their spirits recognized not me, but the Christ spirit around my healing mission. I suddenly understood I had not been called to do this ministry alone. In spite of my fear about ministering to the violent, insane, catatonic, schizophrenics, psychotics, and murderers, it evolved that communion and worship services shared on that locked Psych Ward were the most powerful I have ever experienced. It is transforming to worship with over a hundred criminally insane patients in a locked hospital ward and share their joy and the powerful Christ presence of the Holy Spirit! I am eternally grateful to them as they showed me irrevocably, in fear filled moments, that Jesus did indeed call and empower us to heal the sick and "cast out demons" thru the power of his presence!     Consequently, a quest began to understand and access the power of the historic Healing Heritage of the Counseling Ministry of the Church "in context". It became apparent in the decades long journey of researching and composing this book that this massive undertaking, academically and experientially, can only begin with respect for one's own history and involvement with healing ministries."Love In Action" has been not only a work of love but an act of faith that the purpose of the decades of enormous amounts of experience, research, writing, revision, and study was worth the effort.     The initial writing of the core of this book not only formed the focus of my own ministry but that of many others with the continuing discovery that our healing purpose as Christians has not changed since Jesus began his ministry by publicly reading from the first part of the scroll of Isaiah:"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach Good Tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,"(Is.61:1-2) It is undeniable that Christ's mission of healing stands at the center of this beautiful passage. Consequently, one of the goals of this book has been to ascertain exactly whatisthe Biblical and historical "Healing Heritage" of the Ministry of the Church"? How can we still fulfill our healing mission and provide for the "cure and care of soul and body" in a secular age?While some parts of this work were initially written as part of clinical study involved in my Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, it has stood well the test of time.In the interim, parts of the current book were used to train over a hundred counselors, ministers, and students over two decades who were part of demandinggraduate programs for licensure in pastoral, secular, or Christian areas of counseling and ministry. I have received numerous requests from professors, students, pastors, parishioners, lay people, and counselees to publish this book for the benefit of the larger society, church, and community. I have finally done so in order to offer a comprehensive integrated resource to those brave soulsstruggling on the front lines of overwhelming challenges of bringing healing today that is truly Christian in the difficult times we live in. This new book is being published in an expansiveform with index, extensive bibiography, and sections dealing with vitalcritical contemporary issues containing practical information and important resources.     My prayer is that those who read "Love In Action" are strengthened, enabled, and empowered to heal with boldness and wisdom in a time and culture that desperately needs a new comprehensive, compassionate understanding of healing that is not onlyChristian but effective and liberating .   Rev. Dr. Mary B Johnson