Criteria:
An OSL Healing Community may be formed with a minimum of 5 OSL Members, one of whom is the Convener & another of whom is the Chaplain.
Anyone may participate in an OSL Healing Community, both OSL Members & Non-Members.
The OSL Charter outlines the mission and beliefs of the Order of St. Luke, the Physician. Handouts are available, such as The OSL Charter, a flier for the Foundational Study: The Healing Miracles of Jesus, and a trifold flier about OSL & how to sign up.
Please click here to read the PDF Charter.
Group Meetings: OSL Healing Communities meet regularly. Some groups meet weekly, while others meet monthly. The purposes of a Healing Community are to gather together for personal prayer, study, and growth, as well as to provide outreach into the community. Meetings may happen in-person, online, or may be hybrid. Groups with members who live within the same OSL Region fall under the category of that Region, regardless of whether they meet online or in-person. The OSL Online Region is for Healing Communities with groups that meet online with members who live in multiple OSL Regions. Please visit https://osltoday.org/regional-directors/ for the list of OSL Regions.
Missional: How does your group plan to be missional? How will you take the healing prayer ministry outside of just praying for each other or a prayer list within your group? OSL Healing Communities are missional, and each group is unique in the way in which they outreach. (Some examples: prayer tent at a local farmer’s market; healing prayer service offered to the public; prayer offered in prisons, at soup kitchens, or at homeless shelters)
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Get Started:
To start, an individual would gather 2 or more people around them who would be interested in starting an OSL Healing Community. This group would then take one of the online newly updated Foundational Study: The Healing Miracles of Jesus courses which are offered each month. At the end of the course, each individual will discern about OSL Membership, and together the group will discern about forming an OSL Healing Community.
For those with a gifting in teaching, there is an opportunity for OSL Members to apply to go through the Teacher Orientation. After a vetting process, these individuals are equipped to teach the Foundational Study: The Healing Miracles of Jesus locally as Authorized OSL Teachers. Offering the course locally is a great way to spread the word about the healing ministry and invite new people to join your OSL Healing Community.
Sign up to take the Foundational Study: https://osltoday.org/healing-miracles/
Info about Teacher Orientation: https://osltoday.org/teacher-orientation/
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Steps to Formation:
Within a congregation:
A new OSL Healing Community that will be established within an existing congregation should meet with the lead pastor of that congregation who will authorize who they would choose to be the Convener & Chaplain of that local OSL Healing Community.
Outside of a congregation:
For all other groups (including trans-zonal, online Healing Communities), the prospective Convener should reach out to the Convener’s Coach, and the prospective Chaplain should reach out to the Chaplain’s Coach for discussion and authorization.
A Chaplain may be an ordained minister or qualified lay minister who has applied and been approved to be an OSL Chaplain via the OSL Chaplain’s Coach vetting team. A Chaplain is an acknowledged leader of spiritual, moral, and intellectual character, whose mind and will are centered in commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior, Healer, and Divine Son of God, and who accepts the Mission, Vision, Values, Biblical Roots, “What is Christian Healing” article, and other theological aspects as set forth by the OSL Charter.
A Convener is an OSL Member who leads the OSL Healing Community, in conjunction with the Chaplain’s advice and spiritual acuity. This leadership encompasses four basic areas: hospitality, training, ministry opportunities, and organization. A Convener is a leader of spiritual, moral, and intellectual character, whose mind and will are centered in commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior, Healer, and Divine Son of God, and who accepts the Mission, Vision, Values, Biblical Roots, “What is Christian Healing” article, and other theological aspects as set forth by the OSL Charter.
Chaplains & Conveners are invited to regular Zoom meetings for OSL Chaplains & Conveners for support and resources, and they receive email update announcements about OSL.
Convener & Chaplain Coach: https://osltoday.org/leadership-directory/
Role of Convener & Chaplain: Click here for PDF (or scroll down on this webpage)
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Legal:
Each OSL Healing Community is their own entity, separate from The Order of St. Luke, the Physician. Healing Communities do not fall under the national 501(c)3 designation. Obtaining a 501(c)3 is not required, and The Order of St. Luke does not give legal advice or recommendation about obtaining one. Generally, OSL Healing Communities do not have such a designation.
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Official Registration:
After a period of group discernment and after the Convener & Chaplain have been chosen (either by the pastor’s authorization or via the Convener Coach & Chaplain Coach), please contact the office (support@osltoday.org) with the following information:
- Name of your Healing Community (will include city, state in parentheses)
- Ex: Peter’s Healing Community (Houston, TX) or “Healing Grace Healing Community (Houston, TX)
- List of group members, including the 5 OSL Members
- Who is the Chaplain and who is the Convener?
- You may also assign a “Secretary” to keep your records updated directly in the OSL database and be a point of contact for your group.
- Date/time/location of your group meetings.
The office will create the Healing Community within the OSL Database, and then send instructions so that the leadership of the group can fully update their data.
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The Role of the Chaplain in an OSL Healing Community
The role of the chaplain in an OSL healing community encompasses four basic areas: spiritual, pastoral, theological, and discipleship.
- Spiritual – The chaplain is the spiritual advisor to the healing community, especially to the convener. He or she encourages the convener in leading the community. He or she also serves as a shepherd to guide the community in spiritual matters. The chaplain comes alongside the convener as the meetings are planned and prays for the convener regularly.
- Pastoral – The chaplain provides pastoral care for the whole healing community when needed. He or she prays for each member of the group regularly and is available to provide pastoral care for them as needed.
- Theological – The chaplain provides theological guidance to the healing community. If the teachings, books studies, or discussions are expressing theologically incorrect or questionable statements or ideas, it is the role of the chaplain to gently correct or redirect the ideas to be in line with Scripture, accepted theology and doctrinal understandings.
- Discipleship – The chaplain models and encourages discipleship within the healing community.
The chaplain is to continue to seek health of mind, body and spirit as will make him or her capable of maximum vocation, and to endeavor to cultivate the God-given gifts for the work of healing: to carry out the commitments made at his or her induction; and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in every aspect of this ministry.
The Role of the Convener in an OSL Healing Community
The role of the convener in a healing community is to lead the community in conjunction with the chaplain’s advice and spiritual acuity. This leadership encompasses four basic areas: hospitality, training, ministry opportunities, and organization.
- Hospitality – The convener is responsible to convene the meeting by Zoom, email, phone, and/or in person, and to provide for the group’s opening worship. The convener welcomes new/discerning members into the group and directs them to join OSL and take advantage of the online 26 Healing Miracles Courses that are offered on a regular basis, so that they could be inducted into the Order of St. Luke as full members.
- Training – The convener, together with the chaplain (and leadership team if there is one), researches and provides for the ongoing training of the members of the healing community through study and prayer practicums. Updated study resources authorized by OSL will be provided through the conveners’ coach. The convener equips and empowers members to share their gifts by inviting them to be on a rotation to lead the study and discussion time at the meetings. The convener provides information to the healing community on conferences and retreats sponsored by OSL, and OSL partner organizations, that will further equip them in their healing ministry.
- Ministry Opportunities – The convener, together with the chaplain (and leadership team if there is one), plan healing retreats, healing days, healing services, or healing missions, if feasible. All such events should be shared with the regional director in order to avoid any possible scheduling conflicts. The convener keeps the membership advised of opportunities for ministry on the OSL Online Center for Healing Prayer.
- Organization – The convener, together with the Chaplain, (and leadership team if there is one) set the agenda for each meeting, as well as leading the group to decide how often and on what day and at what time the community will gather. The convener maintains the roster for the group and shares any changes in the group leadership or membership with their Regional Director who will send the information to the OSL office in order to update the database and website information.
Together with the chaplain, the convener is to be regularly in prayer for the community, is to be regularly in contact with the Regional Director and is encouraged to attend the meetings that are scheduled quarterly by the Conveners’ Coach for fellowship and further leadership training.