What Does Healing Look Like for St. Luke’s? by Sarah Cain

In Christianity for the Rest of Us, Diana Butler Bass talks about healing as “entering shalom.” Shalom is often translated as peace, but it means something deeper—wholeness, well-being, reconciliation, and being in right relationship with God and with one another. Healing, then, is about more than physical healing. It is also about caring for one another, repairing what may be broken, and creating a community where people can experience God’s grace, peace, and a sense of belonging.

As I read this chapter, I thought about the many ways St. Luke’s already makes space for healing—through our healing team, our prayer labyrinth, our worship and prayer, and our outreach to people in need. We have also lived through a time when the need for healing has been very real: the isolation and losses of COVID, the devastation of Hurricane Helene, and changes in leadership within our own church. Now, as we continue our discernment and prepare to call a new priest, Bass’s idea of shalom gives us something important to consider.

What does wholeness look like for St. Luke’s now? Where might healing or reconciliation still be needed? And as we move through this time of discernment together, how can we make healing part of that process?