Christocentric Healing and Deliverance Ministry: Practice in Lagos Mainland Anglican Diocese

Healing and deliverance are present in virtually all religions in the world, and they have been some of the most contested in scriptures based on divergent perceptions in practice. Extant scholars have focused on various aspects of Christocentrism, but with scant attention paid to the practice approach and challenges in the Anglican Church. This laxity has created some sort of unbalanced perception as to the Christocentric practice in the various dioceses in Nigeria. Thus, this paper examined the Christocentric healing and deliverance ministry practice in the Lagos Mainland Anglican Diocese to ascertain the concept of Christocentric healing and deliverance, ascertain the practical approaches to healing and deliverance in the Anglican Diocese of Lagos and the challenges involved in Christocentric healing and deliverance. An in-depth Interview (IDI) was deployed as the methodological framework with a focus on priests in the Diocese and church members. The study found that Christocentrism is a dominant approach deployed in the Mainland Diocese of the Anglican Church of Lagos for healing and deliverance. Furthermore, it was revealed that the Diocese used a multifaceted approach which focuses on faith, teachings, prayers, fasting, laying of hands and professional counselling. However, scepticism, individual understanding and exploitation are some of the challenges experienced in the diocese. But these factors have not deterred the church from continuing and emphasising a Christocentric approach to healing and deliverance. Thus, it is recommended that Christian churches should focus on the Christocentric paradigm, which can erase doubts and misleading information as to the genuine essence of the concept.