“Blessing of the Hands” — honoring nurses

Sample “Blessing” service for a church

“Blessing of the Hands”

A Service Honoring Nurses in Their Ministry of Healing
Much gratitude to the Rev. Dr. Betty Dawson, Church Health Center, Memphis, Tennessee

This model is presented as an example and may be used in whole or in part for the recognition, affirmation or commissioning of professional nurses in the congregation in celebration of Nurses Week.

This blessing would ordinarily be part of a complete Sunday Worship Service, although it may be used alone. When included in a Sunday Worship, the blessing should follow the sermon and precede the celebration of the sacrament of Communion.

Hymn:  “Called as Partners in Christ’s Service” Huber/Zundel  (or similar hymn selection, on the theme of servant-hood, healing, or ministry)

Call to the Celebration of the Blessing:  [Several Nurses may be asked to share in the Scripture readings, perhaps reading responsively.]

Reader 1:

A Reading from the Old Testament: (Micah 6:6-8)
With what shall we come before the Holy One,
And present ourselves to God on high?
God has shown us what is good.
What does the Holy One require of us?
Only that we do justice, love kindness,
And walk humbly with our God.

Reader 2:

A Reading from the Psalms: (Psalm 103)
Praise God, my soul, and from the depth of my being praise the Holy One.
Praise God, my soul, and never forget all the benefits of God’s kindness.
God forgives all our offenses, cures all our diseases. God redeems our lives …
and places a crown of faithful love upon our heads with tenderness;
God intends our years to be filled with goodness and our youthful strength to be continuously renewed so that we may soar like the eagles.

The Celebrant/Minister invites all professional Nurses present in the congregation to come forward to:

(Option A) gather at the baptismal font in preparation of the Blessing of the Hands.
(Option B) stand in front of the chancel or rail in preparation for the Anointing of the Hands with oil.

Reader 3: A Reading from the Gospel:  (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but only one God is served; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Call to Discipleship: (Celebrant/Minister, to the congregation)
When Jesus walked upon this earth, he went about preaching, teaching and healing.  Preaching proclaims the Gospel; teaching explains the Gospel; healing makes real the Gospel!

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23). And because of Christ’s presence in us, we, too, go throughout Galilee and _______ and _________ and ________ (name three cities in your state, with your location named last) to teach and to proclaim and to heal. Today we set aside this sacred time to recognize and celebrate the spiritual gift of healing through the “Blessing of Hands for Nurses.”

We are also reminded, as the Church in the world, EACH ONE OF US is called to be a part of the healing and restoration to wholeness of all God’s children. As these Nurses serve in this specialized healing profession, as our church supports and prays for them in their ministry, we join together in the fulfillment of Christ’s command, and the Church becomes a healing community.

May we join together in prayer, using the Litany of Health and Healing.

Leader: Creator, when we praise you, experiencing our connection with the source of all life, and when we praise you with glorious music,
Congregation:  we promote health and healing.

Leader:  Teacher, when we study your Word, learning more ways to show Christ’s compassion and when we pray for one another,
Congregation: we promote health and healing.

Leader: Good Sheppard, when we experience the fellowship of belonging to a community of faith, and dedicate our gifts to You,
Congregation: we promote health and healing.

Leader: Comforter, when we support and encourage health professionals in our congregation, share the journey of chronic illness with people who are ill, and share the journey of grief with others,
Congregation: we promote health and healing.

Healer for all ages, who yearns to make each of us whole, we claim and affirm the many ways in which our congregation is already a place of health and healing. We also claim and affirm the potential of our community of faith to be an even greater source of health and healing. As we bless the hands and the ministry of these Nurses — Your servants — may we capture Your vision of a healing ministry for our church — a ministry that can restore health and wholeness to both our congregation and the community we serve. In the name of Your son Jesus Christ, who came to heal us all.
Amen.

Blessing of the Hands: 

Celebrant/Minister:  We come to this time of “Blessing of the Hands” for these Nurses as we recognize and affirm their servant ministry. Please share with us your commitment to the sharing of your gifts.

Nurses’ Commitment: (spoken in unison, or one Nurse is designated to speak the commitment on behalf of all.)

We, who have chosen to serve in the healing profession of Nursing, affirm our call to ministry in the name of Jesus, the Christ.  As God’s servants we accept the spiritual gift to extend the hand of charity, use our hands to minister to all who seek relief from suffering, share the good news of God’s love lived out in deeds of kindness, and seek continually the increase in knowledge of medical science and spiritual guidance to better serve.

(Nurses position themselves at the chancel or kneel at the rail.)

Celebrant/Minister:  May you now receive the blessing upon your hands.  (Celebrant/Minister marks the sign of the cross in both palms.)

Option A: Each nurse in turn holds palms upward and receives the sign, then returns to his/her seat on the front pew.

Option B: As the Nurses kneel at the rail or stand at the chancel, holding palms upward, each receives the sign of the cross, applied with oil.

Celebrant/Minister: (speaking to each one in turn as the sign is made, call each by name if possible.)
N ____ , as your hands are blessed with the sign of service, may your life and your ministry of healing be blessed.

(After all have received the anointing, the Nurses return to their seats on the front pew.)

Charge to Nurses:

Celebrant/Minister: We have witnessed your commitment and we thank God for your acceptance of this call to the ministry of Nursing. Through the call of God’s Spirit and the blessing of the church, you have joined with the many healers throughout the world, bringing hope and compassion those who are sick, fulfilling God’s command.

Nurses:  We are grateful for God’s call.

Celebrant/Minister: We accept and honor your service as an extension of the healing ministry of this congregation, and pledge our support and prayers that your ministry may bear fruit.

Nurses: May we mutually encourage each other in the sharing of spiritual gifts so that, in all things, Christ’s church may be found faithful.

Celebrant/Minister: We pray God’s blessings on those you serve; that God, the Great Physician, will bring relief of pain and suffering, a lessening of anxiety, a restoration to wholeness and eventually bring all to eternal peace in Christ Jesus. 

Nurses: With God’s help, we commit ourselves to serving all God’s children who suffer sickness or disease.

(The giving of a token or sign is appropriate at this time.)

Celebrant/Minister (To the Congregation): We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Redeemer and Savior, in whose name we were baptized and in whose body we live.  Understanding that we each have received the gift of Spirit, do you recommit yourselves to your own unique ministries in this congregation and in this community?

Congregation: With God’s help, and in the name of the Christ, we also commit ourselves to discern the gifts that are ours, and to serve faithfully as we are led by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(If this Blessing of Hands is used in a Sunday Worship Service, proceed with Communion as usually observed.)

Benediction

Depart now in fellowship with God, the Giver of all spiritual gifts.
And as you go, remember …
that it was by the will of God that you were brought into the world,
by the grace of God that you have been kept even unto this hour
and by the love of God fully revealed in the face of Jesus, you are being redeemed and sent into the world to preach, teach and heal.  Amen.