In Memory of Dawn Vaneyk & a Ministry of Healing

                                                                          (Elizabeth) Dawn Vaneyk

                                                                October 23, 1956 to September 19, 2023

                                                 https://www.sudbury.com/obituaries/vaneyk-dawn-7599810

In Services of Healing we claim God’s promise to be with us and we experience God’s loving touch. A cure of the body may occur and other kinds of healing may take place. It is always God who heals—not the service nor the healer; not the prayers, nor the touch, nor the oil. Healing Services are a channel that God may use to bring wholeness to all.

 Compassion for the sick was an integral part of Jesus’ ministry. In the early church, ministry to the sick was considered an extension of the church’s regular Sunday worship.  According to the Letter of James, those who were sick were encouraged to ask the elders of the church to pray over them, anointing them in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry to the sick was also about more than physical healing. Explicit or implict in his every act of healing was the restoration of relationships within families, communities, with creation, and with God.

from Celebrate God's Presence -- United Church of Canada

Today there will be a memorial service at St. Peter's United Church, Sudbury, for the Rev. Dawn Van Eyk. Dawn served the congregation for 31 years until her retirement, a remarkable pastorate. 

Dawn was pastor of St. Peter's when I was at St. Andrew's and our ministries overlapped for a decade.I only learned of her cancer and death a few days ago and I was stunned. She was a collaborative person so we worked together, along with other colleagues, for marriage preparation seminars, Holy Week services, regularly discussing the lectionary for worship and more. Pastors can be territorial so this was a unique situation and Dawn was vital to its continuity. She was both creative and, well, orderly. We teased her about her day-book, which she colour-coded using highlight markers. She would get the quizzical look of "what, doesn't everyone do this?" 

Her obituary noted her involvements, passions, and accomplishments, which were many. It didn't mention another important aspect of our shared ministry. Several of us in congregational ministry, along with one of the professors at Huntington University, also a United Church minister, established regular healing services. They were held at the different churches and would involve prayers for healing and laying on of hands (sort of -- we didn't actually physically touch those who wanted this aspect of the service, yet they often felt energy and warmth) 

We were careful to introduce every service by saying that as followers of the healing Christ we wanted to provide this opportunity, but we differentiated between healing and curing, affirming the value of medical science and identifying the mystery of illness and death, even when prayers were fervent. The services were always gentle, with none of the performative drama of some supposed healers. Sometimes we used oil for anointing and Dawn would also anoint members of her congregation when she visited them in hospital

This was a meaningful ministry which attracted members from all of our congregations, and on occasion I was somewhat surprised to see who would attend from St. As. The experience led us to offer our own services as well from time to time, immediately after Sunday worship. There was an article in what was then the United Church Observer magazine about this ministry. 

Dawn died young, in my estimation, only a month from her 67th birthday. I have no doubt that she was encircled by prayer and love from many, including husband Tim and son Isaac. I imagine that she addressed her cancer with determination to get better and with grace. I am grateful for her Christian witness and pray God's solace for all who loved her and whose lives were touched by her ministry. She will be deeply missed. 

 In the introduction to the Services of Healing section of the United Church worship resource, Celebrating God's Presence there is the phrase "It may mean being able to face death with a sense of God’s grace and love." I trust that this was true for Dawn. 

The following Services of Healing are intended to complement medical sciences and the proper care of human bodies, minds, and spirits. Depending upon the circumstances, healing may involve physical cure and/or emotional well-being. It may mean having resentment lifted or the ability to see a relationship in a new light. It could take the form of a sense of joy that helps one through a difficult time. It may mean being able to face death with a sense of God’s grace and love.