Church came under fire a decade ago as well
from KATU.com. Click here for video
Church came under fire a decade ago as well
OREGON CITY, Ore. - Mark Hass is a now a state senator, but he was the KATU reporter who broke the story 10 years ago - the story about 20 or more children that the state medical examiner said died of easily treatable illnesses, children whose parents attend the Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City and believe in faith healing.
"Ten years ago I couldn't express my feelings for what was going on out there, but I can now," Hass said. "This is child abuse. Pure and simple. There is no other way to say it."
Hass said he remembered standing in the back of the church listening to the Followers of Christ service. There was no pastor and no sermon, just a series of hymns sung by the congregation. The leader apparently died years ago. An elder in the church told Hass that the followers believe their faith in God will cure the sick.
The question now is, did 15-month-old Ava Worthington die three weeks ago because of her parents' belief in faith healing? The medical examiner said she died in her parents' home from an illness that could have been cured with common antibiotics.
In the Bible there are are many passages that talk about faith healing. In the King James Version of the New Testament it says, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" - James 5:14 - 5:15.
One church member told us this past Sunday to read The Book of Daniel and the story of how he was thrown to the lions for his beliefs, to understand why the members are not afraid to go to jail. The passage reads, "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." - Daniel 6:23.
In other words, the Followers of Christ don't care what outsiders think about their faith healing practices and are not afraid of worldly consequences.
"There were also during that period, it wasn't publicized much, four perfectly healthy mothers, pregnant, who died during childbirth from perperal sepsis, that's an infection, that doesn't even occur today," said Dr. Larry Lewman with the Oregon Medical Examiner's Office. He fought to get the faith healing law changed in 1999. "You read about it in the textbooks from 1910, the pre-antibiotic era. None of these women should have died. Three of their children died. It was all perfectly treatable and they literally suffered for days."
Even though the law was changed a decade ago to remove faith healing as a protection from prosecution, there is a provision in there that still allows a judge to give parents a lighter sentence based on their beliefs.
Clackamas County detectives and the District Attorney's Office are currently investigating the death of Ava Worthington. So far, no criminal charges have been filed.
