Our Purpose
Explore our community and services.
Acorn Christian Healing is dedicated to providing comprehensive resources and training focused on Christian healing, nurturing faith, and supporting individuals on their spiritual journeys.
Our Charity
Acorn Christian Healing Foundation is engaged in sharing the healing presence of Christ.
Acorn retains the vision of its founder, Bishop Morris Maddocks, in working and praying for health and wholeness in the Church, and in God’s world, through
-
Healing,
-
Listening, and
-
Reconciliation.
Working in the UK and overseas, Acorn provides people, regardless of their circumstances, background or life choices, with the opportunity to experience the "shalom" that is at the heart of the Christian message.
Acorn is directed by a Board of Trustees who all actively seek the healing heart of God. We are privileged to have a Trustee board with a depth of experience in healing and wholeness that contribute to Acorn’s ministry.
The day to day operations of Acorn happen through a small staff team and a fantastic group of volunteers across the UK (and world!).
What is our Mission?
Jesus commissions his disciples to “heal the sick”. In Mathew 10 - 8, He sets this out as a mission statement for us to follow. This is our mandate, with our vision being “healing and wholeness for all”. Bishop Morris Maddocks takes up the mantle in the establishment of a movement dedicated to healings. From this, Acorn has emerged and is now a network of established Healing Hubs, which provide safe havens for all and any to come and receive healing prayer and experience the "shalom" that is at the heart of the Christian message. Acorn stands as a network which augments and stands alongside established Christian churches and organisations specifically for healing prayer. In this way, Acorn provides a degree of Christian discipleship in its delivery of healing.
Meet Our Team
Gordon Sykes-Little
Chair of Trustees & Gosport Healing Hub Team
I’m a veteran with over 42 years sea service which includes senior staff posts and several live campaigns under my belt. I’ve had practical experience ashore in hurricane relief operations and represented the MoD logistically for the Haiti earthquake relief effort. Now retired from the sea, I deliver specialist navigational training to the RN and provide assessments for navigating and command qualifications. I’ve been with Acorn for 2 years in the Gosport Hub and feel privileged to provide my strategic leaning to support our endeavours as a Trustee. Contact Gordon at chair@acornchristian.org
Rev Andy Heber
Safeguarding Trustee
My name is Andy Heber and I am currently a Parish priest in Carnmoney, Northern Ireland having previously spent 23 years in Liverpool first as a social worker and later a vicar. I have been involved with Acorn since 1989 when I went on a Listening course and was bowled over by the material. After training as a tutor I used the Acorn material extensively in my work as a church social worker and was instrumental in setting up Listening Ear Merseyside which has now morphed into a huge listening and counselling organisation. I have been a trustee of Acorn since 2008 and was originally the “young trustee” but sadly not any more! I am currently the safeguarding lead for the organisation and also the coordinator of the Northern Ireland Healing Hub.
Jessica Johnson
Trustee
The Acorn Christian Healing Foundation (previously Trust) has impacted on my spiritual journey since the 1980s. Initially, with a St Matthew's Surbiton church group, we were inspired through the Listening and Healing training and warm, welcoming services at Whitehill Chase, Bordon. I'm currently involved, with our Pastoral Team, in providing Healing Prayer opportunities within our community. As a new Trustee, I come with Primary School governance and Parochial Church Council (PCC) strategic experience. I also hope to draw on my portfolio career across child health and wellbeing, education and research - including as a college / university lecturer, and restorative justice / mediation. All of the above has been embedded in an active, blessed family life, facing bereavement and now active granny rotas!
Meet Our Staff
The Rev. Canon Kris Kramer
Director of Ministry
Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina in the USA, Fr Kris was ordained in the Diocese of London after training at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. His wife Caroline (Team Rector of St Matthews Surbiton) and their two dogs and two cats recently returned to England after a second stint of ministry in the USA. When asked about this opportunity Reverend Kramer said, “Acorn truly offers something that the world is hungry for at the moment. I am so excited to be a part of a healing ministry with such an incredible legacy of reaching out to a hurting world with God’s amazing healing love! Acorn really is an answer to a prayer for me.” Reverend Kramer has four grown children and when he is not working he enjoys watching birds, watering flowers, riding rollercoasters, watching Rugby, hitting golf balls, playing music, and traveling.
Lisa Way
Director of Operations
Hi, I'm Lisa! The operations of Acorn excite me; to be a part of vision planning, strategic development, and delivery of our resources that produce fruit is rewarding and humbling. Being a part of Acorn is about putting the healing ministry of Jesus in the hands of ordinary Disciples and for healing to be accessible to all. I am a fully qualified Youth Worker with 10 years of experience in different contexts, including the USA and Asia. In my spare time you can find me swimming, enjoying a game of disc golf, cooking, and being with my husband.
Volunteer
We are grateful for a multitude of volunteers who make Acorn an active presence within local communities.
Based across the UK and the world, our volunteers come from different Christian denominations, experiences, and cultures; all of this enriches the ministry that we can offer those in need of healing. All our volunteers complete ministry training at the Acorn Christian Healing Academy and Listening Academy, meaning that they are competent and compassionate in their practice. As well as this, they receive ongoing supervision and support from Acorn Leadership. Our team of volunteers offer prayer ministry and a listening ear at local Acorn Christian Healing Hubs, which are started and run by (yes you know it!).. Acorn volunteers.
Here are what some of our volunteers say about being part of a Healing Hub:
Please feel free to contact us for more information on becoming a volunteer.
“It’s a joy to be part of an organisation where learning and praxis are equally valued. Acorn’s balance of being rooted in scripture, empowered by the Holy Spirit, grounded in learning, and informed by practice for me offers the safest and most holistic approach to healing that I’ve come across. I find it a privilege to be able to meet people at their point of need and extend God’s loving care to them, while continuing to learn and explore these important topics together as a Healing Hub.”
“I belong to the healing hub because God graciously visited me in 1979 with inner healing I didn't know I needed and then put me in the way of Acorn where I have received such amazing teaching and ministry. This and the encouragement and support of Healing Hub members enables me to serve the Lord in the healing ministry.”
“The teaching, the support, the inspiration are all amazing and the opportunities to touch other peoples' lives is so fulfilling and exciting as we see/feel the Lord 's presence ministering to the people we pray for. What a privilege!”
“I am part of my local Healing Hub because Acorn gives me the support and training I need to meet the great need for healing there is in this area.”
Our Values
God
We believe that love is the essence of God’s being and that blessing is his default position. God’s first response to the creation of humanity was to bless them. We are to be a ministry of blessing and generosity.
We believe that compassion is the hallmark of the ministry of Jesus. Knowing the Father’s deep love for the world, Jesus is drawn to act, speak, feed, heal and teach and ultimately give his life for the world. We are to serve sacrificially on behalf of Christ.
We believe that God’s word, and words, are true, bringing light and life to the whole person. We, therefore, speak the truth with one another with grace and compassion. We can only speak truth that heals when we do so in love.
Humanity
Every person is unique and made in the image of God. We will identify and enhance the image and work of God in every person. We will not try and make anyone into a copy of ourselves.
Every person has worth derived from the value placed upon them by God, and demonstrated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will regard every person, regardless of the situation they find themselves in or the background from which they come, as of immense value to God and therefore to us.
Every person is created with the need to experience God’s ‘life encompassing’ shalom. We will live as a channel of God’s healing grace to all we encounter.
Ministry
Wholeness is healing from God that touches every part of his creation and, therefore, our lives. We will serve the whole person, but we will not assume the place of God in another person’s life or journey.
Every person is the focus of God’s grace, which forms the manner in which he interacts with humanity. We will treat every person with dignity and respect.
Transformation is possible for everyone. We live as people of hope because of the resurrection; therefore, we believe that anything can change.
Community
Relationship - reflects the reality that exists between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We will maintain transparent and emotionally healthy relationships.
Responsibility - we all share in the responsibility for the quality of our own life. We will not transfer on to others issues that we need to deal with ourselves.
Redemptive – failure does not exclude us from relationship or community. We accept that God offers everyone the gift of beginning again.