Exorcism Ministries

An exorcism ministry, also referred to as a biblical deliverance ministry, is a ministry established to free the faithful from the bondage of Satan through various exorcism rituals.

Christian followers of exorcism ministries believe that many of the physical, mental, and emotional ailments that affect human beings are the result of Satan at work and demonic possession. Christian followers therefore believe that problems such as alcoholism, depression, multiple personality disorder, anorexia, and many others can be cured through a ritual exorcism.

The Real Deliverance Ministries is an exorcism ministry based in Florida that describes its purpose as to free God's people from the power of the devil and to give God's people the power to fight the devil.

Many Christian exorcism ministries, although not officially sanctioned by any major church, generally operate under the belief that they are granted their authority to cast out demons directly from God. There is no central exorcism ministry which means that practices and exact beliefs will often differ between ministries. Some ministries take a more extreme view of exorcisms and demonic possession by claiming that things as simple as bad habits are the result of demonic possession.

Most exorcism ministries tend to prescribe to the belief that exorcisms are meant to augment physical treatment, not replace it.

The methods used by these modern day exorcists can also vary from ministry to ministry. Some groups perform very loud and physically active exorcism rituals while other rituals are more quiet and personal practices.

One man, Bob Larson, has made a living out of being dubbed "The Real Exorcist" by followers around the world. His exorcism ministry, The Spiritual Freedom Church, not only conducts exorcisms and informational seminars, but also trains new exorcists on the art of freeing God's followers from Satan's grasp. While Larson's ministry is not the only ministry that claims to instruct new exorcists on the casting out of demons, it is one ministry that has gained a substantial amount of fame from doing it, including a reality television mini-series and a potential reality show deal for Mr. Larson.

The idea of exorcising demons came under fire in 2009 when a Connecticut based ministry attempted to exorcise homosexuality from a teenage boy. The exorcism was recorded, posted on video sharing sites, and spread across the Internet. At various points throughout the video the teenage boy is seen thrashing around on the floor and at one point is seen vomiting. It is unknown whether or not the ritual actually worked, but child protection investigators were notified of the ritual to determine whether or not any wrong doing had occurred.