The Church of England says it is seeing a modest rise in people asking clergy for “deliverance” - a long-established strand of pastoral ministry that addresses fears about evil influences, spiritual oppression, or unsettling experiences in homes and workplaces.
In interviews reported by The Times, Dr Anne Richards, a national adviser connected with the Church’s deliverance work, described the range of enquiries as broad - from bereavement-related fears and general unease to people worried they have opened a door through occult dabbling such as using a Ouija board.
She says requests rose after Covid-era isolation, when more people were at home and anxieties intensified. Sometimes unusual noises in older properties turned out to have ordinary causes.
Church guidance frames deliverance ministry as a cautious, accountable process under the bishops’ pastoral guidance and safeguarding codes of practice rather than a stand-alone ritual.
CofE guidance states that diocesan deliverance teams should consult and work alongside relevant professionals - including medical practitioners, psychologists and psychiatrists - and operate within safeguarding expectations.
Church advisers say most requests involve reassurance and prayer rather than dramatic exorcism, with senior Church of England figures interviewed by The Times describing formal exorcisms as “vanishingly rare”.
The Rt Rev Dominic Walker, a retired bishop, told the newspaper he performed only six exorcisms over decades, adding that most cases involved psychological or psychiatric needs where counselling and clinical care were more appropriate - sometimes alongside gentle prayer and ongoing pastoral support.
Public fascination often turns on the question of possession, but clergy involved in deliverance ministry say their starting point is not certainty, but discernment.
A frequently cited figure in wider discussion is Richard Gallagher, a psychiatrist who has said that, after excluding psychiatric causes, a small number of cases he encountered were best explained as diabolical or paranormal.
His book Demonic Foes has helped keep the subject in public view, particularly within Catholic exorcism networks such as the International Association of Exorcists.
Within Anglican practice, advisers say no single sign is treated as decisive. However, some clergy point to a small group of features described in biblical and pastoral accounts which, taken together and only after medical and psychological explanations are ruled out, may prompt consideration of formal deliverance.
These include a marked attraction to Christian prayer or holy places combined with an apparent inability to engage with them; speech or behaviour that appears markedly unlike the person’s usual manner; episodes of unusual physical agitation or strength; and, in some cases, persistent threats of self-harm.
Practitioners stress that most mental distress and self-harm have no spiritual cause, rather they require clinical care.
One Anglican priest, Jason Bray, interviewed by The Telegraph traced his involvement in deliverance ministry to an unsettling experience early in his ordained life, when he and his wife lived in a parish house that appeared to change atmosphere dramatically after prayer and blessing.
Bray, who later undertook formal diocesan training, described unexplained sensations of cold and a persistent feeling of hostility in one room of the house, alongside a vivid impression of a presence that left him visibly shaken.
He described to The Telegraph: “I got a clear mental picture of what it looked like: it was a man, about my height, wearing a mask, with piercing grey eyes, staring at me with unbridled hostility.”
After a senior cleric prayed and blessed the property, he said the atmosphere “completely changed”, a shift later remarked upon by visitors unaware of what had taken place.
Asked how the family was settling into the house — which by then felt entirely normal — a local warden remarked, without prompting, that its construction had disturbed a Roman burial ground.
Bray said the experience convinced him that some situations could not be dismissed out of hand — and that calm prayer could play a role in restoring peace.
He also cited examples to The Telegraph ranging from a house in York where occupants reported seeing Roman soldiers moving through rooms, to a family who described a motionless figure repeatedly appearing at the foot of a staircase.
In other cases, he said, the experiences were more intrusive, including reports of a deceased relative suddenly appearing at close range, leaving those affected distressed and frightened.
The way to address such encounters, Anglican deliverance ministers say, is a combination of calm prayer, shared discernment, safeguarding oversight, and due consideration of medical or psychiatric explanations.
Bray told The Telegraph: “That’s the nature of this job: you can’t verify anything.
“I’m not in the business of trying to explain the unexplainable, but I have seen enough to be open to the idea that places really can be haunted. My job is to pray, and always to reassure people.
“There is a lot of evil in our world, but I fully believe that good will triumph eventually.”
