The shocking ailments prayer offered as a solution by Geelong church

In the Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), members were banned from seeking medical treatment because of their faith. 

Leaders of the GRC preached that medical issues, even disabilities and diseases, can be healed by spirituality and faith – by praying harder. 

Celeste Williams, an ex-member of the GRC, explained that Pastor Noel Hollins, the former leader of the GRC, didn’t believe in conventional healthcare.

You can hear about the experiences of Celeste and other former members of the Geelong Revival Centre in the new LiSTNR podcast, Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder:

“Doctors and psychiatrists are evil in his eyes,” she said. 

“[Noel thought] how can I be walking in the spirit with an altered frame of mind?” 

Celeste used anti-anxiety pills prescribed by a medical practitioner for almost a decade. But when GRC leaders found out, she was immediately ordered to go without them.

“The physical illness of coming off those drugs cold turkey was horrendous,” she said. 

“It was like I had the flu, spewing, all sorts of disgusting stuff was going on. And I think by day four or five in bed, I just couldn’t handle it any longer.”

Pastor Noel banned Celeste from church activities after being caught with medication for drinking and smoking. But just because she couldn’t attend church didn’t mean she was out of Noel’s reach.

Celeste also shared the story of her son, who has autism, on Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder. The church believed Celeste’s son had a “spiritual problem” that could be solved by corporal punishment.

Celeste secretly went back on her anti-anxiety pills and hid them from church members. She disguised her recovery as healing from her faith.

“I just got up and pretended that I was okay, that the Lord had healed me. I had a shower, and I was like, I’m fine. The Lord’s healed me, you know, fantastic.” 

The interviews in this series were recorded during Pastor Noel Hollins’ leadership of the Geelong Revival Centre. During production, Pastor Hollins died. The experiences and allegations raised do not relate to the current leadership of the GRC.