I am starting a series on the five senses and how they play a part in church worship services. We are starting with touch, something we haven't experienced for awhile in our "virtual" world. Hand shakes and hugs have been replaced by waving hands, but the hand still has a power to bless and to heal even when touch is absent. When going through a health crisis, Plymouth's Senior Pastor, Kelle Brown, led a laying on of hands for me during one of our weekly staff meetings. It was immensely comforting.
The laying on of hands was an action referred to on numerous occasions in the Hebrew Bible to accompany the conferring of a blessing or authority. In the New Testament the laying on of hands was associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 8:14–19). Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles spent much of their time healing the sick by the laying on of hands and saying prayers over the afflicted.
The New Testament also associates the laying on of hands with the conferral of authority or designation of a person to a position of responsibility. The use of the laying on of hands for the ordination of church officers continues in many UCC Churches. I have found it to be one of the most powerful parts of the ordination ceremony.
There is also snake handling which hasn't become a big thing in most churches and, tragically, inappropriate touch, a topic I wrote about some time ago.
Finally, at the end of the worship service, the pastor raises a hand and gives the benediction, a short invocation for divine help, blessing, and guidance.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
More about hands and touch:
O clap your hands : a musical tour of sacred choral works / Giles, Gordon, 264.23 GIL
With open hands. Nouwen, Henri J. M. 248.3 NOU