Foot washing: view from a shelter

Two blisters popped as Richard's feet slid into a pan of tepid water. "Nurse, my name isn't really Kennedy. My family is ashamed of me, and I can't go home. I escaped from a mental hospital and walked here to Washington." Richard stayed coherent as long as his feet soaked.

A pair of men, both named Tyrone one Black, one White each with his enormous body squeezed into an arm chair, each with fungus-cracked feet floating in a bucket of bleach water, spewed violent racial epithets across the cramped room. Moments later they laughed while sharing street survival strategies.

Another set of blistered feet, connected to a cowering 20-year-old, splashed into a pail of warm water. Their owner whispered, "George Bush isn't really my uncle. But I did see the White House."

I spent most of 1992 teaching and practicing community health nursing at the infirmary of a large homeless shelter in Washington, D.C.¹ Most of my patients were addicted to drugs or alcohol or both, some were mentally ill, some were violent, and some had infections like AIDS or tuberculosis. None were safe to live with when they arrived at the shelter. Most had relatives nearby, but couldn't go home even when seriously ill or injured.

Every time I washed a patient's feet, the responses showed temporary positive mental health effects. No matter how deluded the patients ordinarily were (aberrations included claiming to be a member of a president's family or Jesus Christ or a popular musician), while their feet were cared for in warm water, they were coherent. No matter how violent they were physically or verbally, they visibly relaxed while their feet were washed. I started foot care on a patient's arrival at the shelter infirmary, simultaneously asking admission questions name, address, and medical history to get more accurate information. And I wondered why washing feet made such a difference.

A Catholic priest and two nuns who worked in a different part of the shelter reported the same effects. A psychiatric nurse clinician attributed the effects to the huge need of homeless people for nurturing. A visiting medical team from a nearby state suggested supernatural causes for the tranquilizing mental effects of foot washing they saw demonstrated. And I wondered what happened physically and psychosocially to people whose feet were washed by the hands of others.

Hydrotherapy, ² a text by Finnerty and Corbitt, calls foot washing a neutral temperature partial immersion bath with ablution. "Neutral" refers to water temperature between cool and warm (65-98 degrees F, 18.3-37.0 degrees C). Neutral baths have a sedative effect. Partial immersion bath identifies foot washing as bathing only the feet, which comprise about 10 percent of the total body surface. Partial immersion baths affect not only the part of the body underwater, but also the whole body, depending on the temperature of the water. Ablution is washing the body by hand, rather than soaking or spraying. Ablution mildly stimulates nerve endings in the skin and deepens breathing. Because neutral temperature partial immersion baths with ablution are used either to treat local skin conditions (such as dirt, blisters, cuts, scrapes, or infections) or for their sedative effect (especially for exhausted people who cannot sleep or people whose mental illnesses interfere with rest), I wondered why Jesus washed His disciples' feet while eating the Last Supper with them.

Biblical roots of foot washing

Bible references to foot washing be fore Jesus washed His disciples' feet spoke of providing guests with water to wash their own feet, an act of hospitality, just as a host or hostess today invites guests to "freshen up." ³ There must have been some unusual circumstances in connection with the Last Supper to require Jesus to wash the feet of His disciples.

Luke 22 describes the Last Supper before Jesus washed feet to settle a dispute among the disciples, each of whom wanted to be the greatest, evidently an ongoing argument (see Luke 9:46; Mark 9:34). Perhaps this dispute differed only in degree from the claims of my home less patients to be the "nephew of George Bush", or "one of 200 clone children of John F. Kennedy"; or in verbal or physical violence only in degree from the abuse my homeless patients rained on each other. But in the midst of the turmoil accompanying 12 adults vying for greatness, Jesus got their attention. He washed their feet. Jesus used neutral temperature partial immersion baths with ablution to both relax and mildly stimulate His disciples and deepen their breathing. Jesus washed His disciples' feet to refocus their attention from themselves to His important messages to them and us. And I wondered why Jesus asked us to follow His example of washing one another's feet.

Some churches still wash feet

Many Christian groups follow the example of Jesus by observing a rite of foot washing. Roman Catholics emphasize the humility aspect of foot washing, as clergy wash the feet of poor laypersons on Maundy Thursday.⁴ John A. Hardon⁵ lists some Protestant organizations in America that observe foot washing: Seventh-day Adventists, Free-Will Baptists, Church of the Brethren, United Baptists, Mennonites, Apostolic Faith, Church of God, and Church of God in Christ. I contacted representative churches of these organizations in the Washington, D.C., area to discover how, why, and how often each practices foot washing.

The Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church practices foot washing quarterly, just preceding the Lord's Supper. Men wash the feet of men, women wash the feet of women, or families wash one another's feet. Feet are washed to provide a setting for the confession and repentance of sin "including pride, rivalry, jealousy, resentful feelings, and selfishness" ⁶ so that the church can "come together" (see 1 Cor. II) 7 in a joyful spirit to celebrate the Lord's Sup per.

The Bloss Memorial Free-Will Baptist Church practices foot washing quarterly in connection with the Lord's Sup per. The frequency of foot washing is chosen by the pastor for the needs of the church. Feet are washed to follow the humble example of Jesus in being a servant of servants.

The Washington Brethren Church practices foot washing twice a year, once on Maundy Thursday and once in October. Feet are washed to recall Christ's example of humility and to facilitate the "coming together" (1 Cor. 11) needed for proper observance of the Lord's Supper, giving no regard to rank, wealth, or social class. Foot washing is the third of the three parts of Communion: bread, wine, and water.

The Upper Room Baptist Church practices foot washing spontaneously as the Spirit moves, according to the needs of the congregation.

The Washington Community Fellowship with the Mennonite Church practices foot washing once a year as part of the Maundy Thursday service.

The Fisherman of Men Church of our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc., practices foot washing once a year at the New Year's Eve watch night service. Feet are washed to symbolize the cleansing forgiveness of God so that church members may have a "clean start" for the new year.

The National Church of God formerly practiced foot washing on New Year's Eve. Now feet are washed on an ad lib basis, according to the needs of the congregation.

The Holy Commandment Church of God, Seventh Day, practices foot washing every Passover, once a year, as Jesus commanded.

The Refreshing Spring Church of God in Christ practices foot washing every first Sunday, except in winter for health reasons, in conjunction with the Lord's Supper.

Each of these churches practices foot washing with the Lord's Supper observance, some more frequently or regularly than others. But foot washing may be useful as a tool for pastors in other settings, too. Foot washing may help relax and refocus partners in a warring marriage, or in a dispute between church members, or in cross-generational or cross-cultural conflicts. Foot washing, especially when carefully planned, may grab the attention of spiritually starved congregants long enough for you, their pastor, to point out evidences of God's love for them.