His Church or His Child? A Sixth-Generation Member of a Faith-Healing Sect Had to Choose.

Photo illustration: Mauricio Rodríguez Pons/ProPublica. Source images: Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian, courtesy of the Phillips family. What if you had to pick between your deeply held faith and the life of your child? That’s the gutting choice that faced Marshall Phillips, an Oregon dad who was born into the Followers of Christ, a sect whose creed bars medical treatment. When his 11-year-old son was stricken with a dire health crisis, Phillips became caught between his faith, his family and the state of Oregon, which had begun cracking down on faith-healing parents who don’t seek medical help for their minor children.