Evangelical group that claims to resurrect the dead hunts for more corpses

A Washington-based evangelical ministry is seeking corpses to pray over to test their ability to raise the dead.

Dead Raising Team is the subject of a new documentary, Deadraisers, that chronicles their efforts to follow the admonition in Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

Founder Tyler Johnson claims his ministry has successfully resurrected 11 dead people, although he’s unwilling to provide case studies.

But one example of resurrection his followers cite is less than convincing, such as the case of a heart surgeon they claim brought a heart attack patient back to life with prayer – and a defibrillator.

Johnson himself became convinced in the power of prayer after intense religious reflection after his father died in his arms of a heart attack.

“Tyler’s hatred for death is not just theological, but closely linked to his own experience,” says his group’s website.

He claims to have learned to raise the dead at Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry, and his group’s members were invited to become volunteers for the Mason County (Wash.) Department of Emergency Management.

This allowed Dead Raising Team members to go behind police lines during emergencies and pray over victims, although they needed permission from unit commanders to do so.

"Our mandate is to protect life, property and environment," said Marty Best, former emergency management director. "If a person is raised by a defibrillator and adrenaline or by prayer they still return to their loved ones."

But the ministry is still soliciting grieving families for corpses to pray over, offering its support and service and promising “the utmost sensitivity.”

“Our team travels to the funeral home, morgue, or family’s home where the deceased is being kept,” the ministry’s website says. “Upon arrival, we spend time in prayer with the family, as well as the deceased. We will stay as long as we are needed.”

Watch the "Deadraiser" trailer posted online by Mountain Light Cinema: