"Is having faith in the scientific method essential?"
Faith, to me, is something you would believe no matter what. Science is different, as it seeks evidence and undergoes constant improvement.
As someone who is into business/management, I only trust the most qualified people who know what they are into. In this case, I trust the scientists and not their opponents who claim to have knowledge from prehistoric writings.
I do not call that faith. I call that being obtuse.
In this case, I trust the scientists and not their opponents...
A good scientist does not oppose or support ideas any more then a good referee does. They are there to test them.
...who claim to have knowledge from prehistoric writings.
Sorry to be a bit of a smart-ass, but I must point out that "prehistoric writings" is an oxymoron. The writings of the Bible are part of history, not "prehistoric". In addition to super natural events, they serve as historical records: for instance Isiah tells of a man named Cyrus overthrowing several nations militarily and finally restoring the temple in Jerusalem in about 530 B.C. This is all part of history and hardly remarkable. (The fact that Isiah said exactly this about 200 years before it happened might be though).
However one does not need to have faith in the Bible to postulate that a Creator made everything. You need not be a Jew nor a Christian, nor particularly religious. It only requires an open mind--which is definitely a requirement for science.