Anglican Roots and the Flowering of Christianity in Western Pennsylvania
1758-2008 Episcopal Diocese Of Pittsburgh
Passion for Healing
During the nineteenth century, Episcopalians contributed to the well-being of the community through the erection of St. Margaret's Memorial Hospital. After the Second World War there was a renewed emphasis on healing prayer.
By the mid-1950s, almost half the parishes in the Diocese had regular healing services and Pittsburgh had one of only two diocesan healing commissions in the United States. One of the most innovative parish programs of the decade was the pre-school for retarded children launched by St. Peter's, Brentwood in 1959, which offered a program that blended a family-centered ministry with traditional social work and healing prayer. A commitment to corporate healing came in the 1960s, when St. Stephen's, Sewickley, launched a mission in the Hill district to assist the African American community, an effort supplemented by diocesan support for the Homewood Supermarket, a local black-owned business established after independent grocery stores withdrew from this predominantly African American area.
A more recent Episcopal contribution to healing is that of Verland -- a home for the mentally retarded -- founded by Nancy Chalfant and her husband Henry, as a consequence of their experience of raising a handicapped daughter and sharing in the life of a healing prayer group.
