Gross, Don Hargrave (1923-)

American clergyman with special interests in paranormal healing, on which he wrote extensively. Gross was born on February 16, 1923, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh (B.S. in physics, 1944).

He finished college just as World War II began and he joined the United States Naval Reserve as a technical radar officer (1944-46). He completed his seminary training at the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1949. He served several parishes before returning to school to earn a master's degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (1959). From 1959 to 1960 he was assistant rector at Emmanuel Church, Boston, Massachusetts, the famous church from which the healing movement in the Episcopal Church originated. In 1960 he became the associate rector at Christ Church, Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Through the 1950s Gross wrote one book, The Case for Spiritual Healing (1958), and a variety of articles on healing. He contributed to the symposium "Spiritual Healing" in the spring 1956 issue of Religion in Life and wrote the section "Questions and Answers on the Healing Ministry" for The Churches' Handbook for Spiritual Healing (1957). He had a special interest in Kathryn Kuhlman, a healer from his hometown. He was a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and a charter associate of the Parapsychological Association.

Sources:

Gross, Don H. The Case for Spiritual Healing. New York: T. Nelson, 1958.

——. "Kathryn Kuhlman: Another Point of View." The Pittsburgher (October-December 1954).

——. "Prayer That Heals." Religion in Life (Spring 1955).

——. "Spiritual Healing and the Archbishop's Commission." International Journal of Parapsychology (Autumn 1959).