One spring day in 1994, a layman, Dan Cobb, walked into the Pastoral Care office at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, one of the major institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He said simply, I would like to be trained as a volunteer lay chaplain so that I can give back for all that has been given me.

His was a prophetic voice, a timely call to begin a "new thing." The Director of Pastoral Care, The Rev. Jim Alcorn, assigned the task of establishing such a program to The Rev. Dr. Helen W. Appelberg. Blessed by God's grace and wisdom, a spiritual community took root in the form of the Community of Hope.

A school for spiritual formation and pastoral care training has now evolved with training centers in churches and institutions across the 57 counties of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas - as well as in other Episcopal Dioceses in this country and beyond.