The Religious Mission of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium

Dr. Henry Foster was on his way to a prosperous medical career with three job offers that any physician would strive for. However he says "One night, about 2 o'clock in the morning the heavens opened up, and the glory of God descended upon me, filling the room, and filling my whole being. When I came to myself, I was a changed man, with other principles, ambitions and aspirations in my heart. My soul asked, "Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?" Dr. Foster conceived the idea of a whole committal to God of body, soul and spirit. He felt a strong calling from God to open a new sanitarium where God would be foremost at the center.

Dr. Foster believed in the power of prayer and said "You might as well try to cure disease by prayer without treatment, as to try to cure it by treatment without prayer". He believed that prayer was a force by which God administers health to poor mortals. His plan was to heal the whole body, both the spirit and the physical. He believed that the healing process began with a proper religious mental attitude.

It Is not by accident that the Chapel was built into and not added on to the Sanitarium. It was considered the center, or heart of the Sanitarium.

It was built on the main floor next to the carnage entrance and directly accessible from the dining-room, parlors and library. It was not to be a retreat, free from possible disturbance, but central to everything. This is illustrative how central, to all the plans and workings of this house, is the religion of Christ. This is a religious institution: not in the general sense that religion is respected and honored, but in the special sense that it was founded in prayer; and apart from the deep and constant religiousness of its spirit it has no errand.