Faith in healing: A Chicago physician is as at home in the pulpit as he is in the exam room

Horace E. Smith, MD, is a man of many coats, serving as both a pediatric hematologist and oncologist and a Pentecostal bishop.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Dec. 27, 2004.

No pulpit seems big enough to contain the enthusiasm of Horace E. Smith, MD. Dressed in a long, flowing purple robe, the bishop starts preaching behind a lectern in the sanctuary of Apostolic Faith Church on Chicago's South Side. Today's lesson is from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 11. It's about facing life's problems and how God gives rest and peace to his people.

"Trouble does not need an invitation to come to your house," Dr. Smith tells his congregation. "You can feel great right now and tomorrow be in the intensive care unit."

At times, he turns to the red-robed choir seated behind him to emphasize a point. He proclaims "hallelujah" at others, pausing occasionally to dab the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief.

He paces back and forth, walks down the stairs of the pulpit and strolls before the front row of worshipers, punctuating his remarks with "Can I preach?" and holding his hand to one ear to encourage a response. The worshipers offer back "amens" throughout the sermon.

As he preaches, his voice rises and dips like a rollercoaster, and he reminds the faithful that God is in control.

This is how Dr. Smith spends Sunday mornings. Monday, he returns to work as a pediatric hematologist and oncologist and director of the comprehensive sickle cell/thalassemia program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Some people believe that God and science don't mix, that faith and medicine are worlds apart. Not Dr. Smith. He moves effortlessly between his roles as physician and pastor, whether he's speaking to parents about their ill child in an exam room or fulfilling his duties as presiding bishop of Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, a 1.5 million-member, predominantly black organization.