The Pilgrimage began as a weekly spiritual development group called the Gathering. It was founded in 1990 by the Reverend Natalia (Tanya) Beck, who was serving as a priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clearwater Florida. She was assisted by Dr. Marilyn Gatlin, Jean Holbrook and Judy Charmatz. The purpose of this group was to build a spiritual community, to help its participants feel God’s love, and share this love with others.

As the gathering membership grew in faith and numbers, so did Tanya’s desire to expand her healing ministry. Ignited by an offer in June, 1991 of a major endowment, Tanya formed a steering committee to create a 501 C 3 organization. The Pilgrimage was born. The core value of this organization was to provide an environment where healing could take place.

Prayer and healing services were regularly scheduled at various churches and spiritual centers in central Florida. Practitioners were being trained for hands-on-healing, and for prayer and laying-on-of-hands in individual sessions. Retreats and quiet days were observed.

By late 1991, prayer and healing services were regularly scheduled at St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. Alfred’s in Palm Harbor, St. Mary’s in Tampa and Day Spring Retreat Center in Ellenton, Florida. Fifteen people were soon being trained for hands-on healing at the altar and for praying and laying-on of hands in individual sessions. Retreats and quiet days were being offered. At this time, the first newsletters were sent out.

In 1992, individual healing sessions were being scheduled and the spiritual development work of The Gatherings continued and spread to a number of other churches in the diocese. At the annual meeting of the Board of Directors, the following statistics of the first eleven months of The Pilgrimage’s existence were presented: well over 1,000 people had been served, most of them at retreats and weekly Gatherings throughout the diocese, and 514 volunteer hours had been given.

In 1993, the first retreat at DaySpring was offered and was attended by 83 participants. Healings were being offered 6 hours a week at St. John’s, monthly pledges averaged $393, and Tanya wrote the first of three books that were used at The Gatherings. The second and third books were produced during the following two years. The Gatherings remained the primary focus, and from them, came healers and many clients.

An important shift in the evolution of the Pilgrimage took place in January of 1995. Until that time, The Pilgrimage was an Episcopal organization. With the agreement of the Holbrooks and the churches involved, a legal and financial separation was made, and a greater diversity and inclusiveness became possible. The mission statement of a dedication to healing of spirit, mind, and body, with emphasis on the primacy of spirit, is a reflection of that shift. The language used gave recognition to the Spirit in all its many forms; the makeup of the Board became more inclusive; and the establishment of a base outside the church began. The hands-on healing ministry continued with the development of a training manual. The training in that process introduced the use of healing partners. The Gatherings continued, and spiritual direction was being sent out on a regular bases. The addition of “The Healing Partner’s Connection” newsletter kept the healing partners up to date.

In 1996, and additional gift from Bill and Jean Holbrook in memory of their son established the Daniel G. Holbrook Fellowship. This gift brought into existence a joint venture between The Pilgrimage, Inc. and Dr. Herbert Benson of the Mind/Body Institute of Harvard’s Medical School in Boston. The development of a fellowship program under the direction of Tanya and Dr. Benson began. The Fellowship promoted education of clergy and physicians in the relationship between spirituality and mind/body medicine associated with the physical and emotional healing process. The Holbrook Fellow selected was to be either a physician or a member of the clergy, with the express purpose of bringing those two worlds into closer alignment. The appointed fellow was to spend six months at The Mind/Body Institute and six months at the Pilgrimage Institute for Integrative Healing. The purpose of this liaison was to add the vital element of spirit to the connections of mind and body and to introduce the Pilgrimage Integrative Healing Process to the medical community, exploring the possibility of scientific research using The Pilgrimage Process in hospital settings.

By late 1996, the search for a new location was successful, and The Pilgrimage was established at 556 1/2 North Clearwater-Largo Road, Largo, Florida, operating on a full-time basis with the Rev. Tanya Beck as Executive Director. In December, the first impact of The Pilgrimage on the Spirituality and Healing in Medicine Conference in Boston was felt. There conferences are held twice a year, and Dr. Benson assigned Tanya to facilitate break-out groups for discussion following the lectures.

In early 1997, the Rev. Dr. Charles Cudjoe, a physician and Anglican priest from Nigeria, became the first Holbrook Fellow.  He became involved in the community, connecting with USF College of Nursing and local hospitals and developing a research project with the Mind/Body institute using the Pilgrimage healing process.

In 1999, the Rev. Tanya Beck became the second Holbrook Fellow. Her initial focus was working with clergy and physicians in integrating spirit with mind and body. As the focus expanded to include bringing spirituality into the workplace and additional assignments with the Mind/Body institute, including holding breakout sessions for the Spirituality & Healing in Medicine Conferences, time did not allow her to continue as Director of The Pilgrimage. Also, late in that year Dr. Marilyn Gatlin moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and started a healing ministry there called “The Healing Partners of Santa Fe”.  At this time, the guidance of The Pilgrimage transferred to an administrator and assistant, the board of directors and a leadership committee made up of healing partners.

In mid-2000, due to the sale of the leased property in Largo, The Pilgrimage motherhouse was moved to a new location, 2114 Drew Street, Suite E, Clearwater, Florida. Client appointments continued at the new location and at satellite locations in Palm Harbor, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. Healing team partners administered to clients in hospitals, nursing homes, a yoga studio and private homes at no charge, as usual, although free-will donations were gratefully accepted. The Process had spread to locations in Texas, Massachusetts, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

2001 brought increased publicity and dramatically increased the need for additional healing appointments with an article in January in Massage magazine and in the March issue of Prevention magazine. Trainings of new healing partners were stepped up to handle the more than 1500 calls from many parts of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The number of trained volunteer healing partners had grown over 100 with many more scheduled for trainings. C.E.U’s were being offered to massage therapists and nurses who completed the training sessions. A working relationship with Hospice was developed where The Pilgrimage was included in a grant proposal.

In June 2000, Healing Partners, Inc., was formed to minister to clients primarily at the Tree House Yoga Studio in Tampa, Florida. Healings continued there for more than ten years.

In 2003, The Pilgrimage, Inc. was dissolved as a distinct legal entity. However, the Pilgrimage Integrative Healing Process continued on as distinct healing methodology.

In 2005, an arrangement with Hospice began with The Pilgrimage offering healings primarily to staff, beginning at the Roosevelt location and moving into the Brookside and Woodside facilitates and eventually into Bayfront Hospital. Many Pilgrimage Partners also became trained as Hospice Volunteers.

Regency Oaks Clearwater

Healings began in 2015 at Regency Oaks, a Clearwater retirement center, when Ann Kawalec, a longtime hospice nurse and Pilgrimage Healing Partner, became the nurse in charge of their Wellness Center.

In learning more about the pilgrimage healing church and its processes, two constants have remained unchanged—reverence for the Spirit and the intention to provide a loving, healing presence for all who are served.