Obituaries : William R. Parker; Prayer Therapy Advocate

William R. Parker, known for his melding of psychological testing, group counseling and prayer therapy, has died of heart failure in an Orange County hospital.

A family spokesman said Parker, a onetime professor of speech pathology and director of the speech and hearing clinic at the University of Redlands, was 78 when he died Thursday.

Parker, who earned his bachelor’s degree at Redlands and his master’s and doctorate at USC, was co-author of “Prayer Can Change Your Life” and “Man’s Greatest Single Problem” and wrote “Pathology of Speech.” He also was ordained by the Divine Sciences Federation and was a member of the California Marriage, Child and Family Counseling Assn.

He formed the Community Church by the Bay in Newport Beach because, he said in an interview in 1974, “I was challenged to see if prayer and meditation could change a person’s life.”

He said he found that prayer with counseling made the difference.

Parker, who also maintained a counseling service, set up three test groups at Redlands of about a dozen people each who were given psychological tests.

The first group was then told to pray regularly about their problems but received no counseling. The second group received individual counseling but no mention of prayer and the third was given both group counseling and coaching on ways to pray.

A year later the three groups were retested. Those using prayer alone made the least progress and those receiving individual therapy made substantial improvement. Those in the counseling and prayer therapy group showed the most improvement.

That study brought forth “Prayer Can Change Your Life,” written with Elaine St. Johns, which in turn helped spark prayer therapy groups across the nation.

Survivors include three daughters and brothers.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pacific View Chapel in Newport Beach.