Fenton National Spiritualist Church

16/10/2021

16/10/2021

Notice to all members
Fenton Church will be closed with immediate affect until further notice.

15/10/2021

: Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) was born Isabella Bomfree in New York, and fled slavery, after being bought and sold several times, to pursue her work and gained a high profile as an Abolitionist, Suffragist and civil rights campaigner. Her work gained the attention of Abrahman Lincoln, and she was invited to meet him in 1864. An accomplished speaker, she moved to Battle Creek in 1857 following a speaking engagement there. She joined a Spiritualist Community there. She is known to have transfixed her audiences with the power of her words. Many of her audiences were white people, and her power and presence as an orator helped to change their preconceptions of black women. There are many statues and memorials to her, and in recent times local residents have placed their “I’ve voted” stickers on her gravestone in Battle Creek in honour of her significant contribution to women’s voting rights. Her signature reproduced in the montage is the only known example: she never learned to read or write since it was illegal to teach slaves – just a small part of the grave injustices she and others faced. Start a journey of discovery, and search for “Sojourner Truth” to learn more about this Pioneer during Black History Month, and ensure that Spiritualists of Colour have their equal place in our history.

14/10/2021

Oliver Lodge was born in 1851 at Penkhull in what is now Stoke-on-Trent, and educated at Adams' Grammar School, Newport, Shropshire. He was the eldest of eight sons and a daughter of Oliver Lodge (1826–1884) – later a ball clay merchant[note 1] at Wolstanton, Staffordshire – and his wife, Grace, née Heath (1826–1879).[2] Sir Oliver's siblings included Sir Richard Lodge (1855–1936), historian; Eleanor Constance Lodge (1869–1936), historian and principal of Westfield College, London; and Alfred Lodge (1854–1937), mathematician.
In 1865, Lodge, at the age of 14, entered his father's business (Oliver Lodge & Son) as an agent for B. Fayle & Co selling Purbeck blue clay to the potteries, travelling as far as Scotland. He continued to assist his father until he reached the age of 22. His father's wealth obtained from selling Purbeck ball clay enabled Lodge to attend physics lectures in London and attend the local Wedgwood Institute.

Birmingham University
Lodge obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of London in 1875 and a Doctor of Science in 1877. He was appointed professor of physics and mathematics at University College, Liverpool in 1881. In 1900 Lodge moved from Liverpool back to the Midlands and became the first principal of the new Birmingham University, remaining there until his retirement in 1919. He oversaw the start of the move of the university from Edmund Street in the city centre to its present Edgbaston campus. Lodge was awarded the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society in 1898 and was knighted by King Edward VII in 1902. In 1928 he was made Freeman of his native city, Stoke-on-Trent.
Lodge married Mary F***y Alexander Marshall at St George's church, Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1877. They had twelve children, six boys and six girls: Oliver William Foster (1878–1955), Francis Brodie (1880–1967), Alec (1881–1938), Lionel (1883–1948), Noel (1885–1962), Violet (1888–1924), Raymond (1889–1915), Honor (1891–1979), Lorna (1892–1987), Norah (1894–1990), Barbara (1896–1983), and Rosalynde (1896–1983). Four of his sons went into business using Lodge's inventions. Brodie and Alec created the Lodge Plug Company, which manufactured sparking plugs for cars and aeroplanes. Lionel and Noel founded a company that produced an electrostatic device for cleaning factory and smelter smoke in 1913, called the Lodge Fume Deposit Company Limited (changed in 1919 to Lodge Fume Company Limited and in 1922, through agreement with the International Precipitation Corporation of California, to Lodge Cottrell Ltd). Oliver, the eldest son, became a poet and author.
After his retirement in 1920, Sir Oliver and Lady Lodge settled in Normanton House, near Lake in Wiltshire, just a few miles from Stonehenge. Lodge and his wife are buried at St. Michael’s Church, Wilsford (near Salisbury), Wiltshire.[3][4] Their eldest son Oliver and eldest daughter Violet are buried at the same church.

13/10/2021

GORDON HIGGINSON MEMOIR by ERIC HATTON

The following memoir was written by Eric Hatton who became SNU President following Gordon’s passing on 18th January 1993. At the time, Eric was Gordon’s closest friend. His memoir recalls how Gordon came into his life as well as their friendship for 46 years. It was circulated by the SNU a few months after Gordon’s passing.

"There will be few (if any) who truly knew Gordon Higginson and witnessed his mediumship who do not mourn his passing. For so many years we have become accustomed to him being there at the helm and, even before his Presidency, as being prominent on the Spiritualist scene, and therefore his physical loss leaves a great void.

No one article can encompass his life or, indeed, his achievements, so where does one commence?

He was already 28 when I first met him, which was at a meeting in Stourbridge Church: the dramatic impact of the evidence he relayed to people was bordering on amazing.

Over the first year of hearing and meeting him, I could not help but be convinced by his accurate relay of contacts from spirit beings, for in spite of my sceptical approach and determination to accept only those things which were provable or corroborative, I could not help being astounded.

My own family, who were in dreadful, shock and mourning as a result of my brother’s sudden, unexpected death in a Sunderland flying-boat in Singapore, were reunited on many an occasion by the brilliant mediumship of Gordon. Details which were known only to ourselves and could not be gleaned from any source other than my brother in spirit were instrumental in changing our lives from despair to realisation.

In recent days, since Gordon’s passing, my sister and I have conversed upon those early incidents which have determined our beliefs that, come what may, these evidences have made us Spiritualists for all time!

However, there are thousands upon thousands who have been influenced by this man’s amazing demonstrations. Indeed, the number who have spoken of their reunion with loved ones through Gordon’s unique mediumship are almost too numerous to calculate, but lives have been changed and enhanced by his uniting the living with the so-called dead.

In the mid to late 50s, operating in Longton Church, was a circle group, at which physical phenomena and psychokinesis were being witnessed week-upon-week. I was allowed into some of these and saw clearly the movement of objects, together with materialisation of a high quality.

This was at a time when I was particularly sceptical, of this form of mediumship and Gordon was no exception to my critical analysis, but when one witnesses the breaking down and reassembly of structures – independent; of the medium – and in discernible light, a new evaluation has to be reckoned with.

Throughout the 46 years I have known Gordon, I have been present at literally countless numbers of his meetings, both large and small. He became, after Estelle Roberts, Helen Hughes, Lillian Bailey and Bertha Harris, our foremost demonstrator at large public meetings. I recall one such occasion when I sat next, to Lord Dowding in Solihull Town Hall. This critical but kindly man said, after one piece of relayed evidence, “That is quite astonishing!” At meetings such as this, there would always be those who looked for flaws and other explanations for the almost unbelievable, detailed relay of facts: consequently, Gordon would from time to time come under great scrutiny and challenge.

After one such period and episode, he was invited to a secular society of which I was chairman. We imposed strict conditions, together with careful, monitored isolation, to ensure that he could not be aware of the nature of our test or our audience. Needless to say, he came out with flying colours, as he did when we tested him in billet-reading, as well as on reading a page of a book by psychometric methods.

When he, together with Mary Duffy and Stephen O’Brien, demonstrated to empty chairs in Stansted Hall some years ago, this pinpoint accuracy with its attendant minute details astounded us all when, a few hours later, people occupied the chairs.

In more recent years, Gordon’s resolve to train and help younger mediums and his desire to teach at the Arthur Findlay College, which in effect opened up a new dimension to his mediumship, has perhaps had a closer and more lasting impact on many people’s lives.

His love of music, his tremendous sense of humour, his kindly disposition, his concern for others’ welfare and his work as the longest-serving President for 22 years all leave us with an unfillable chasm.

Would that we could change the course of events! However, as the days roll by and snippets of his recent utterances come to my attention, I venture to suggest that his greatest adventure was made known to him in an oblique sort of way.

We who were privileged to know him, and some of us who worked with him, must now take up the torch he has passed into our hands and, in thankfulness for his life, strive to continue the heritage he has left behind!

Source: SNU Circular 1993

12/10/2021

: Karl Francis (1918 – 1996) was a healer based in London. As a child in Guyana, his mother took him to a trance healer for an eye condition. This early encounter with healing stirred his natural abilities which led him to open the “Acacia House Centre” in West London with his wife, Betty – notably the centre was based in the former home of James Bond actor, Sean Connery! Karl practiced and taught healing from the centre, which also provided other complementary therapies. He also became involved in the Whit Sunday healing demonstrations in Trafalgar Square in 1965 alongside well known healer, Tom Johanson. These high profile events were attended by hundreds of people. Karl spent time in the air force, worked as an engineer, and as a musician, he led a successful band before dedicating his life to healing. He passed to spirit at the age of 78. Karl’s work is documented in the Psychic News archives. Help increase our collective knowledge of the people of colour who have contributed to Spiritualism by searching for Karl and learning about his work here: https://tinyurl.com/PNarch

10/10/2021

THE POTENT POWER OF PRAYER BY GORDON HIGGINSON
Spiritualists do not have a special knowledge of why their loved ones are taken at the time of passing. They have the knowledge of continuous life. The Spiritualist does at least know that no life is wasted, no experience is wasted, although we cannot see the whole pattern.

Concerning prayer, I have often said that the training of mediums should not include instructing them how to pray. I stand by that. By the time a person is entitled to describe himself or herself as a potential medium, they should have knowledge of what prayer is.

I believe that prayer is important in our lives, perhaps the most important part of development. It has such powerful implications; it can have such an effect upon us. It is no use developing the psychic unless you have also learned about yourself as a spirit being, a part of God.

When you pray, you become the prayer. We understand that God is an inner power, not outside at all. When you ask for something in prayer, it is no use expecting an outside power to come along and give you what you have requested. But if you recognise that and become your prayer through the sincerity and depth of your thoughts, then you have the answer.

God has to find the ways and means whereby your prayer can be answered. How does this happen?

We have, through prayer and intention, opened the doors to the spirit world, bringing this other world close. Instead of being “Up there” a million miles away, we have brought it here, close to us. We have discovered a world that is ours. We belong there; we have rights which are waiting to be claimed. The more we explore this, the closer it comes.

Given that we accept there is no God as a personality, why do we pray? Who is going to hear us?

Surely it is our loved ones, those who are closest to us who will hear us – those who have been given spiritual charge of our welfare upon earth. Here in Spiritualism, we often call these guides or helpers. Very often it is these who put thoughts into our minds for our moral and spiritual development. It is important that we learn to listen to these.

Prayer is not all about asking, demanding even, when we think that we are asking for the right things. Prayer is listening, communicating, being at one with reality – the reality of God. In prayer, we become our God. And if we listen, we are given the answers, the strength and knowledge to see through our troubles not from an outside source, but from our inner reality.

In that touching of our soul with the Great Soul of the Universe, we are filled with love and humanity. We no longer want for ourselves, but that which is right for humanity. It may be that we have our part to play. Then we will be given the strength of purpose to fulfil our task. It might be that we have to stand back and allow events to shape our lives so we are given the understanding that helps us to do this.

It can take many years to learn to pray properly. Some will never learn. But all the time we have to try. Of course, the more we try, the better we get.

I have sometimes been filled with the most complete feeling of love and belonging through prayer. Then I know that I am in touch. When I thank God for all that I have, I am reminded of that which has been given to me. When I give thanks, I am reminded forcibly of the beauty of the universe and I am with God.

I always think that part of our prayers should be an acknowledgement of the closeness of the spirit world, not because my friends in that world need to be reminded, but I, as a human soul, need to be reminded of the love which is so freely given from those realms.

Each person will experience prayer in his or her own way because each of us is different. There are some that will use a formula, but I do not think that this has great value. When you use these same words over and over, they become at best not a prayer but a mantra, and that is a different matter entirely. Prayer must be stimulated from the heart, not the memory.

Each medium that works upon the platform will have to know how to pray for the sake of others. Their own prayers will be very different in content than those they express in public. Prayer crystallises within you what you are feeling about yourself, your fellow man and about your God. It is an expression of where you are and what you are.

If you have absorbed the love of God and Spirit, this will be manifest in your prayer. If you have a sincere desire to help and to make progress in your own progress, this will be heard by those near to you. You will become an instrument of your desires through the help of the spirit world.

All too often the effect of the subconscious mind is under-estimated. We have all that is needed within us. Prayer can free us from the limitations we place upon ourselves. As Spiritualists, we know there is another world. We know that there is nothing supernatural, that everything is in accordance with natural law.

The young are our future. If we do not take the time to train them in the way of the Spirit, we are neglecting our own future.

After all the suffering and the bloodshed – and despite the advanced knowledge of today – the world must be seen by many to be no better or more sane. We make the same mistakes again and again, create the same conditions of hunger and want throughout the world, and continually neglect our true nature to pursue a dream of avarice and power.

This must change. The responsibility for that change is ours. We cannot delay; we cannot leave this to tomorrow. We owe this effort to our children and their children. Spiritualism is a sane and rational religion. I truly believe it is the hope for mankind’s future. I also believe it is the only religion which has taken change into its basic understanding.

The amazing discoveries of science have given man an immense confidence in his own powers. Life on this planet has been transformed into a new age of advancing science and technology. In less than 60 years, man advanced from the first powered flight to the first landing on the moon. Where were the spiritual needs of the world in all this?

Has man become all-powerful and able to achieve all his needs? Indeed not. He is dependent on God. He cannot make the sun rise; flowers grow or prevent death and rebirth.

But there is an awakening. I see a hunger for a new vision of life. The door to spiritual vista will open when we allow the flow of inner impressions to break into our souls and guide our lives.

When we bring the love of God and the deep desire to serve only God into our lives, then we will understand our relationship with all life. In this state of awareness, there is inspiration from those in the spirit life. We must not fail them.

From Two Worlds, November 2003