Aylesbury Spiritualist Church
About us
Aylesbury Spiritualist Church is affiliated to the Spiritualists' National Union.
We aim to provide a warm, welcoming atmosphere. There is no need to feel that you have to attend regularly. Of course we'd love to see you as often as you like, but we want to know that you to attend because you want to, not because you feel that you must.
Each religion expresses its faith in a unique way, but most religions will have some things in common.
If you attend a Spiritualist service there will be some things that you may be familiar with. For example prayer, hymns or songs.
You may also hear a reading with thought provoking content, often taken from a diverse range of sources and an inspirational address which is usually unprepared and inspired by Spirit at that moment. Their purpose is to encourage thinking about our lives through the lens of Spiritualist philosophy (based on our Seven Principles).
Also common in a Spiritualist service is Spiritualist Healing. This may simply be a time for the congregation to send out their own healing thoughts during the service, but on Wednesday evenings in our church you can drop-in and have individual healing with our healing mediums. Healing has always been a vital part of the Spiritualist religion.
Thursday services include a demonstration of evidential mediumship. This involves the medium relaying messages from the spirit world to members of the congregation. For us, this is not a form of entertainment, but a way of demonstrating the Spiritualist principle of the continuous existence of the human soul.
Any demonstration of mediumship is a form of experiment; no claims are made and results cannot be guaranteed. You are not guaranteed a personal message.
We offer refreshments after the Thursday services, which gives people a chance to make friends and have a chat.
We also hold some special services and workshops, check the 'Special Events' page for details.
If you would like to find out more about our services, please contact us via the 'Contact us' page, our Facebook page, Twitter or using the phone number on our home page.
What is Spiritualism?
The first passage is taken from the blog of Minister David Bruton, President of the SNU:
Emma Hardinge Britten, one of our most well-known pioneers, said of Spiritualism: “Spiritualism is not a religion - it is religion per se. It has no fixed creed and is not binding upon any human soul that is not convinced of its truth by sufficient evidence. It may be in harmony with many religions, writings or laws of science but is independent of all these, emerging by virtue of spiritual laws, absolute and true, whether man understands them or not.”
Spiritualism helps to provide a personal philosophy for every Spiritualist, each continuously progressing and growing in their understanding and interpretation resulting in the consideration of many diverse views. However, in essence the underpinning ideas come from the same source of universal understanding, and within the SNU it is based on the 7 Principles of Spiritualism.
The acceptance of this diversity makes Spiritualism free from creed or dogma as a religious philosophy. Though the SNU chooses to set down the principles behind SNU Spiritualism, they are not seen as binding they are just a foundation for that journey of understanding.
It is through personal interpretation and understanding of any spiritual philosophy and how it is expressed by living it that shapes the individual spiritually and guides their decisions in how they choose to interact with everyone and everything of the material and non-material worlds.
(adapted from www.snu.org.uk)
"Because you are a spirit you survive death, and because you are a spirit you are alive today. The spirit within you, which causes you to live, is the same spirit that animates every member of every nation, of every race and of every colour. Spiritually, the people of the world are one. Spiritualism reveals the spiritual oneness of all mankind. God has made us all members of one vast spiritual family."
Maurice Barbanell
For more information refer to www.snu.org.uk