Plenty to celebrate on anniversary
of Hydesville
A cake decorated with an image of the Fox Sisters was enjoyed by the congregation of Woolston Spiritualist Church, Southampton, Hampshire, on Spiritualism’s anniversary (31st March). They certainly had plenty to celebrate.
It’s hard to believe, looking at the line-up of smiling faces, that a month earlier the SNU closed the church in response to a request from its committee. Declining attendance at the church, which has been in existence for over two decades, was said to be the main reason.
But local medium Peter Doswell (centre, in group picture below) came to the rescue. His offer to breathe new life into the church prior to closure apparently came too late for the Spiritualists’ National Union’s Southern District Council to change its decision. But he has gone ahead, independently, and been rewarded with an influx of new people.
Initially, there was talk of working with the SNU to take the church back into the Union but its members have since voted, unanimously, for it to be independent. At the same time, he is actively supporting the creation of an independent church in another part of the city, such is the demand, he says, from people wanting to attend Spiritualist meetings.
Doswell believes the SNU could and should have done more to keep the Woolston church open and to encourage a community spirit, which is what he has focused on.
“I think the SNU has to change dramatically,” he says. “Its attitude and approach to people, and the way it conducts its services, is where it’s going wrong. It has too
