Eltham Spiritualist Church - Fifty Years of Effort

By Jack Calway.

Introduction

On 22^nd January 1972 Eltham Spiritualist church celebrated its Jubilee. As the mind casts back into the past, considers the present and look forward to the future, memory seems dim, events less important and many questions flood in the predominate being – have the efforts made realised the aims of the pioneers of the Eltham church. The answer is Yes and No. Much has been done but much is still to be done.

James Lewis Wallis, a medium in 1921 who had served for three years as the president of Woolwich and Plumstead Spiritualist Church was feeling tired after strenuous war work in, was unemployed and, in his own words, was almost down and out. He was asked to give a psychometric reading to a young woman who was seeking to trace a close relative, last heard of in Ireland. He told her the relative was in London and they would be reunited in a week, and so it came to pass.

Following this the young woman’s husband suggested to Wallis that he should start a Spiritualist Church in Eltham, an area semi urban, semi rural, which had started developing as a result of the war time influx of workers for Woolwich Arsenal, but then suffered greatly from unemployment and depression.

Wallis’ retort was “what more do you want, I have helped you by exercising my gift. I am tired and have no money. “ The young man retorted, “How much do you need to start?” Wallis replied “ £2.00 “, “Right, I will lend it to you.”

Formation of the Church.

On Sunday 8^th January 1922, four men met at the home of James Lewis Wallis and they decided to start a church. Wallis was appointed president and John G. Pollard secretary. Through John G. Pollard, the new church was linked with one of the oldest, if not the oldest spiritualist Church in England, for john Pollard was born into Spiritualism in Keighley, trained in it’s Lyceum and married in the Keighley Spiritualist Church.

The Well Hall Branch of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society was booked for 22^nd January 1922 for the first public service. Unfortunately the records are incomplete as to who was the first medium but it is believed to be Mrs E. Neville.

Among the early members of the new church were Mr and Mrs Frank Hawken. Frank, shortly after, became secretary of the then Marylebone Spiritualist Association, now the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain.

In spite of lack of money and frequently finding itself financially in the red in the first year of it’s life, a building fund was started and the Church affiliated with the Spiritualists National Union (SNU) and sought to obtain more suitable premises for it’s work.

The membership grew fast. Within twelve months it covered a wide cross section of the population. The early records indicate a heavy preponderance of trade unionist and members were referred to as Brother or Sister.

A Tale of Two churches

Towards the end of the first year many business and profession men and women were members and divergent views on the proper courses to follow developed, particularly regarding the seeking of a permanent home. By the end of the first year, a group of thirteen members put forward a scheme to finance a building project. This scheme, however, was not favoured by the majority of the original members, or by the SNU.

The group of thirteen had been nominated to serve as church officers and Committee for the second year of the church’s life to put their scheme into operation, but because of the unfavourable reception the scheme received at the Annual General Meeting in January 1923 they resigned as a body. On the 18^th March 1923 after a series of meetings held in private houses, the group held the first public service of the new church “ The Church of the Seven Principles”.

This new Church’s first meeting place was in a hostel building erected by the ministry of works during the first world war to accommodate munitions workers, but was then used as a hall by the Well Hall Garden Village Association. It was located within 50 yards of the present Church building.

The new church sought membership with the SNU, but this was opposed by the original church who were rapidly losing members to the new body. The first election of new members to the Church of the Seven Principles included Mrs A. Calway and her brother who had been members of the original church for some twelve months. Despite strenuous efforts to bring about reconciliation between the two bodies this was not possible. The movement in Eltham lost a stalwart member when, in March 1923, James Lewis Wallis emigrated to Australia where he was eventually appointed a Justice of the Peace.

The decision not to reconstitute the two churches into one was undoubtedly influenced by an inspirational message received by one of the members of the Church of the Seven Principles :-

“ In the first place you must not put any obstacles in the way of the other church and must meet them as far as possible. They are anxious about their position and would like to join forces with your church. Some of them are earnest souls and would be useful to you. They do not seemed pleased with the way things are going, but in time will become reconciled to your church. Keep on as you are doing and all will be well with you and everything will work together for good. Your church has all our prayers and has been, and will continue to be, successful whilst you aim for the highest. Do not allow yourselves to be removed from the position you have taken up and keep up the high religious tone with which you started. You will have no lack of speakers and the way will be made clear for you. Do not go back to the old church; they will finally come to you. “

In large measure this is what eventually happened. The records show that for the next three years the original church continued but making little progress, constantly beset with financial problems and, being tied to rented premises with restricted availability, was limited in the scope of its activities.

On the other hand the church of the seven principles made rapid progress, although the records for part of this period are missing. By mid 1923, it had to seek a new home and obtained the sole use of an adjoining hostel and proposals were in the air to buy land on which to build. Development in the area soon caused a further move to another temporary building, access to which was obtained from Jubilee Passage, and when this building was due for demolition, the public hall in Elm Terrace became available.

A Lyceum (Sunday School) was started on 7^th October 1923, and grew in strength, soon having sixty members of mainly children with a large group of teenagers. It was affiliated to British Spiritualist Lyceum in 1924.

It was during this period somewhere around 1923 that the healing services were commenced on Sunday morning in the public hall in Elm Terrace and a small orchestra was formed to play at services. A ladies meeting with it’s own identity was inaugurated and rapidly became a driving force in the work and progress of the church.

The building fund grew rapidly and in 1924 Trustees were appointed but not under deed. By 1925 it had reached £400 – a princely sum in those days.

The reunification of the two churches.

Towards the end of 1925, tentative moves to bring the two churches together were made. By March 1926 they had reached a definitive stage. In June 1926, a general meeting of the members of both churches was held to adopt new rules and appoint officers and committee. The original name was preserved, the rented co-operative room was relinquished and the combined activities were continued in the public hall in Elm Terrace, Eltham. For Twelve Months the church continued it’s progressive way forward.

The amalgamation had one adverse effect. The reconstituted church dropped its affiliation with the SNU and herein lies a lesson, which the events of the next four years illustrate.

The search for a permanent home.

The Steady progress being made was rudely shaken when, due to redevelopment proposals, the tenancy of the public hall in Elm Terrace was terminated in March 1927. The church had to return to the more limited use of the Co-operative Room and many activities had to be held in the home of the members. These activities included the lyceum, the healing services and other small group activities. The only public meetings then possible were the Sunday evening and mid week service and the afternoon ladies meeting.

This misfortune forced renewed activity to find a suitable site on which to build a church. Discussions were held with the Borough Council, Estate Agents and others with land for sale. The site of the present church was on offer for £700 and the members decided to purchase it if a mortgage of £250 could be raised. (It is interesting to note that a year or two earlier the site had been available for £450 and the Committee of the church of the seven principles had rejected it as not within the means of the Church).

While enquiries were being made about a mortgage, two other sites were offered and controversy arose as to the most suitable, particularly as the others were cheaper. The site in Well Hall Road and on a main traffic route, whereas the others were located in secondary residential areas albeit nearer the homes of many members.

In May 1927, a further general meeting of members was held when full details of the final three sites were submitted. The church decided to proceed with the purchase of the central Well Hall site and a mortgage of £250 was raised from a local building society. Additional trustees, making five in all, were appointed. This decision was in accordance with spirit advice which, over a period that “a church on the hill” be sought.

Although the purchase of the land was complete little progress was made towards the main objective of putting a building on this land. The Sunday morning healing service was revived, but as the healing services on evenings in private houses was retained, the Sunday services wilted for lack of support. In October 1928, the Lyceum, having outgrown any available accommodation, took over the use of the Co-operative room on Sunday mornings and some years later was able to revert to a Sunday afternoon gathering.

Affiliation with the SNU.

The years 1928 and 1929 showed little progress although it was decided to consider affiliation with the SNU and a plan was approved for a new building. The cost proved to be higher than the church could afford and the Trustees were instructed to consider a suitable temporary structure costing about £700. The question of affiliation to the SNU proved difficult to resolve, the Church being almost equally divided on this issue. Those supporting affiliation forced discussion at a series of members meetings, but it was not until mid July 1930 that a unanimous decision to affiliate was made.

There is no doubt in the writers mind that the events of the preceding six months did much to convince members of the wisdom of such action.

The members were anxious to see progress towards erecting a building. The Church Committee and the Trustees were taking no action and conflict existed between individual Trustees, particularly in regard to the manner in which the Deed had been drawn.

The outcome was that, in May 1930, the members passed a vote of censure on the committee and forced its resignation. At a special Members’ meeting, in June 1930, new Officers and Committee were elected.

The resolution of problems was not, however, easy. By the end of 1930, the church was affiliated to the SNU, but the trustees refused to take any positive action to provide new premises. However, there was a saving clause in the trust deed which provided for the property, in certain circumstances, being transferred to the SNU. By January 1932 the appropriate meeting of the members had been held and the requisite majorities obtained to carry into effect the intentions of the members. This involved the transfer of the trust property to the SNU, the establishment of the joint trust with Mr F Whitmarsh, representing the SNU and Mr J. Calway and Mr T. Donavon the church. All previous resolutions authorising the trustees to build were rescinded and the Church committee were appointed as the building committee and instructed to take all necessary steps to erect a building on the land.

Building the new “Church on the Hill”

Progress was, however, very slow as no positive steps could be taken until the legal position had been finally resolved and the new trust arrangements completed. Discussions, however, took place with the local architect and in September 1933, it was decided to set a limit of cost of £1,500 on the church building and £700 to £1,000 for a separate hall for social activities. Indications were also available that the capital sum could be provided on a mortgage on reasonable terms from private sources. The draft of the new joint deed of trust was approved.

The legal formalities were sufficiently advanced by February 1934, to justify appointing and briefing an architect. This step was taken and in March the architect’s proposals and the building committee’s report were submitted to the members and approved. Instructions were given to seek tenders . Tenders were returned in August 1934, and, much to the surprise of the committee and in spite of the architect’s assurances, the lowest tender was nearly twice the figure set by the committee. It also came to light that approval of the plans by the appropriate authorities had been refused. The committee were concerned that action taken by the architect without instruction and to the unsatisfactory answers received to questions raised.

As a consequence the services of the architect were terminated and a fresh start made. Advice tendered by professional people indicated that at the price limits set by the members a much more modest scheme would be possible and advice received from the spirit world urged a new approach on a more modest scale involving one building only.

Legal difficulties regarding the trust arose with the charity commissioners and these delayed further positive steps for some time. In 1937 a new member of the Church with architectural experience and training offered to prepare plans within the limits set by the church. In June 1937, The SNU offered a loan of £1,500 to be available within twelve months. The offer was accepted and the Committee undertook to deal with all other matters, including approval for the building. The final plans, prepared by this member, were ultimately approved by the Church, the trustees, the SNU and the local authorities and by March 1938, tenders had been received. In April 1938 the lowest tender within the limits of the approved loan, was accepted and in May 1938 works had commenced.

The Foundation stone was laid by Mr J.M. Stewart on 4^th June 1938 and the new church was opened by Mr Ernest Oaten on 20^th August 1938. Mrs Bertha Harris gave clairvoyance at both the dedication service and the meeting that followed in the evening.

The War Years

From the opening of the new church rapid progress was made. Membership increased rapidly, the financial position Improved steadily and new activities were embarked on. Then came the Second World War.

Many members were lost due to evacuation and war service. By June 1941 the effective availability of committee members was reduced to four and of these some were heavily engaged in other directions. In spite of these difficulties and the problem of obtaining speakers, the main services were maintained and limited social functions were held. During the most difficult period meetings were held in the afternoons or during the daylight hours. The finances suffered heavily and for a time there was difficulty in maintaining the mortgage payments fully.

With the slackening of enemy action, attendance and support slowly recovered. Members increased and the officers and committee began to look to the future. By 1946 a full range of activities had been instituted, including a lyceum and a weekly youth club, and there was talk of extending the church.

The Post war Years (1945-1975)

The building had, however, suffered war damage and the composition of the floor had begun to fail. Financial provision had therefore to be made to carry out essential maintenance. This need, together with the control on building, effectively limited any possibility of enlarging the building at that time.

In 1948 authorised persons were appointed to conduct marriage services and be responsible for the registers of the church and the church appointed its first and only minister. A monthly bulletin was produced. A procedure, previously inaugurated when the church was built, to divide the work of organising activities and running the church among a group of sub-committees, was revived. This had the effect of involving more members in direct responsibility for church affairs.

The next three years were a period of steady forward progress. In spite of restrictions and with the help of a further loan from the building fund pool, war damage repairs were complete: the church redecorated; a new oak wood block floor laid.

New wardens were appointed and by 1953 it appeared that the problem od the Trust deed was resolved by the adoption of the standard model form. One casualty during this period was the Lyceum which closed for lack of helpers. Fresh interest was aroused and the Lyceum was re-opened in June 1954. As frequently happens in democratic bodies of mixed groups, some difficulties between members arose in 1951 which were ultimately resolved in a spirit message the writer was reminded by six former presidents, all on the other side of life, that “the church on the hill was a reality that must and will prosper”.

The need for space was again evident and members were pressing for further improvements. The advent of television had an effect on mid week activities and some sources of income declined. Priorities had to be established.

In 1956 the members decided to raise £500 to lay out the ground, undertake redecorations, provide new curtains and improve the rostrum and, over the next few years, undertook other major essential repairs and improvements at much less cost than by normal contract methods.

Growth continued, but it still had not proved possible to enlarge the original building. In 1959 the members again turned with enthusiasm to the idea of extensions and started a fund for this purpose. The aim was to raise £1,000 initially and to seek a load from the building fund pool. In order to reduce costs it was intended, with the assistance of practical and technical knowledge and the experience available amongst members to employ labour to undertake the work. Plans were prepared and approved by 1963 by the members and final planning and other consents were received in November 1969. Delays over the building fund pool loan prevented work from being started and we subsequently lost some of the members with vital experience and knowledge. The members, having looked at the position again, whilst urgently requiring extension, considered that plans should be reviewed in the light of present and future requirements and costs. It was hoped that the extensions and improvements would be designed and built in future years

Authors note

This account of 50 years of effort cannot cover all that has taken place in an organisation run entirely on voluntary labour of the members, the problems of raising money to further the objectives; the successes, disappointments and failures. Over the years, the message of spiritualism has been brought to thousands of receptive minds and the labour and effort has been worthwhile.

To mention members by name would be invidious. So many have served, some in a small way, others in a greater manner, but all adds to the sum of service in the truth the church holds dear. Some churches are built around personalities; others on different foundations. Although little, if ever publicised, Eltham Spiritualist Church has drawn more people to spiritualism through it’s healing work, which has continued unbroken since 1925, come sunshine or rain, bombs or blackout. The present leader of the Healing group started his training in 1925 and has worked continuously ever since.