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Welcome to Golden Gate Spiritualist Church

Spiritualism

Spiritualism is the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit world.
        A Spiritualist is one who believes, as the basis of her or his religion, in the communication between this and the Spirit world by means of mediumship and who endeavors to mould his or her character and conduct in accordance with the highest teachings derived from such communication.
        A medium is one whose organism is sensitive to vibrations from the Spirit world and through whose instrumentality, intelligences in that world are able to convey messages and produce the phenomena of Spiritualism.
        A Spiritualist healer is one who, either through his own inherent powers or through her or his mediumship, is able to impart vital, curative force to pathologic conditions.
        The phenomena of Spiritualism consist of Prophecy, Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Gift of Tongues (medium, while in trance, communicates from Spirit in foreign languages unknown to the medium), Laying on of Hands, Healing, Visions, Trance, Apports, Levitation, Raps, Automatic and Independent Writings and Paintings, Direct or Independent Voice, Materialization, Photography, Psychometry, and any other manifestation proving the continuity of life as demonstrated through the Physical and Spiritual senses and faculties of man.

DECLARATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUALISM

        The Declaration of Principles was adopted in convention by the National Spiritualist Association (NSA), now the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) in 1899. The NSA was founded at a general meeting of mainstream Spiritualists, assembled for that purpose, in Chicago in Sept, 1893.
        The mainstream of Spiritualism resisted forming any large organization for the first almost 50 years of Spiritualism. They had lived through the creeds and dogma that prevailed in the orthodox churches of the time and did not want that to happen to Spiritualism, where people were free and encouraged to think for themselves.
        People had lived for centuries with a prevailing religion that condoned slavery, was the source of the denial of citizenship to women and supported the outright slavery of married women. They had lived with religion that taught eternal damnation as the fate of most people.
        Spiritualism and contact with the Spirit world came as a great liberating Power that proved eternal life and eternal progression. It taught the equality of all people: men, women, children, African slaves, and the Native American people.
        From the Spirit world early on came the Principle of Individual Sovereignty that revealed each person has within her or him the ability and the duty to think for themselves, that each one is her or his own test of Truth, that within our hearts is the faculty to know what is right. Individual Sovereignty is the duty to do that which in our heart we know is Right, as long as what we do does not trespass on the rights of anyone else.
        When mediums began to be persecuted by some states’ laws, mainstream Spiritualist felt being organized as a national group would help them defend the mediums in court. In courts, they found they were often asked for a statement of belief. In 1897, Spiritualist decided to develop a set of uniform principles that could be presented in court. A committee was appointed at the 1897 convention to do this, and a set of 6 principles were adopted at the 1899 convention in Chicago. The other three principles were added and refined at various times in the twentieth century. These 9 principles are:

1. We believe in Infinite Intelligence.
2. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence.
3. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith, constitute true religion.
4. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death.
5. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proven by the phenomena of Spiritualism.
6. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
7. We affirm the moral responsibility of individuals, and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey Nature’s physical and spiritual laws.
8. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul here or hereafter.
9. We affirm that the precepts of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes proven through Mediumship.