AFTER a period of uncertainty that saw changes at the top and a declining membership, one of the UK’s oldest Spiritualist churches, the London Spiritual Mission (LSM), in the city’s Notting Hill district, has bounced back.
It has a new president – Gordon Smith, among the UK’s best-known and most evidential mediums, was appointed president in May – and membership has more than doubled.
Despite living in Scotland and having a busy schedule of demonstrations throughout Britain and overseas, Gordon intends taking an active role, particularly in mediumship and healing development.
He took over from medium Peter Geekie whose resignation as president, due to ill-health, was announced earlier this year (PN April 2015).
“I was asked to take on the role two years ago,” Gordon tells Psychic News, “but I didn’t feel the time was right. But now, my gut instinct says ‘Yes’.
“I first set foot inside the LSM 25 years ago as a visitor. I sat at the back of the church. Don Galloway was demonstrating that day and he recognised me and invited me up to the rostrum.
“A couple of months later I returned to do the Animal Service. That was the first time I served the church.”
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The London Spiritual Mission
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In the quarter century that has elapsed, Gordon has frequently served the church, and earlier this year he took the Animal Service once again, alongside Peter Geekie and Marie Lang, raising £4,000 for animal charities. The LSM congregation also donated £800 to the Nepal earthquake appeal.
Welcoming Gordon Smith as the new president, Doreen Quinnell, joint vice president of the LSM committee, who has been associated with the church for 20 years, said:
“We are delighted Gordon has agreed to take up this role. We are all very excited at the LSM, because for the first time we hope to offer, with Gordon’s guidance, certification for our healers and development groups. We’re really looking forward to a significant step forward in spiritual teaching.”
Developing new talent and providing certification for those who achieve the required standard in mediumship and healing has long been a focus of Gordon’s work.
“This is a system I’ve been working with for the last 10 years,” he explains. “I started to build a formula – called the College of Intuitive Studies – for people in Germany, Switzerland and Austria who didn’t have a foundation in Spiritualism, by creating this very basic system of sitting in circle and teaching them how it used to be done.
“I was never taught to be a medium – thank God – I was taught to create a link with Spirit. That’s what we’ll do, using my technique. I’m in the process of writing up and adapting my European courses for use in a Spiritualist church environment.”
He will be supported by healer Steven Levetts, and intends to participate in the courses as often as his busy schedule will allow.
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