News News President's Blog - June 2024 Meeting Date Your National Executive committee met on Zoom on the 29th June 2024. President’s Report: Minister Jackie Wright As my first term as your President draws to a close, it is a good point to reflect on the changes of the past two years. It has been a very busy first term! To date, I have visited and served 127 churches in all Districts covering the length and breadth of our country. It has been an absolute privilege to visit, talk and serve each of these brilliant examples of our religion. It has been a very busy first term! To date, I have visited and served 127 churches in all Districts covering the length and breadth of our country When I took up office, I promised to refocus on Union on the membership and on our Churches. It became clear very quickly that we needed to expand our professional workforce to help the Union progress. Most recently, we have employed Rachel Shannon as our human resource manager. As part of her role, she is helping us with our staff contracts and our policies. We were shocked to discover some of our important policies have not been updated since 2016. I look forward to working with Rachel as we continue the drive to ensure we become a more professional Union for our Churches and members. One of Rachel’s first priorities is to take a critical look at our complaint’s procedure. We cannot allow an antiquated system to keep letting down our members. It is a concern I hear time and time again as I visit churches. Open week at the Arthur Findlay College was a huge success. We had greater than average visitors, many had never been to the college before. This gives us all greater confidence that the college is now well on the road to recovery after Covid. It was great to welcome so many DCs and Members back to the college after so long. I am also very proud to say the District Weeks are proving a huge success. I don’t mind admitting it made me quite emotional to see our churches back in their spiritual home and taken advantage of the discounted prices. I will continue to ensure our churches are our priority. I am also very proud to say the District Weeks are proving a huge success. I don’t mind admitting it made me quite emotional to see our churches back in their spiritual home and taken advantage of the discounted prices. I will continue to ensure our churches are our priority. The NEC held a long discussion concerning how many churches are experiencing high utility bills due to incorrect meter readings and in some cases being tied into contracts which were not cost effective. This conversation will now continue with the Church Relations co-ordinator and the Trust property co-Ordinator to find a solution that helps our churches to be more efficient. I recently wrote in the Psychic News about the importance of Religious Education in schools and the challenge we face to ensure that knowledge about Spiritualism is accurate and accessible to teachers, we will continue to look at this moving forward. On a similar note, we are now going to visit the children and mediumistic activities policy. The policy was written in 2004 and is very out of date! The policy requires updating to be closer aligned with our safeguarding work. It is with great sadness I attended two funerals recently. One for Minister Denis Jackson and also Bill Fletcher, a Stansted healer and president of Westcliffe church. Both of these gentlemen who practised their religion with commitment and decency, and who lived by our principles will be sadly missed, our loving thoughts go to their families. Despite the creation of SNUi, we have recognised that engagement with our overseas members has not always been strong. To support our work to enhance our engagement overseas, we have created a new award called the Janet Nohavec Award. This will be presented annually to the person or organisation that has promoted SNU Spiritualism within their own country/community. This could be, for example, by providing literature and sharing their knowledge in their own language. We recognise that Janet in her time did just this, starting the journey within church and taking part in our award system and Ministry. As we go forward, I will continue to listen to our churches and members and ensure that our religion continues the march forward to being the great religion it was always meant to be. This cannot happen without supporting the churches and volunteers that are at the forefront of our beautiful religion. Permitted Activities The NEC agreed on what would be permitted activities within our churches and centres. However, it seems that other activities not permitted are starting to filter in. This is unfortunate and it is important to remember that some activities churches are organising run the risk of undermining our religion. Animal communication or Animal services are not allowed nor is the teaching of this topic in our churches, centres and the Union’s teaching centres. Sadly, a trend of serving alcohol has crept in our demonstrations of mediumship evenings. Numerous adverts have been sent to me highlighting a demonstration and a glass of prosecco. This is not permitted, we are not entertainment nor a public house. Our churches and centres are sacred places. It should also be considered the risks of breaching licensing rules, which can cause financial and reputational damage to churches and centres. Vice President’s Report: Minister Julia Almond The training of our Ministry continues, with training days being diarised to be held at the Barbanell centre. The minister committee are investigating the best way to support our members who find themselves struggling to cope with grief, and support when they find themselves bereaved. MDC were saddened to announce the resignation of Minister Colin Bates from the development committee; “Colin’s compassion and passion have been invaluable in the training of our Ministry and the help he has given to progress the future of our ministry. We wish Colin well.” Planning is under way for the Minister’s Congress on October 19th with more details to follow. MDC are excited to announce an exciting new project called The Reading Room. The reading room will be the SNU ‘go to library’ it is envisaged it will start as a resource for study, research and furthering the knowledge understanding of Spiritualism. Any enquiries about this exciting new project should go to Minister Brenda Newall. Complaints Number of complaints this year is 21, (6 still in progress) 14 rejected. Vice President’s Report: Marie Lisseman OSNU The general-purpose committee meet weekly to discuss and update our bylaws. They are currently working on the Motions our members have submitted for the upcoming AGM. It is great to see such a wide range of motions coming from members. National Arboretum Plans are well under way for our Peace Walk, and we look forward to welcoming our churches and members on the 20th July. Individual Members John Fitzgerald continues to communicate with our IMs to hear their thoughts. We are very aware we do not do enough to ensure our international members are included in our family. We will be holding meetings to discuss what they need from us. One of the ideas is to have a post that covers overseas members and to be the bridge between them and the NEC, we realise that Spiritualism in their own countries does not enjoy the same freedom as in ours, so we will do everything we can to listen to their needs. Redwoods Head Office continues to function well, we are very grateful to Rachael Loukes and her staff for their hard work and efficiency. Sadly, some staff have reported rather difficult calls with members. Please remember that on the other end of the phone is a human being let us be respectful to one another. The Arthur Findlay College The AFC is beginning to thrive once more with more students returning and new students attending. The college needs many repairs doing to it and we are slowly trying to ensure the college is looked after. We are grateful to Vince Gillam and his small team for their hard work. Work starting soon is survey of the drains. The college drains are Victorian and, in some places, collapsing so we are commissioning a survey to see what needs to be done. We are waiting on permission from the airport police to allow us to fly a drone over the roof so we can see the damage to the roof and guttering. Despite renewing two boilers we now have a third that needs renewing as well as freezers in the kitchen. Window frames in the large lounge are rotten and the glass is loose so they need to be repaired as you can imagine as a listed building this is a long process and costly. Barbanell Centre Seamus Davies at the Barbanell Centre has seen an upturn in course bookings thanks to extending the opportunity for non-SNU tutors to hire the centre and work there. Church Relations Coordinator Church Relations Coordinator, Matthew Mold continues to help our churches and to empower them to, were possible, move out of support, we are very grateful to Matthew for his hard work and dedication to our churches and their committees. Latest SNU Church information including videos from Matthew Mold can be found on our Churches Page SNU Churches Matthew has provided us with an updated Volunteers policy that will now go to HR for her approval. We are very fortunate to have such exceptional volunteers. Our religion relies on volunteers to ensure the doors are opened to those in need. Every one of our volunteers are essential to Spiritualism and we are committed to enabling you all to be supported in your essential work. Head of Communications Kyle Pedley continues to spotlight the tremendous work within our churches and to celebrate their achievements. We are also grateful to Kyle and head office for their work with our very first online DC voting. As with anything new it was not without its teething issues, but we will learn from that and improve. Peace Walk 2024 Our annual Peace Walk has had some date changes due to the availability of the National Arboretum. We have secured the following dates: July 20th 2024 July 19th 2025 July 11th 2026 We are really looking forward to continuing the success of our Peace Walk and seeing more members come along. Find out how to attend Finance Director’s Report: James Underwood CSNU During the year, the Union reviewed the way in which churches are charged an additional fee when undertaking the sale or purchase of a building. Historically, a fee has been levied which goes towards covering the costs of the Union’s property management. The Board felt that the charity should share the responsibility and supporting working churches and therefore agreed the following change in approach going forwards: •Any major scheme requiring project management should be charged on a case-by-case basis and should be agreed and confirmed with the church before the commencement of any project. Assistance given to churches to assess the viability of the project should not be considered chargeable. •No charge should be levied on working churches •Levy a fee on sales or purchases on closed churches of 3.5% This ensures that working churches retain their own funds at a time when they need it most. This reflects how committed we are to ensuring our churches are at the heart of every decision made. Education and Exponents Director’s Report: Minister Richard Cuthbert EE committee are a very pro-active and hard-working committee. The committee is constantly working on improving the training and assessing of our potential award holders. The next date for volunteers within education is scheduled for 14th July at the Barbanell centre and online. SNUI SNUi continue to be that online bridge with the wider world and membership. The NEC have recognised that there is a real need to update and modernise the IT system to ensure SNUi has a fully functioning system to do their work. We have planned this work to bring the systems up to date. Healing The healing Committee work extremely hard to ensure that this vital part of Spiritualism is promoted and monitored in the best possible way. The committee has had a hugely successful Healing awareness week with around 268 participants. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to; Hazel Middleton Sam Underwood. Kathryn Crossley Sue Tabrett Lorna Harper Annekee deGraauw. Council Member’s Report: Jean Smart CSNU The last meeting was held at the Barbanell centre 18th May. This was a very successful meeting where we discussed a range of issues facing District Councils. We shared a lot of thoughts and ideas, which will now be discussed with their committees and report back. If we are to professionalise our Union these uncomfortable questions need to be asked and addressed. It was brilliant to have delegates approach this discussion with an open mind and willingness to challenge the status quo. Various ideas where shared on how to engage with younger people. The use of YouTube and other social media. The committee continue to work on their ideas and will feedback soon. Ordinary Director 2’s Report: Pat Redman Pat has been busy looking into the recruitment and training for our volunteers. In addition, Pat is exploring how we reward and recognise our members and volunteers. She continues to explore the important work of community engagement. Ordinary Director 3’s Report: Sean Taylor Sean has continued the important work on diversity and inclusion. Sean attended the council meeting to engage with all DC reps and did a fact-finding exercise. Reps were asked 3 questions; What are the barriers to inclusion? What are the opportunities or issues for inclusion? What wisdom or advice did they wish to share? Sean collated these important responses and they continue to form part of our consideration as an NEC to ensure we are moving forward with the important work of diversity and inclusion. The Science Working Party The Science Working Party continues to establish itself, building up relationships with leading researchers, including Dr. Oliver Lazar. Dr. Kirsty Brock. Norsk Parapsyckoloisk (Norway) Dr. Agnes Venskus. We are very grateful to Penny Hayward OSNU and her team for the resurgence of this important part of Spiritualism. Take Part Here As always, I want to thank all our Committees and volunteers who help to make Spiritualism the wonderful religion that it is. Minister Jackie Wright - President of The Spiritualists' National Union Our Promise We as your NEC continue to serve you and the churches Manage Cookie Preferences