About us – Spiritual Church Brisbane

Since 1913

Our history

2013 saw us celebrate our centenary. On January 12, 2014, we launched our published book, "100 Years of Spiritualism" on the history of our church.

Our church began 13 January 1913 when a group of spiritualists met as the Brisbane Queensland Lyceum receiving a certificate numbered 409 which certified they were duly enrolled in the British Spiritualists’ Lyceum Union in accordance with the constitution of that body.

Our first president, Theodor Reinhold led this church until 1928. During that time the present church was built at the corner of Boundary and Mein Streets, Spring Hill with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle coming from England to lay the cornerstone on January 11 1921 during his tour of Australia.

Following is the list of presidents and ministers who have led our church from 1913 to the present. Each has a story to tell and the book on the history of the church, published in 2013, helps to fill in the details on each of our forefathers about their time at our church.

President / Minister	Dates
Theodor Reinhold	1913 – 1928
S Broughton Elkin	1928 – 1935
P. N. Humphrys	1935 – 1937
J Woodcock	1937 – 1938
Ada Shaw	1938 – 1941
C. S. Payne	1941 – 1950
Marie Loft	1950 – 1952
A. E. Sampson	1952 – 1954
Ada Shaw	1954 – 1956
J. F. Childs	1956 – 1957
W G Llewllyn	1957
Ada Shaw	1957 – 1958
N McArthur	1958 – 1959
J M MacCullough & H Tapper	1959 – 1960
J.O. Milne	1960 – 1962
G F Bowen	1962 – 1963
C. S. Payne	1963 – 1968
J. W. Carroll & J F Childs	1968 – 1969
S Turner	1969 – 1973
Rt Rev R Levi, JP	1973 – 1979
Rev F Bruce	1979 – 1980
Rt Rev R Levi, JP	1980 – 1984
Rev F Bruce	1984 – 1993
Rev Jeannie L Kane	1993 – 2005
Neil Davey (President)	2005 – 2022
Wendy Deakin (Minister)	2007 – 2019
Helen Rees (Minister)	2019 – 2022
Patricia Strong (Minister)	2022 – 2023
Raila Caslick (President)	2022 – Current

At the Annual General Meeting of the Spiritual Church Brisbane held at 1:00 pm on 16 November 2024, elections were held and the new committee members are as follows:

Letters Patent Officers (LPO)
President	Raila Caslick
Treasurer	Rosemary McHugh
Secretary	Audrey Pluis
Committee
Vice-President (Bookings)	Doreen Howe
Vice-President (Events)	Yvonne Dornseif-Fregon
Property Maintenance	Chris Garnish
Technology Officer	Greg O'Neale
Marketing	Viv Palosaari

The Seven Principles

The guiding ideas of Spiritualism, first given through the mediumship of Emma Hardinge Britten.

1The Fatherhood of God
2The Brotherhood of Man
3The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels
4The Continuous Existence of the Human Soul
5Personal Responsibility
6Compensation and Retribution Hereafter for all the Good and Evil Deeds done on Earth
7Eternal Progress open to every Human Soul

Your first visit

Arrive ten minutes early for the Sunday service. Someone at the door will welcome you and show you to a seat.

Messages

During the demonstration a medium may come to you. Simply answer yes or no. There's no pressure to take a message.

Accessibility

The hall is on one level with an accessible toilet. Hearing loop available; please ask on arrival.

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