Statement of Purpose

The National Spiritualist Association of Churches defines Spiritualism as: 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.

Thus, Spiritualism focuses upon three major concepts:

1. There is personal and conscious survival of bodily death.

2. Death, itself, is the transition from one realm of life to another.

3. Communication, of some form, between this world and the world of Spirit is possible, provided certain conditions prevail.

The Albertson Memorial Church of Spiritualism is dedicated to promoting the religion, philosophy and science of Spiritualism. Let us look at what we mean by this:

Religion helps people understand how we, as Spirit, relate to God, as Spirit, and how God relates to us in Spirit. Religion is a means of expressing the Divine nature within the individual. Religion is based, in great part, upon faith; a belief in that which cannot be proven. The derivation of the word “religion” is “order”. Thus, religion is a specific and orderly means of expressing the Divine within.

As an aside, many ask: What is the difference between religion and spirituality? We are all on a spiritual journey. In this, we all fall victim to the temptation of judging others as more or less spiritual, when, in effect, we are all equally spiritual. Please keep this in mind. The judging of others’ spirituality is often based upon comparing their beliefs or lifestyles to our own. Spiritualism vehemently condemns this judging of others, because it recognizes that we are all Spirit and, in the eyes of the Creator, we are all equal.  

Thus, we are all spiritual, because we are all on a journey of the Spirit. Spirituality is the journey, and the destination of that journey is the same for all people: oneness with each other and oneness with God. Religion is the specific pathway that each chooses to travel and express that journey and to reach the universal goal of oneness. The journey is not of our choosing. The fact that we are alive and live in Spirit, by its very design, places us all on an identical journey. How we travel the journey, the pathway(s) we choose to take on the journey, what we do along the journey and the speed at which we travel on the journey are all completely of our own choosing.

Thus, we have the basic differences between religion and spirituality.

Science seeks to understand the relationship which we have with Nature and the laws governing Nature and Creation. Science is based on facts which can be demonstrated under the tenet of repeatability. The derivation of the word “science” is “to know”.

Philosophy seeks to understand how the three – God, Spirit and Nature– relate to each other and how, in fact, they are inseparable. Philosophy relates more to wisdom than it does to factual information; although facts are important in building one’s philosophical makeup. The derivation of the word “philosophy” is “friend of wisdom”.

Notice that, in these very basic and very simplistic definitions, we are not addressing any specific religion, any specific branch of science, or any specific philosophy. Rather, we are looking at these three aspects of life’s journey from their broadest and most humanistic perspective. This open-ended and humanistic approach is vital to an understanding of Spiritualism.

Therefore . . .

Spiritualism is Religion; Spiritualism is Science; Spiritualism is Philosophy because it seeks to integrate these three into a working and into a living whole.