If you are experiencing something unusual or frightening and believe that it may have a spiritual cause, we understand that this can be deeply distressing.
People sometimes contact the Church because they believe they are experiencing a haunting, spirit attachment, negative entity, psychic attack, possession or another form of spiritual activity.
Whatever you believe may be happening, our first concern is your wellbeing and safety.
We Will Listen Without Judgement
As a Christian Spiritualist Church, we recognise that people may understand unusual experiences through a spiritual framework.
We will not dismiss what you are experiencing or tell you that your experiences are meaningless. Equally, we cannot determine through social media, email or a brief conversation exactly what is happening or confirm that a supernatural explanation is the cause.
We therefore try to approach these situations with compassion, an open mind and appropriate caution.
Our aim is to reduce fear, rather than increase it.
Can You Tell Me If I Have a Spirit Attached to Me?
No.
We would not tell someone through a message that they are possessed, have a spirit attached to them, are being attacked by spirits, are cursed or have an evil entity present.
There can be many possible explanations for frightening or unusual experiences, and it would be irresponsible for us to make a definitive diagnosis based on a message or brief conversation.
This does not mean that we are dismissing your experience. It means that we do not want to make claims that we cannot substantiate or say something which might make you more frightened.
What Support Can the Church Offer?
We may be able to offer spiritual and pastoral support, including prayer, compassionate listening and spiritual healing in accordance with the normal practices of our Church.
If you would like, we can also place your name in our healing book. Names in the healing book are including in our healing prayers.
You are also welcome to attend one of our Church services or other appropriate activities.
Our support is spiritual and pastoral. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological, psychiatric or other professional healthcare.
Spiritual Support and Professional Help Can Work Together
If what you are experiencing is causing significant fear or distress, affecting your sleep or everyday life, or making you feel unsafe, we strongly encourage you to speak with your GP or another appropriate healthcare professional.
Seeking professional support does not mean that you have to abandon your spiritual beliefs.
Spiritual support and professional healthcare do not need to be alternatives to one another. It is entirely possible to seek both.
We will never advise someone to stop taking prescribed medication, discontinue treatment or avoid speaking with healthcare professionals.
If You Believe You Are Being Haunted or Experiencing a Presence
We understand that unusual experiences in a home can be frightening.
However, we cannot confirm through messages whether paranormal activity is taking place, identify an alleged spirit, determine its intentions or diagnose the cause of what you are experiencing.
Please also be cautious of anyone who immediately tells you that you are cursed, possessed or in danger from a spirit, particularly if they then ask for money to remove it.
Fear can make vulnerable people susceptible to exploitation.
Requests for Home Visits or Spiritual Cleansing
We are sometimes asked to visit properties because someone believes that they are experiencing a haunting, spirit attachment or similar phenomenon.
We cannot arrange this simply through a social media message, and individual Church volunteers cannot privately agree to visit someone’s home for this purpose.
Any exceptional request for pastoral support outside the Church would need to be considered carefully by the Church Committee, taking account of safeguarding, personal safety, appropriate boundaries and the circumstances involved.
Children and Young People
If your concerns involve a child or young person, their welfare must come first.
We do not enter into private or extended conversations with children about possession, demons, attachments or similar experiences.
Where there is a concern about the safety or welfare of a child, appropriate safeguarding procedures may need to be followed.
If You Are in Immediate Danger
If you believe that you or somebody else is in immediate danger, please do not wait for a response from the Church.
Contact the emergency services or seek urgent professional assistance.
This is particularly important if:
- you are thinking about harming yourself;
- you are thinking about harming somebody else;
- you are hearing voices or experiencing something that is telling you to do something dangerous;
- you feel unable to keep yourself safe;
- you are experiencing extreme fear or panic;
- violence or abuse is taking place;
- a child or vulnerable person may be at risk; or
- you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency.
In these situations, immediate safety must take priority over trying to establish whether the experience has a spiritual explanation.
Contacting Us
If you would like spiritual support, prayer or to have your name included in our healing book, you are welcome to contact the Church.
When contacting us, please understand that our telephone, social media and email accounts are not monitored as emergency services and we may not be able to respond immediately.
We may also be unable to provide continuing one-to-one support through social media where somebody is experiencing an ongoing crisis.
Our Approach
Our guiding principle is simple:
We seek to reduce fear rather than increase it.
We will treat what you tell us with dignity and compassion, while avoiding claims about possession, attachments, hauntings or spirits that we cannot substantiate.
Where spiritual support is appropriate, we will offer it.
Where professional, safeguarding or emergency assistance is needed, we will encourage you to seek that help as well.
Where to Get Further Help
Sometimes the support you need may be beyond what our Church can safely provide. If you are frightened, overwhelmed or struggling to cope, please consider seeking professional support as well as any spiritual support that is helpful to you.
If there is an immediate danger to life, or you or somebody else is at immediate risk of serious harm, call 999 or go to your nearest Accident & Emergency department.
NHS
If you are concerned about your mental or physical health, you can contact your GP or use NHS services for advice and appropriate professional support.
For urgent medical help that is not a 999 emergency, contact NHS 111.
Samaritans
If you are struggling to cope or need somebody to talk to, Samaritans provide confidential emotional support day or night, 365 days a year.
Call Samaritans free on 116 123.
More information is available from https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/.
