On this Day 1969: ‘Spiritualism in Stoke-on-Trent’

OTD, November 26th 1969…

Alan Jones headed to the Longton National Spiritualist Church to find out about the popularity of spiritualism in Stoke-on-Trent.

Jones speaks with 51-year-old Gordon Higginson, the Priest of Spiritualism of the National Spiritualist Church in Longton. Higginson notes that they are so busy they are having to turn people away.

The report shows shots of a seated congregation inside the church and Mr Higginson addressing them as a spiritual medium and he makes contact with their relatives. There is subsequently an interview with Higginson about his abilities that ‘bring two worlds a little closer together’.

These include healing the sick and Alan Jones then talks to three of his congregation who have been ‘cured of conditions’ including arthritis.

The National Spiritualist Church in Longton continues to offer services in 2024, although the church seen in the news report on Lightwood Road in Longton is no more. It was demolished in 1995 as part of the less spiritual A50 dual carriageway.

Gordon Higginson was President of the National Spiritualists Union from 1970 until his death in 1993.