The Story Of Our Church

The Church building has stood on this site since 1897. Originally it was a carpenters workshop, what is now the kitchen was used as the stable and had an earthen floor.

The Pioneers of our church founded the spiritualist movement in Peterborough and as people started to gather, they started to build a church on the corner of Bright Street and Cromwell Road, on land which had been donated by the lady owner. However, before the church could be completed, funds ran out. Several of the Pioneers were disappointed with the outcome and broke away to form Home Circles around Peterborough.

One of these Circles was run at the home of Mr Jackson of Walton, together with his wife and one of her friends. Outside their home they had a stall which sold fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, together with home made preserves and other home made produce, they successfully raised quite a lot of money.

Other circles included Ms Emily Negus of Princess Street, Miss Charlotte Higgins of Princess gardens, Mrs Lou Smith of Gladstone Street, all of whom,along with others, were led by Spirit to the building in Harris Street. Between them they had the full asking price of £195 and they bought it outright in 1937.

Ms Negus and Mrs Higgins were appointed as sole trustees and were tasked with turning the building into a church. Peterborough Christian Spiritualist Church. All deeds were duly signed and registered on the 11th May 1938. Since then the church has fulfilled many and varied services including, weddings, funeral, baptism and naming ceremonies, and will continue to do by request.

During the 1960's the church was known as the Sixpenny Church. This was due to the fact the collection was mainly sixpenny pieces and the Treasurer would pay the Medium twenty two sixpenny pieces for the two Sunday Divine Services. That was 10/6p per service.

This makes our church the oldest established Christian Spiritualist Church in the city and I am sure the fact that Jesus was born in a stable and grew up in a carpenters workshop was not lost on those founding pioneers.