Sir Oliver Lodge Visits Rochester

Sir Oliver Lodge was one of the most brilliant scientists of his day; his groundbreaking research in the subject of of radio waves and electromagnetism made him one of the most respected British scientists and well known both in England and the United States. He was also a devoted Spiritualist, and friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Lodge's initial interest in Spiritualism came from his research into science; after years of researching electromagnetism he became convinced that psychic and spiritual phenomena could exist beyond the range of the average human senses. 

He served as President of the Society for Psychical Research for several years. In 1915 Lodge's son Raymond was killed in action in WWI. Lodge began to attend regular seances and kept detailed records and transcriptions of the messages that were given from his son Raymond. These were published by Lodge in his most famous book, Raymond, or Life and Death. The book contained descriptions of the afterlife in the spirit world, as well as pieces of evidential mediumship collected through Lodge's research. 

Lodge's good friend, Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote that with the event of WWI there was an immense increase in the interest of Spiritualism due to the massive loss of lives brought on by the war, and that several works of Spiritualist literature were produced in the aftermath to bring solace and comfort to those who had lost family members.  He commented that "The greatest of these books is "Raymond." Sir Oliver Lodge is so famous a scientist and so profound a thinker that his brave and frank avowal produced a great impression upon the public." 

The book was a major success and was incredibly popular among Spiritualists, however it was met with some criticism as some felt that the descriptions of the spirit world were too simplistic and not spiritual enough, such as a remark delivered by the spirit of Raymond who stated that he and other soldiers that had passed into spirit were enjoying whiskey and cigars in the spirit world. 

Sir Oliver Lodge went on a lecture tour of the United States and arrived in Rochester March 11, 1920. He arrived early in the morning from Cleveland, OH. Lodge gave a lecture at the Convention Hall (now the Geva Theatre) in the afternoon, giving a lecture on "The Evidence for Survival." After returning to England, Lodge joined Doyle in assisting Rochester Spiritualists to fund and plan for the monument to Spiritualism to be erected in 1927. 

He and his wife retired to Normanton Manor in South West England not far from Stonehenge. He passed away August 22, 1940 at age 89 and was laid to rest in the parish Church of St. Michael.

Rev. Robert Macdonald

Rev. Robert Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland. A Spiritualist at an early age, he served in the Scottish Spiritualist Churches from age 17. Later on he immigrated to the United States and was ordained as a Spiritualist Minister in 1927. He served as Pastor of the Progressive Spiritualist Church of Niagara Falls for 11 years. 

In 1934 Rev. Robert became the Pastor of Plymouth Spiritualist Church after Rev. Raymond Burns stepped down. Rev. Robert's time at Plymouth was marked with noted stability and also with an excellent team of platform workers who would go on to become Church leaders in their own right such as Bertha Krech, Laura Ellsworth, and Eleanor Gutzmer. 

In 1941 Rev. Robert was voted to be a trustee of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, and was elected as Vice-President in 1944. As Rev. Robert assumed more responsibilities within the NSAC Plymouth's pastoral team began to assume more roles within the Church, by 1945 most services were being lead by Bertha Krech. 

By 1947 Rev. Robert had officially left as Pastor of Plymouth to devote more time to his role with the National Association; his role as Pastor was temporarily filled by Rev. Justin Titus returning as a guest Pastor to Plymouth from 1947 to about 1949. After Rev. Titus stepped down this lead to a period of time were Plymouth Church was largely run by a Pastoral team and a series of temporary and guest Pastors. This period of instability included the loss of the original Church and would last until about 1955 when Plymouth found their new home on Flint St. 

In 1955 Rev. Robert became the fifth President of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches. He served lecturer traveling from coast to coast in the United States, as well as Canada, visiting churches and spreading the message of Spiritualism. 

Rev. Robert was noted to have been very devoted to the philosophical and scientific aspects of Spiritualism. He promoted Spiritualism as a natural and reasonable religion, and took a very firm stance against metaphysical teachings that he felt were not part of the Spiritualist religion. He stated, "Astrology, Numerology, Mind Science, etc. all have their place in modern society and modern thinking, but they have no place in the religion of Modern Spiritualism." 

Rev. Robert also served as President of the Lily Dale Assembly, and for many years served as editor and manager for The Summit magazine published by the NSAC. He passed away on March 10, 1973 after a long life of dedication to serving others.