Rev. Raymond Burns

Rev. Raymond Burns was Pastor of Plymouth Spiritualist Church for a short period of time in the late 1930s. He was born in Pennsylvania and reportedly demonstrated prominent psychic and mediumistic abilities since childhood. 

Before being called to Plymouth as Pastor he served at the First Spiritualist Church of Niagara Falls. He was a profoundly developed Medium and demonstrated several phases of mediumship such as Inspirational Speaking, Trance, and Trumpet Mediumship. 

He regularly served as a lecturer and Medium at Lily Dale & Freeville Spiritualist Camps.

Rev. Burns resigned from Plymouth Spiritualist Church due to issues and conflicts among the leadership of the Church, and went on to become Pastor of the Center of Psychic Science in Buffalo, New York. He was installed as Pastor by Rev. Leota Maxwell of the Open Door Spiritualist Church in Rochester, NY. 

During the schism between the National Association and the General Assembly, Rev. Burns chose to remain a member of the General Assembly. He served as missionary for the International General Assembly of Spiritualists and was an Associate of the Arthur Ford Institute for Psychic Science, he was also a Trustee at Camp Silver Belle in Pennsylvania. 

Rev. Burns went on to become the Pastor of Albertson Memorial Chapel in Connecticut where he served for 23 years. I actually had the pleasure to meet with a member of the late Rev. Burn's former congregation. An upbeat and positive woman, aged 102, she was thrilled to hear me mention Rev. Burns who she said was a "wonderful man, and amazing medium." 

She stated that she attended his development circle that met every Tuesday and they called their little group the Tuesday Club. She told me she could recall attending Trumpet seances led by Rev. Burns, where the trumpet would levitate and bring through messages with the voices of spirits. 

Spiritualist Church of Divine Love

The Spiritualist Church of Divine Love was founded by Rev. George Wood and was chartered through the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches. Currently the Church of Divine Inspiration is the only church in Rochester chartered with the General Assembly, and also acts as the headquarters for the Assembly, which was originally located in New York City. 

Rev. Wood was born December 3, 1903 in York, Livingston County. As a young man he traveled extensively around the country. In 1942 he returned to Rochester to work at Baush & Lomb, and continued to work until his retirement in 1969. Rev. Wood was a veteran of WWI, he passed away in 1992. 

In the 1940s he studied at Divine Inspiritation to become a Spiritualist Minister, and was ordained in 1946. Two years later he founded the Spiritualist Church of Divine Love. Divine Love was located on Richmond St. off of East Main, and had about 50 members in the congregation, with 15-20 people attending on Sundays in it's later years. 

 In an interview with Rev. Wood from the Democrat and Chronicle in 1970 he stated that although his congregation is neither large, nor rich "all we're interested in is helping the poor."

At the time the congregation was working to raise money to send to Native Americans on a Hopi reservation in Arizona, he was inspired by his granddaughter who had been contributing through a children's foundation, when he and his wife visited the reservation in Arizona he said, "I was surprised they weren't playing games. then I realized many of them had nothing to play with, not even a ball." 

The congregation took a collection to send what they could, particularly money, clothing, toys and books. Rev. Wood stated "I feel it my duty, and the duty of the churches to help people" 

I was blessed to meet an individual who had attended the Spiritualist Church of Divine Love, she has unfortunately since passed away. When I asked her if she had known about the church she lit up, and told me that she had attended there when she was young with her mother. She remembered Rev. Wood, and said that he was a "deeply kind and very spiritual man."

Progressive Sunflower Spiritualist Church

In the 1920's we began to see the early growth of Spiritualist Churches in Rochester, particularly with Central Spiritualist Church and Divine Inspiration becoming very popular churches even during the golden age of Plymouth Spiritualist Church as the undisputed "International Shrine of Spiritualism."

In this era another smaller church was also existed in Rochester, and lasted about five years. This church was named Progressive Sunflower Spiritualist Church, and also is referred to as Progressive Sunflower Psychic Church.

The modest church was started by Rev. Frank E. Carl, who was described as a "lecturer, medium, healer, and spiritual herb specialist." The church was chartered through the General Assembly of Spiritualists, then the New York State Auxiliary to the National Spiritualist Association.

The church would best be described as a Christian Spiritualist Church; a 1927 Sunday listing announced that three infants were to be baptized the upcoming Tuesday night service, and most of Rev. Frank's sermons and lectures were on biblical subjects, albeit from a Spiritualist perspective.

In a very short letter, Rev. Frank wrote to the Democrat in Chronicle in an "Issues of the Day" column expressing his views regarding prayer and reading of the bible in public schools.

Rev. Frank actually felt that this should be acceptable in public school, explaining that there are some children who cannot afford to go to religious schools or don't attend Sunday schools, and that he felt being familiar with the bible and prayer (of any denomination) would be a positive thing for them.

He also added "I, a Spiritualist Minister, for one would donate a bible or two to the public Schools and I am sure other churches, organizations, and societies would do likewise"

Each Sunday service included a message service as well as a healing service. Message Services offered a few different kinds of mediumship including Trance, Automatic Writing, and also Flower Messages through psychometry.

Hydesville Spiritualist Camp

The site of the Fox Cabin in Hydesville, NY is considered one of the most important Historical Sites to Spiritualists worldwide.

Home to the Fox Sisters, on March 31 1848 Spiritualists believe that Kate and Maggie Fox ushered in the advent of the Spiritualist movement by demonstrating communication with the spirit world.

Hydesville no longer exists as a village, and is part of the larger township of Acadia, NY just outside of Newark. The site of the Fox Cabin is now known as Hydesville Memorial Park.

The site is actually only about 15 minutes away from another sacred location, Hill Cumorah, where the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith is said to have received the Book of Mormon from an Angel.

While the location does not receive as much attention as Hill Cumorah, the location is considered virtually sacred by Spiritualists, and is visited by many as a site of pilgrimage, particularly on March 31, celebrated as the anniversary of Spiritualism, or Hydesville Day.

The site of the original Fox Cabin is now a visitor center that preserves the original foundation of the home. The original Fox Cabin was moved to Lily Dale and was tragically destroyed in a fire. The property has an interesting history, and I only will be touching on a few points in this post. 

Over the years, pious Spiritualists have proposed numerous ideas to bring more honor and focus to the site. For instance, in 1928 it was proposed that a Spiritualist run College should be built at the location, this however, did not come to pass.

In 1948 the Fox Memorial Society presided over a service to dedicate Hydesville Spiritualist Camp. A barn that was part of the original Hyde Family farm was converted into a 400 seat auditorium. Spiritualists from around the country and the world attended the dedication, with Rev. Helen Gerling of the Psychic Science Temple representing Rochester. The small camp enjoyed several visiting guest speakers, services, and summer events. 

Plans were created to turn Hydesville Spiritualist Camp into a central Spiritualist location in the United States. A 146 acre plot was purchased near the site, and plans were made to build "Sunshine Village" which would include a hotel, shrine, and church. 

In 1950 the converted-barn auditorium was renovated to act as a meeting house, and contained a cafeteria and had accommodations for at least 50 people.

Fundraisers were conducted to build homes on the piece of land, for those wishing to invest in and reside in Hydesville Spiritualist Camp. Unfortunately Hydesville Spiritualist Camp as a permanent assembly did not come to fruition.

Hydesville is currently undergoing something of a revival today, largely in part to The Journey Within North, a Spiritualist Church chartered with the Spiritualist National Union (UK), located near Hydesville Memorial Park. The community has purchased the old Hydesville School House, and has been repairing the structure with plans to create a Healing Temple. 

Segregation in Spiritualist Churches: Part II

In the early 1930s the topic of segregation was brought up again during the National Spiritualist Association convention, however, this time the proposal actually received more support from the delegates to the convention than it had in the 1920s. The proposal called for complete segregation in all Spiritualist Churches chartered with the NSA, including churches in states without mandatory segregation laws. The resolution passed.

 The General Assembly of Spiritualists, which was chartered as the New York State Auxiliary since the late 1800s, responded to this proposal by issuing a statement condemning these policies as being immoral and against the very foundation of Spiritualist principles, and motioned to disaffiliate with the National Association, and to incorporate as their own independent association.

The General Assembly of Spiritualists had a particularly unique legal advantage at the time, New York State had officially recognized the General Assembly in 1914 as legal Spiritualist denomination, independent from the National Association. This allowed them to offer charters, open churches (even outside New York State), ordain ministers, and conduct business completely independently of the National Association.

This separation from the NSA, caused most New York Spiritualists to sever ties with the National Association and become full members in the newly independent General Assembly. In Rochester most Spiritualist Churches at the time remained with the General Assembly.

Plymouth Spiritualist Church however was largely divided on the issue: one faction wishing to remain with the General Assembly, and another faction wishing to recharter with the National Association. After a complicated legal battle the church rechartered with the National Association, causing a large portion of the membership to leave Plymouth in order to remain in the General Assembly, and in protest over the policy of segregation.

A first hand account of these events was recorded by Arthur Ford in his autobiography, Nothing So Strange. Arthur Ford was a very famous Medium and Lecturer, and was also a member of the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches:

"Only once have I come to issue with the Spiritualists' national organization and that was over a matter that would never be raised in these days. 

Many years ago an opinionated gentlemen with marked racial bias got himself into a position of national leadership and used such authority as he had, augmented by the pressure of like-minded friends, to move against the membership of Negros. 

Along with other leaders of the New York State delegation, I made a strong stand for an interracial fellowship.

The altercation was taken to a national meeting and for a time we lost, but before long popular sentiment supported us and the question was settled once and for all. Not many denominations came to this stand as quickly and unequivocally. Today the Spiritualist movement is both interracial and international."

As Ford summarized the policy of segregation was so massively unpopular that it was actually overturned fairly quickly. Now, as back then Spiritualist Churches are more known for their openness and inclusiveness.

However, despite the reversal of the segregation policy, the General Assembly and the National Association have been separate ever since.

The separation between the two denominations also allowed the spirituality of the two organizations to change over time. In Rochester, this created a community of Spiritualists and Spiritualist Churches that express their approaches to Spiritualism in different and unique ways.

Segregation in Spiritualist Churches: Part I

During my research something I noticed was a fairly constant reoccurring reference in several of the texts stating something along the lines of "the NSAC expelled African-American members in the 1920s (or 1930s)"

This was always very matter of factually stated in almost all the texts and articles dealing with African-American Spiritualism. I also noticed that any time this was cited, the chain of references tended to not go back to actual academic works, or even primary sources, but to journalistic writings that seemed to be paraphrasing an anecdote they were told from an oral tradition.

I also discovered that when I brought up this topic to Spiritualists involved with Spiritualist Churches most were completely unaware of this ever happening. Most were completely surprised such a thing would have ever happened and some individuals outright told me that I was wrong.

Most Spiritualists tend to pride themselves on the progressive nature and forwardness of their movement, and for fairly good reason, most of the early Spiritualists were some of the biggest supporters of Abolitionism and Equal Rights movements in American History.

The key note there is early Spiritualists. Virtually all of the great early Spiritualists were zealously dedicated to reform movements and racial equality. This early period of Spiritualism is the most well documented and discussed, so it's what most Spiritualists are most familiar with. However, I've found that the further away the timeline moves from the era of the Fox Sisters and Progressive Reform, the more it becomes fragmented and under documented.

It has taken me several years worth of research to piece together a coherent narrative about the story of segregation in Spiritualists Churches. As I suspected, it did occur, however, it is a fairly complex chain of events that actually spanned over two decades with two main events occurring: one in the 1920s, and another in the 1930s. This piece will focus on the 1920s, and the next will cover what happened a decade later.

In the period of time after World War I the United States saw a wave of racist policies sweep through the country: political, social, economic, and also religious, this included, and effected, Spiritualist Churches.

During a National Convention of the National Spiritualist Association (now known as the NSAC), a motion was proposed by a faction of Pro-Segregationist delegates that the National Spiritualist Association should adopt an official policy of full racial segregation, and vote to disaffiliate African-American members.

Many of the delegates were opposed to the idea, particularly delegates from from New York State, including the Rev. John White, "the Father of Harlem Spiritualists," and William H. Burr, the President of the General Assembly of Spiritualists (which was then the New York State Auxiliary of the National Spiritualist Association)

After days of heated debate the convention voted to create an auxiliary for African-American Spiritualists, which would continue to be chartered through National Association, thus allowing members to retain their membership with the National Association.

This organization was named the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, and Rev. John White was elected as president of the Association.

Some African-American Spiritualists, such as Rev. John White, seemed to feel that this choice was useful in that it allowed African-American Spiritualists independence in governing their affairs, while still remaining connected to the larger community of Spiritualists in the United States, with access to resources, education, and all benefits of membership, while avoiding the extremes of segregation found in most other churches at the time.

On a local level I've only managed to find a reference to one church in Rochester that was chartered through the National Colored Spiritualist Association, named Good Will Spiritualist Church, which was located on Clarissa street. Unfortunately very little information has been preserved about this church beyond the fact that it existed.

The decision to form the NCSA was not without dissent. Many African-American Spiritualists that were members of the National Spiritualist Association at the time felt that the formation of the NCSA was ignoring the fundamental problem of the immorality of segregation, and was a concession to those Spiritualists that favored segregationist policies, going against the longstanding tradition within Spiritualism to stand for the equality of all people.

Several delegates actually withdrew from the convention in protest. Many African-Americans decided to leave the National Organization to form their own independent Assemblies. It was in this era that there was a flourishing of African-American run independent Spiritualist Churches and organizations that can trace their history to these early dissenters.

Perhaps one of the best known examples of an early independent African-American Spiritualist Association was the Eternal Life Christian Spiritualist Churches founded by Mother Leafy Anderson, a Spiritualist Medium, Teacher, and Preacher who spread her mission of Spiritualism throughout the United States, from Chicago to New Orleans.

Many of the Churches started by Leafy Anderson, and other independent African-American Spiritualist movements, would eventually branch off into a new movement known as the Spiritual Church Movement.

There is little documentation on the history of the National Colored Spiritualist Association of Churches, but references of it persisted into the 1980's. Most Churches affiliated with the Association appear to have become independent Spiritualist Churches, or were phased back into the greater denomination of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches.

Rev. Pearl Tygart

Through the efforts of the General Assembly of Spiritualists, the property of 372 Flint Street, the original location of Church of Divine Inspiration founded by Rev. Whillemena Harrs, was purchased by the General Assembly and dedicated as the Spiritualist Church of True Brotherhood. Rev. Pearl was elected to lead the congregation as Pastor.

Rev. Pearl was born in and lived much of her young life in Gaines, Orleans County. She studied for Spiritualist Ministry New York City under the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches, and eventually moved to Rochester after she married Carl S. Tygart, who worked for the New York State Rail Road.

On March 12 1944 Rev. Pearl stepped down from her position as Pastor of True Brotherhood to devote her time to charity and missionary work. In a farewell ceremony she installed Rev. Rosalind Glasser as Pastor, formerly of Golden Rod Spiritualist Church in Buffalo, NY, as the Pastor of the Church of True Brotherhood.

 In 1946 she organized and founded the Anderson Park Spiritualist Mission. The Mission was described as "a little red brick building" on N. Union Street, and was eventually torn down make way for construction of the Innerloop. The Mission then moved to South Ave, near Gregory Street.

Rev. Pearl was known for her acts of kindness and devotion to the people of Rochester. Under her leadership at the Mission she collected clothes, food, and money for families in the area.

She volunteered several weekends to taking orphans at Hillside Children's Center on picnics, and was a frequent visitor to patients in the Veterans Hospital in Batavia, who she took fruit, candy, tobacco, and other gifts.Rev. Pearl was also a member of the Rebekahs, and the Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly.

In 1963 Rev. Pearl Tygart passed away due to injuries from a car accident. After her passing Anderson Park Spiritualist Mission and Church closed after some 30 years of serving the people of Rochester.

Rev. Leota Maxwell

Open Door Spiritualist Church was founded by Rev. Leota Maxwell, a former school teacher of 20 some years. Rev. Leota was a long time member of the General Assembly of Spiritualist Churches, she founded the Church as President in 1931, and became ordained through the General Assembly and elected as Pastor in 1932. Rev. Leota was assisted by her daughter Dorthy, who acted as an Assistant Pastor and Medium.

In founding this Church Rev. Leota had a very clear mission: that everyone was welcome. At the time many Spiritualist Churches were beginning to accept segregationist policies, which Rev. Leota (and the General Assembly of Spiritualists) were extremely opposed to.

In an article in the Democrat and Chronicle detailing the opening of her Church reffered to Open Door Spiritualist Church as a "colored" Spiritualist Church, due to Rev. Leota's outspoken stance on the importance of integration and equality.

Rev. Leota emphasized that Spiritualism was a religion of Healing; in an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle Rev. Leota explained that she often ministered to those who were dealing with mental health issues, particularly depression. She claimed that the principles and teachings of Spiritualism were especially helpful those struggling with their mental wellness, and that many individuals came to her church seeking healing.

Open Door Spiritualist Church met in the home of Rev. Leota, in a 1938 article in the democrat and chronicle a reporter describes the meeting as "vases of flowers are set about the platform, Biblical pictures and quotations cover the faded brown wallpaper, and visitors sit down happily in folding chairs." For larger services and lectures, the congregation would meet in Seneca Hotel.

Rev. Leota was a teacher at heart, and offered a six month course on Mediumship, as well as an introductory course on the religion of Spiritualism, which she called "the A.B.C's of Spiritualism." In her sermons she would often use passages and wisdom from the Bible to teach the principles of Spiritualism.

Rev. Leota would eventually step down as Pastor from Open Door Spiritualist Church to continue her ministry both in Lily Dale, New York and continuing to serve on the General Assembly of Spiritualists. Open Door Spiritualist Church would remain a thriving Spiritualist Church for several decades, closing shortly after the passing of Rev. Leota in 1953. She passed quietly in her home in Lily Dale, New York where she had lived since 1945. 

Death and Rebirth of a Church

Throughout the 1940's and into the early 1950's membership at Plymouth Spiritualist Church had dwindled to a congregation much smaller than the original 1200 capacity church needed.

With hardly enough active members to afford to keep the great building going, the state was able to acquire the property and planned to demolish the church to make space for the construction of the Inner Loop and County Jail.

In an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle from 1953 Lewis M. Caves, then President of Plymouth Spiritualist Church, lamented that the dwindling membership was due to a series of Pastors "who didn't set too well" with the congregation.

With Rev. Helen Graham as Pastor, the small congregation left Rochester's grand historic International Shrine of Spiritualism to find a new home.

After a year of temporarily meeting in hotels and houses, in 1955 the Plymouth congregation found a new home for a new era. The property was not far from the original location, and was located on Flint St; it had previously belonged to the First Church of the Nazarene.

Although the membership of the great “International Shrine of Spiritualism” had fallen, and the Plymouth congregation had become much more modest in size, the Spiritualist Community as a whole in Rochester actually remained quite strong.

It seems that with the development of Spiritualism over the years in Rochester, a single Spiritualist community centered around Plymouth was becoming more and more difficult to manage. The Rochester Spiritualist community slowly began to shift towards having smaller Spiritualist churches where members could find more varied and personal expressions of Spiritualism. It was actually in this era that Rochester began to see a rebirth of activity among Spiritualists, and the formation of a strong and diverse community.

Emily French: Rochester's Greatest Medium

Mrs. Emily French is perhaps one of the greatest Mediums in the history of the Spiritualist Movement.She was most active as a Medium in her later years and passed away peacefully at 80 years old in her home at 227 Tremont Street in here in Rochester. Her body was laid to rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery.

 Mrs. Emily French was a Direct Voice medium, a form of Physical Mediumship where rather than channeling Spirits to speak with her own voice, or her hearing them as an inner voice and repeating what they say, the spirits would actually use her body's energy and magnetism to create their own voice, independent of French's body, that every person in attendance could hear.

The records of French's seances were recorded by her friend, Edward C. Randall, a prominent lawyer from Buffalo who became convinced of the truth of Spiritualism and realized the importance of French's amazing gifts.

Randall investigated and interviewed numerous spirits through French's mediumship night after night for years during Seances, his work has been published in several books including: The Future of Man, The Dead Have Never Died, Life's Progression, and Frontiers of the Afterlife.

The Spirits, through Mrs. French's mediumship, spoke of every topic imaginable relating to the philosophy and teachings of Spiritualism covering topics ranging from the nature of God, the afterlife, ethics, prayer, and metaphysics.

These teachings extolled the virtues of charity, prayer, and good works. A major theme of these seances was what Randall would refer to as "mission work" in his writings. Mrs. French would bring through spirits of the dead who felt lost or confused about their state of existence in the afterlife, and the sitters in the seance would guide the confused spirits towards the light, with the assistance of their Guides in Spirit, with uplifting prayers and words of encouragement teaching the principles of Spiritualism.

 The works of Emily French and Edward C. Randall can be read in the wonderful book The French Revelation by N. Riley Heagerty, an exhaustive compendium of all of the above mentioned works with the extensive research of Heagerty.

Central Spiritualist Church of Rochester

In the late 1920's there was some discord among the Spiritualists of Rochester regarding the successive leadership of Plymouth Spiritualist Church. The transition of successive Pastors was always a complicated one, and with several differing opinions and views on what direction Plymouth should be lead there was tension among the Spiritualists.

 In 1927 the highly qualified Rev. Walter Foss of Chicago was voted to be brought in to solve some of the issues the Spiritualists of Plymouth were dealing with. Born in Toronto, Canada, Rev. Foss was a former Presbyterian Minister who converted to Spiritualism. He was trained in Philosophy, Natural Sciences, and Mathematics at the University of Manitoba, and was a graduate of the Auburn Theological Seminary. He was in charge of the Educational Center of the Illinois State Spiritualist Association, and was the Pastor of Central Spiritualist Church in Chicago.

Part's of Rev. Foss's plan were recorded in an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle, which included "constructive education work for both children and adults" of the congregation, which included both biblical education as well as education in Spiritualist principles and phenomena. Rev. Foss also emphasized the need to focus on cooperation within the community rather than competition.

Rev. Foss served as a very popular minister with the Rochester public and with most of the congregation of Plymouth, however there were still those that were not satisfied with Rev. Foss's plans for Plymouth, and tensions still existed within the Church.

In June 1929 Rev. Foss stepped down as Pastor of Plymouth Spiritualist Church, and ended his membership with the Church. He had recently been elected to a position within the Lily Dale Assembly and dedicated much of his time and focus to this. However, a few months later in September Rev. Foss announced that he would be opening a new Church in Rochester, which he hoped would offer him an opportunity to advance the philosophy of Spiritualism.

He named his church Central Spiritualist Church, after his previous congregation in Chicago. A large amount of the congregation of Plymouth Spiritualist Church renounced their membership and joined the Central Spiritualist Church of Rochester, the recorded amount given in a Democrat and Chronicle article was some 62 people.

Central Spiritualist Church quickly became an enormously popular church due to the charisma of Rev. Foss, his outreach programs in education, enthusiastic speakers, and the support of a large portion of the Spiritualist community of Rochester. Unfortunately within less than a year Rev. Foss suddenly passed away at age 52.

After the death of Rev. Foss the leadership of Central Spiritualist Church was lead by another very popular minister, the British Spiritualist Rev. Alexander McIvor-Tyndal. Rev. Alexander was an Educator trained in Natural Sciences and Psychology, he was also known for his skills as a talented Palm Reader, and had a deep understanding of Psychic and Esoteric phenomena. His enthusiastic lectures and demonstrations of Mediumship allowed Central Spiritualist Church in a very short amount of time to flourish and become one of the most popular and active Spiritualist Churches in Rochester's history.

With a natural charisma and personal charm Rev. Alexander was able to engage the public in very interesting ways, while he was extremely well versed in Spiritualist philosophy, he also incorporated his knowledge of Psychology and Eastern Philosophy, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, into his lectures.

Rev. Alexander was also a very adamant about emphasizing Healing in Central Spiritualist Church, vocally expressing this sentiment at a State Convention held at Plymouth Spiritualist Church, that he felt Spiritual Healing was being neglected in Spiritualist Churches.

Rev. Alexander was granted a leave of absence by the Board of Trustees of Central Spiritualist Church to tour on a lecture circuit throughout the United States, his wife, Rev. C. Laura McIvor Tyndall, assumed temporary duties as Pastor of the Church.

Upon his return Rev. Alexander stepped down from the pulpit of Central Spiritualist Church, he and his wife went on a trip to visit his family home in England, and eventually went on a lecture tour of Europe, and the United States, returning to assist with work in the General Assembly of Spiritualists as well as Lily Dale.

After Rev. Alexander stepped down as Pastor, Central Spiritualist Church remained open for about five more years. Unfortunately few of the Pastors had the natural charisma and popularity that Rev. Foss and Rev. Alexander seemed to excite among Spiritualists.

While the Church did not last long, it trained several people who would go on to assist in teaching Spiritualism and demonstrating mediumship in several of the other area churches as Mediums, Healers, and Pastors.

 Perhaps the most notable contribution that Central Spiritualist Church made on the history of Spiritualism in Rochester is that it's foundation and success actually set the stage for a new era of Spiritualism in Rochester: in the coming years the massive influence of Plymouth Spiritualist Church as a central authority began to wane, and the new normal for area churches in Rochester began to move from a single grand shrine of Spiritualism, to smaller area churches functioning together in cooperation as a community, just as Rev. Foss had hoped for.