Rising Phoenix Spiritual Church of Phoenix still growing | ||
Many. churches were still segregated in those days but Rev. Ford
integrated his church long before it was generally accepted.
He invited Rev. Nellie Mae Taylor to serve at Harmony Chapel.
She was an excellent medium and pastor who just happened to be
Black.
Spiritualism was trying to separate itself from traditional
Christianity, but the church was not in favor of this type of
segregation, either. In the late 1980’s a representative of NSAC
came out from New York and he informed them that they could not have
a picture of Jesus or the Bible. He was shown the door and the
church severed its connection with NSAC.
A fire at the Chapel destroyed the building on April 21, 2006. The
Chapel reopened in the spring of 2008. In 2012, the board approved
the tradename, Harmony in Phoenix, while retaining the official
corporate name, use of the tradename removes a barrier that some may
have to church or church-sounding organizations and opens doors to
invite others to a spiritual and metaphysical center. 2015 brought with it a time for change and growth. Under the direction of a new board and pastor, the church adopted the name Rising Phoenix to show that, |
Rev. Edwin W. Ford
1978 photo |
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like the mythical phoenix bird, it had risen from its ashes and was
looking to the future, Rising Phoenix intends to carry on as a
Spiritualist Church within the Valley metaphysical community,
providing spiritual growth, learning, and life enrichment.
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