A new branch of the Spiritualist church has begun practising out of the Otago Pioneer Women’s Association building in Moray Pl.
This Sunday is memorial day and anyone is welcome to go to the church to celebrate and mourn their family members.
Church minister Robyn Newton said it was aiming to provide a holistic spiritual space.
People of all backgrounds and religions were welcome at the church.
While their beliefs might not be shared by everyone in the congregation, they would be respected and allowed to perform their rituals.
Ms Newton has been going to the Spiritualist church her whole life.
"The church has been a Godsend to me," she said.
"My husband was washed out to sea and was never to be found, so the church was my console and it just looked after me."
The church offered a lot of healing.
Discussing Spiritualist beliefs, Ms Newton said: "You are your own devil".
The religion did not prescribe to the philosophy that judgement would be passed on anyone when they died.
Rather, people had to judge themselves.
The idea behind it was to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Ms Newton believed she could see dead people and they could offer guidance.
"I’ve always been able to see dead people," she said.
In the Spiritualist church, she was called a medium — someone who could communicate between different dimensions.
She said she used to go to church after school and talk with people nobody else could see.
After dying, people could pass between dimensions and visit people on Earth if they chose to, she said.
A notable member of the church was Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
