Entry No. 7 — the San Francisco file — filed under: spiritualist church
Golden Gate Spiritualist Church
Chartered by the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in 1924, this is a working Spiritualist church, not a museum piece — it still holds Sunday services with guest mediums, a monthly "All Message Service" where attendees can receive spirit messages, and hands-on healing sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The New Yorker cited it as one of the few surviving Victorian-era Spiritualist congregations still active in America.
The story
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Spiritualism wasn't a fringe subculture—it was a full-blown national movement intimately tied to progressive causes like women's suffrage. While most of the era's Victorian séances and spirit circles dissolved into history books, one of the country's rare surviving original congregations is still holding regular services on a quiet residential corner in Pacific Heights.
Chartered by the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in 1924 (with local roots stretching back even further), the Golden Gate Spiritualist Church is not a preserved historic display or a theatrical gimmick. As *The New Yorker* highlighted, it remains a genuine, working Spiritualist house of worship. The liturgy here doesn't just preach theology; it centers on live spirit communication, guest mediums, and hands-on spiritual healing as routine, weekly practices.
What it's like
Skip the main facade on Franklin Street and look for the actual entrance tucked around the corner on Clay Street. Inside, forget the velvet-draped, crystal-ball tropes of pop culture—the space feels remarkably like a classic neighborhood church, pews and all. If you sit in on a Sunday service or the monthly 'All Message Service' (traditionally held on the last Wednesday of the month), prepare to watch guest mediums stand before the room and deliver specific, direct messages from the spirit realm to people sitting in the pews. Keep an open mind, stay respectful, and don't be surprised if a medium turns to focus on your row.
The move: Sit in on a Sunday service or the last-Wednesday All Message Service together and see whether a medium singles either of you out for a message; afterward talk through what, if anything, landed.
- 📍 Pacific Heights, San Francisco
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1901 Franklin St (at Clay St), San Francisco, CA 94109
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Audium: Theatre of Sound-Sculptured Space — Follow up a session on unseen spirit communication with a short walk to a dark, windowless sound theater where 176 speakers move sound through total darkness.
- St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church — Double down on San Francisco's most extraordinary worship traditions by comparing Victorian mediumship to a jazz-infused liturgy canonizing John Coltrane.
- The Interval at Long Now — Balance a visit focused on voices from the past with a trip down to Fort Mason for cocktails surrounded by deep-future mechanical engineering.
- Left Door — Head to this unmarked second-floor cocktail bar half a mile away to sit in a quiet booth and talk through whatever messages landed during the service.
Good to know
Where do I enter the building?
While the church's official mailing address is 1901 Franklin Street, the main entrance for services and events is located on Clay Street.
Do I have to be a member or believer to attend?
No. Services, healing sessions, and message events are open to the public regardless of your personal background or beliefs.
What is an 'All Message Service'?
It is a specialized gathering—usually held once a month—where the primary focus is mediumship, with practitioners delivering individual messages from spirits to attendees in the room.
Is there an admission fee for regular services?
Public services and healing sessions are open to visitors, though donations and love offerings are accepted to support the upkeep of the historic building.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · newyorker.com · foundsf.org
last checked: 2026-07-20