History of WSS

This Spiritist group was originally founded a decade ago in 2012, as the Spiritist Group of Winnipeg, by four University of Manitoba students from various faculties, each from very different parts of Brazil, and from different Spiritist backgrounds. Of the two most active founding members, one was raised a Spiritist, studying mostly in the Aliança Espírita Evangélica methodology; the other had a background in Federação Espírita Brasileira.

During the group’s early years, participants were mostly students at U of M. Numbers varied, sometimes as many as 10 to15 people, at others only 1 to 3. Initial meetings were held in Portuguese, in a room in the Engineering building at U of M; eventually the group began to use a more private room in Theology, in St Andrew’s College.

This group had always remained unaffiliated, never imposing a specific methodology, to accommodate different backgrounds as much as possible. The group’s first non-Portuguese speaker joined within the first year, at which time the group started holding two meetings per week, the second being in English.

In February 2013, Rakel joined the group, as did Marcia, who would eventually become one of four incorporators and first official directors. As the founding members moved on, these two shared leadership of the group.

Rakel and Marcia attended regularly every Thursday. Rakel attempted to bring FEB courses to Winnipeg—familiar as she was with this methodology, having been raised within it—but the center in Brazil advised the group to just continue to study the Gospel and the Spirits Book, as they would not be able to provide any formal support.

In June 2015, after Rakel left the city, Marcia assumed leadership of the group with continued support from Aliança. The group continued study meetings on Thursdays: half an hour for the Gospel, and another half hour for the Spirits’ Book, as had been advised.

Marcia led the group for years. Participants came and went, some staying longer than others. At times there were almost 20 participants—all Brazilians—and at others, it was just herself and the spirits in attendance.

In time, the group began receiving mediumistic manifestations, so they decided to set aside 15 minutes for spirit communication at the end of each meeting. They used a dialoguer to speak with the spirits manifesting through the mediums. For a very long time the communications were good, and the group was able to help countless spirits who were unhappy, scared, and confused.

To accommodate those who could only attend on the weekend, the group began holding a second meeting per week, on Sundays, reading in English, but discussing mostly in Portuguese. Some attended both meetings, but over time the two groups would start to differentiate.

In March 2018, Geo joined the group; he would become another one of four incorporators and first official directors. Meetings were held in English on Sundays at the Seven Oaks sports complex, and in Portuguese on Thursdays at the U of M. Throughout the remainder of 2018, many other active members joined the Sunday group, some of whom would become directors of the as-yet unofficial organization, including Tamires, who would also become one of the four incorporators and first official directors.

Tensions began to appear in the Thursday group, leading to negative energy and bad communications, and a growing need to put regulations in place based on a specific methodology, so there would be less confusion as to what should be done. The Sunday meetings started to grow more than the Thursday ones, and they became two different groups, with Marcia being the only one attending both days regularly.

In early 2019, the group started offering an introductory Auta de Souza course: the intent was for the group to remain unaffiliated, while taking courses together in English to help unify the group—and the AdS instructional books were the only ones found translated into English.

On June 15, 2019, the group changed its name to Winnipeg Spiritist Society, and split from the Thursday group, due to disagreement over the need to follow procedures from a specific methodology. The society was meeting on Sundays at Seven Oaks sports complex at the time, looking for a larger space; it also began to hold organizational meetings and take minutes, even though it was not yet an official organization. It was during this year the society held a garage sale at Geo’s place, and a BBQ at Marcia’s property. Later that year, the society began holding meetings in a rented space at 1808 Main; also, the group welcomed Leila, who would later become another one of four incorporators and first official directors. Late in the year, the society began discussing in detail options for registering the organization, including bylaws and whether the society should register as a religious or secular organization.

By March, 2020, it was still not defined what a director’s obligations were, and the society had no mission or vision statements to unify its board. It was becoming clear the directors had very different ideas of what each hoped the society would become. The directors began discussing ideology more heavily regarding the religious and secular, and discussing methodology. The board also asked Leila to join as a director at this time.

In April 2020, the society had to adapt its operations due to Covid-19. Discussions on ideology continued to make the board meetings very long and involved. The board called an extraordinary board meeting in May just to discuss ideology, eventually deciding to focus more on charity and classes instead of continuing to discuss ideology. Over the summer of 2020, the society began its food drive as a charitable event possible during Covid. The society cancelled plans for a feijoada and a confraternization meeting.

On September 20, 2020, the board of seven directors split due to differences in ideology. A proposal was made to restructure the administration and reduce the number of directors; almost half of the board left at this time.

On November 15, 2020, the Winnipeg Spiritist Society incorporated, with the four directors remaining—Marcia, Geo, Tamires, and Leila—becoming its first official directors. The directors decided to register as both a secular and religious organization, so all could join together in support of one unified society. The board worked steadily to set up the society’s administration, finances, website, and regulations including bylaws. The board soon decided to reform its doctrine studies to conform with the Aliança system as an organized way for the society to learn together and work towards more advanced activities, while remaining unaffiliated as an organization.

Leila resigned due to ideological concerns in mid 2021; she was not comfortable with the society strengthening its affiliation with Aliança at the exclusion of others. A few months later, the board approved the society’s first mission and vision statements—the previous lack of which had likely contributed greatly to misunderstandings over what the society was meant to be.

On September 21, 2021, Winnipeg Spiritist Society became an official registered charity under the Charities Directorate of Canada, after extensive communication to clarify the purpose and activities of our organization with the Directorate. This required the society to amend its Articles of Incorporation to conform with recommendations of the Directorate.

On January 10, 2022, the board decided the society should officially promote both Aliança and FEB courses, while remaining unaffiliated.

On March 20, 2022, the society put in place its first bylaw. This was the result of over 2 years of discussion to clarify, simplify, and ensure the bylaws conformed with legal requirements and our own vision for the society, which began long before we were incorporated.

On April 24, 2022, WSS holds its first meeting of members. The board now remembers all it been through to reach this point, holding regrets for mistakes made in our inexperience, but holding still greater hope for the future of this society. Thanks to everyone who has helped this organization in the past, and those helping in the present, including our spirit helpers and the mentors of this group: without everyone’s assistance, we would not be where we are today.

(Excerpt from the message from the board on April 24, 2022)