Frequently Asked Questions

Classes for the next cohort begin Saturday, September 7th, 2024. One Spirit Interfaith Seminary's first year class generally meets the first full or second weekend of the month. You can find the first year's class dates here: First Year Class Dates

Second year classes generally meet the third/fourth weekend of the month.

Classes meet online from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm ET. each day with an hour and a half lunch break. In addition, there is a mandatory 4-day, 3-night in-person residential intensive retreat in May or June depending on which year of the program you are in.

All of our classes are held through Zoom and recordings are made available if you miss a class. In addition to the Zoom learning environment, we hold required in-person residential intensives at the end of each year at a retreat center just outside of New York City.

One Spirit has been offering live streaming classes since before Zoom even existed. Over ten years and countless class hours, our teams have cultivated practices and techniques to keep the technology in the background so our experiential learning is front and center. Our dedicated media teams run all the technological components of the classes so our presenters, staff, and students can focus on the deep work offered and engage with each other in ritual, ceremony, and spiritual practice. Traditionally more than half of our student body engaged as Zoom learners from around the world and they are an integral and contributing part of the classes. Engaging in real time allows you to be intimately involved in each class by speaking your questions into the room, participating in dyads/triads with your fellow students, joining large group discussions with the entire class, participating in ceremonies and rituals, and interacting with the presenters and teachers.

We see the squares of videos on Zoom not as boxes or walls but as windows, allowing us to meet our neighbors from around the world in thoughtful and intimate ways. We've learned that the presence felt in physical space and the inner work needed to create that space is also possible on Zoom. Zoom learning is inherently a different experience than in-person study. It requires a greater degree of independence and self-initiative. Nevertheless, our Zoom learning students find the training to be a rich and life-enhancing experience, and develop a strong sense of spiritual community with their classmates and colleagues over the course of the two-year training.

Our program expands and broadens your tools in being of service to others and this technology is incorporated as another tool, one of connection and possibility. Pre-pandemic, most would have never (or could have never) imagined how connected and interactive being a student online in a transformative program could be. Our students can and do. So instead of looking at how to duplicate what happens in the room, we've asked ourselves, what does this tool make available to us? What is possible with this technology? We have designed our offerings with the answers to those questions in mind.

One Spirit Interfaith Seminary is designed as a professional training program that can be successfully completed while maintaining a full-time job. However, in order to thrive in this training, a clear commitment of time and intention is required. We find that those who get the full benefit of the training are those who have created space in their life to be fully engaged and participate at all levels in the program including the all important part of personal work towards transformation.

This question often depends on the individual and how long it has been since they were in a learning environment. Generally, in a month, you have 16 hours of seminary class time, 6-10 hours of homework (reading/writing), two hours of study group, plus other explorations which can add up to 35-45 hours per month.

There is also an annual requirement of 15 hours of community service, and a minimum of three credits of elective classes.

You'll also engage each month with a spiritual practice inspired or from the tradition being studied. Due to the great variety of practices and the student's personal level of engagement, the time commitment of these practices varies greatly.

Some students report that they need the first couple of months of the program to feel settled into the rhythm of classwork and homework. Communication with your assigned dean is essential and asking for help when needed is encouraged.

Please click here to see an example of a month's homework exploration.

Real-time class participation is critical to create a vibrant group learning community and to grow the skills and competencies required for graduation although some of our overseas students do participate mostly by recordings. These recordings are made available to all students as a method of learning when live participation is not possible (and for archival purposes). If you cannot be on Zoom live, we suggest that to watch the recordings you set up “classroom time” in a quiet, relaxing atmosphere that will be most conducive to learning. Listening in the car or while exercising is not the best way to be in the class experience.

We take student privacy very seriously, and we have adopted our policies after deep discernment and inquiry with our students and graduates, in order that everyone can feel that One Spirit classrooms are safe, brave spaces.

Streaming-only content provides the necessary security to make sure that course recordings are seen only by the registered students and cannot be shared outside of One Spirit's learning management systems, now or in the future. The recorded image has an enormous ability to break student confidentiality: compared to an audio recording where a student is identified only by voice and first name, everyone's likeness and exact identity are captured on video.

Attendance at the year-end intensives is mandatory for all students. This four-day intensive retreat takes place at a conference center about one hour north of New York City and all costs (except transportation) are included in the tuition levels.

All students are assigned a Dean who provides feedback on written assignments and guidance around the preparation for ministry and spiritual leadership. Your Dean is your shepherd through the program. All students may also request a mentor, a spiritual companion/buddy who has recently completed their One Spirit seminary training and has volunteered to provide friendly guidance to you by sharing experiences and helping you formulate your goals for seminary. Study group members also provide peer support.

In addition to the types of support listed above, each seminary class has a private class website with an online discussion forum allowing all students easy contact with one another. The class website is also the place where students come together to access the homework assignments, handouts, and to build community. Your study group is your personal small group within the larger community. Participation is required and can be in-person (in those instances where there are several students in geographical proximity to each other), or by conference call, or an online platform such as Zoom. Study groups can be as small as 3 people or as large as 8-10 and meet at least once a month.

One Spirit programs have a variety of reading and writing assignments in which students are expected to read and write at a post high school educational level.

There is no traditional grading system; however, required monthly written homework assignments are read and evaluated with written feedback given by your Dean. A student’s progress is tracked to assure all program requirements are met and that they are in "good standing" along with demonstrating a satisfactory level of the skills and knowledge described in the student handbook for the goals of training and graduation guidelines.

In order to successfully complete this program and to be a student in good standing you must: stay current on your homework by completing all assignments, perform a minimum of 15 hours of community service per year, attend both year-end retreats, complete all financial agreements, fulfill requirement of a minimum of three elective credits each year, and demonstrate an understanding of all curriculum subjects and an understanding of the meaning and principles of an Interfaith/Interspiritual approach to spiritual life.

Ordination as a One Spirit Interfaith minister is recognized nationwide and internationally. In those U.S. locations where registration with the city, state, or county is necessary in order to perform wedding ceremonies, ordination documentation from One Spirit allows our graduates to register and legally officiate.

No. We offer certificates of completion for professional training upon graduation. By choosing not to be accredited we retain the flexibility to create an experiential and transformative experience that offers the widest array of learning modalities. We are a professional training program (similar, for example, to a specialized training institute in psychotherapy) rather than an academic institution. One Spirit Learning Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and spiritual organization established to support individual and organizational evolution. Upon successful completion of all program requirements, graduates are ordained as Interfaith/Interspiritual ministers, legally recognized as ordained clergy.

In order to successfully participate in this program you will need: a personal (not shared) email address, a computer with high speed internet access (to download the handouts, homework and view video recordings and to use Zoom), and Microsoft Word, Google Docs or equivalent software. All homework assignments are submitted online through the class portal ClanEd. For specific computer or device system requirements please go here: System Requirements. For the fullest experience as a companion learner, you will also need a webcam and headset with microphone.

In general, you should have a working knowledge of using computers to:

• Author documents in a word processor.

• Browse and search for files on your computer or tablet.

• Convert or Save documents to PDF.

• Download and install apps on your computer or tablet.

• Set, remember and use passwords and reset them if necessary.

• Keep your operating system, browser and other software up to date.

• Search the Internet for solutions when you need to learn how to do something.

• Get technical support in your local community if something doesn't work.

Class size varies, with approximately 50-80 students enrolled in each year.

During each year of study, One Spirit offers a variety of elective classes (listed as Workshops on the website - Live or Streaming) that allow students to self-direct a portion of their education and focus on areas that are of interest or on subjects that support their call to serve. Electives supplement the core curriculum and allow for deeper exploration. All students are required to take a minimum of three elective credits in each year of study with eight hours of class time equaling one credit. These electives are generally held for either one weekend day, a full weekend, or two hours over multiple weekday evenings. The electives are included in your tuition. Our elective classes are also open to the public. All are offered via Zoom video conference and by video recording.

Co-Directors Rev. Leslie Reambeault Barnes-Bowens and Rev. Melissa Stewart facilitate the training experience throughout the two-year program along with the seminary deans. Expert guest lecturers present many of the topics in class, including each of the religions we study. Rev. Diane Berke, Founder and Spiritual Director of One Spirit, oversees all our programs.

Bear in mind, your financial status has no bearing on your acceptance into Seminary. Beginning in late Fall of 2021, One Spirit took the very bold step in creating the Fair Share Tuition System. This honor-based plan transparently shares the cost of educating a student in our program and gives people the opportunity to pay what they can afford. No forms, applications, or questions asked. Upon acceptance, students will be asked to self-assess a level of tuition (which includes program tuition, dean supervision, 4-credits to use for elective workshops, and year-end residential intensive programming & room and board) that has meaningful value to them based on all that is included and choose the tuition option which best reflects that. Your Tuition Payment Agreement (sent with your registration materials after you are accepted into our program) will give you in-depth information about this and also offer you different payment plans. Please fill in the form below to receive an info graphic with details: Paying Your Tuition (Not included in tuition are books and material costs which average $100-150 total and transportation costs, if applicable.)

One Spirit ministers are uniquely qualified to bridge the sacred and the secular, and to celebrate both diversity and unity, in service to anyone in need, no matter their worldview or tradition of origin. Our graduates’ path of service is just as varied and diverse as they are, creating a personal, local, and global impact. Our ministries may take different forms, ranging from traditional congregational leadership to chaplaincy, to business leadership and parenting. Other graduates find their service comes in the forms of hospice work, starting new worship communities, officiating weddings and other life-cycle ceremonies, or supporting efforts towards world peace.

A wide variety of volunteer opportunities will fulfill your community service requirement. If you are already involved in a form of unpaid community service, you are welcome to count this as your service requirement. If you are a professional counselor, therapist, or healer, and do some sessions at no charge for those unable to afford your fee, you can count that towards your community service requirement. However, we would encourage you to use this requirement as an opportunity to explore new possibilities for giving service – opportunities that may take you out of your comfort zone. Students can use internet resources, or contact local hospitals, hospices, shelters, soup kitchens, etc., in order to find local opportunities twww.redcross.orgo volunteer. Use your favorite search engine to locate possibilities (for example, in the US, www.indeed.com; www.volunteermatch.org; www.createthegood.org or directly to an agency like www.redcross.org) You will be Dean available for discussions about what might work for you.