Interspiritual
Foundations
Welcome to Year One of the One Spirit Applied Interspirituality Program
Year one is about more than just preparing to practice spiritual care. It is a time of inner formation—growing in maturity, skill, compassion, and awareness. As students deepen their relationship with themselves, they also expand their ability to connect with others and with the broader web of life. From that connection arises a greater sense of responsibility: to act with integrity, to support others with care, and to contribute to the well-being of the communities and world we share.
Program Length: 9 months, starts Sept 2026
Live Classes:
9 weekends online via Zoom
Application Opens:
March 30, 2026
Foundational year for certification and ordination pathways
Year One: Interspiritual Foundations
Every student in the Applied Interspirituality Program begins with Interspiritual Foundations, a cohort-based, nine-month experience designed to ground participants in the practices, wisdom, and ethical commitments that shape interspiritual service.
During this year, students explore the shared insights of the world’s spiritual traditions while reflecting on life’s profound interconnectedness and the role spirituality can play in fostering healing, belonging, and collective wellbeing. Foundations becomes the common ground for all program pathways and a space to begin discerning how one’s gifts and callings may take shape in service—whether through ministry, spiritual companioning, chaplaincy, community leadership, or care during life’s sacred transitions.
This year is about more than preparing to practice spiritual care. It is also a time of inner formation—growing in maturity, skill, compassion, and awareness. As students deepen their relationship with themselves, they also deepen their capacity for connection with others and with the wider web of life. From that connection arises a deeper sense of responsibility: to act with integrity, to accompany others with care, and to contribute to the wellbeing of the communities and world we share.
Here, spirituality is explored as a lived practice rather than an abstract theory, to shape how participants learn and discover, relate, make ethical choices, and care for the wider world.
Students who have prior training or significant experience in interspiritual study or practice may be eligible to place out of Foundations through our Applied Interspirituality Primer.
Interspiritual Foundations Curriculum
In your first year as a student at One Spirit, you’ll be immersed in the rich traditions that have benefited humanity for millennia.
Experienced spiritual leaders and long-time professional practitioners will nurture, guide, and challenge you to grow spiritually as you embrace and receive the wisdom of humanity’s many religions.
Thought-provoking lectures, engaging group discussion, and personal reflection on sacred writings will empower you to become a spiritual leader and an outstanding interfaith minister.
The next cohort for Interspiritual Foundations starts in September 2026.
The program runs through May 2027, meeting a full weekend per month, totaling 18 educational days.
The program year ends with a required in-person 4-day intensive in May/June in the NY area.
Elective requirements: 3 workshop credits per year, plus volunteer hours of choice.
Year One Curriculum Includes:
Foundations of Interspirituality
Perennial Philosophy
The Interspiritual Approach
World Religions
Indigenous & Earth-Based Religions
Eastern Religions
Western Religions
Deepening Your Spiritual Life
Contemporary Spirituality
Contemporary Wisdom
Core Companioning Skills
Psychological Principles
Conventional Psychology
Transpersonal Psychology
Working With Diversity
Exploring Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Implicit Bias
Applications of Interfaith and Interspiritual Ministry
Death & Dying
Chaplaincy
Spiritual Healing
Fee, including intensive: $5,400
Payment plans and limited scholarships are available.
Application starts:
March 30, 2026
Application deadline:
June 30, 2026
Interspiritual Foundations is the first step* in the One Spirit Applied Interspirituality Program
For year two and beyond, students choose a pathway that resonates with their inner calling and vocational focus.
The Interspiritual Seminary ordination pathway is the former One Spirit Interfaith/Interspiritual Seminary, now offering the option to earn Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) credits.
The Spiritual Direction & Companioning pathway is the former One Spirit Interspiritual Counseling & Companioning (ISCC) program.
One Spirit has also added Sacred Transitions Doula Training and Applied Interspiritual Leadership pathways to the program offering.
Students are welcome to indicate their pathway intentions while applying for Interspiritual Foundations; however, they do not need to commit to a pathway until the second semester.
The “Deeper Curriculum”
The greatest learning and growth occur in safe environments that also challenge us to ask meaningful questions, engage in honest self-reflection, and move beyond our current ways.
In seminary, we invite you to bring your own particular experiences and challenges. We’ll nurture and support you as we encourage your own spiritual growth.
Your radical transformation, with the support of your peers and our experienced faculty, enables you to be of loving spiritual service.
The One Spirit Seminary “Deeper Curriculum” has helped many seminary students like you fulfill their deepest and highest aspirations.
The One Spirit Learning Experience
Classes
Interspiritual Foundation classes are taught one weekend per month by facilitating deans and expert professionals who shepherd growth and learning, deliver lectures, pose transformative questions, and lead group work.
Online Education
We value our global community and offer live video conference training to our diverse students from around the world via our online class portal.
Student Study Groups
Our Interspiritual Foundations students take part in student-led study groups.
These groups promote community, facilitate discussions among diverse group members, provide an opportunity to explore spiritual practice, and engage in ritual and ceremony.
Facilitating Deans
Each year, you'll be assigned a Facilitating Dean who is responsible for supporting your educational progress and spiritual formation through your seminary experience.
Your Dean is available to assist you with educational, personal, and spiritual concerns, and to help explore and resolve issues that may arise during your studies. In our Kaleidoscope teaching model, most deans also participate in facilitating your Seminary classes to support your sacred journey safely.
Sacred Homework
Homework assignments include essential texts, inspiring questions, personal reflection, life reviews, and the design of ceremony and ritual.
They are designed to deepen your understanding, improve your thinking, and expand your sacred experience.
Teachers & Presenters
Our faculty members are among the most experienced educational staff in Interspiritual Education. Teachers will follow your journey throughout the Seminary year, and Presenters share their profound expertise.
Year-End Intensives
Each year culminates in a four-day intensive in the NYC area. We bring our students together from around the world, which always leads to profound personal and collective transformation.
The intensives propel students into their second-year pathway, culminating in certification, ordination, or accreditation.
Sacred Service
Our seminary students give at least 20 hours of volunteer service each year of training, although many give much more.
Spiritual Care Team
At One Spirit, we support each other. Students may choose a graduate mentor who will be available to serve as a sounding board and spiritual friend, and a spiritual care team is available throughout the school year.
Meet Your Deans, Facilitators & Teachers
Rev. A’lia Edwards, Facilitating Dean
Rev. Kyndra Fraiser, Facilitating Dean
Rev. Sarah Bowen, Facilitating Dean
Rev. Diane Berke, Founder & Teacher
Rev. Laurene Williams, Facilitator & Teacher
Rev. Khadijah Matin, Teacher
Rev. Jett Wison, Teacher
& OSLA Spiritual Care Team
Rev. Marshall Hammer, Media Team
Jack Placidi, Media Team
Interspiritual Foundations is supported by many skilled teachers and workshop facilitators. Returning luminaries include interspiritual giants such as Dr. Kurt Johnson, Rev. David Wallace, Rev. Mark Fowler, Rev. DeShannon Barnes-Bowens, Rev. Eileen Fisher, Mirabai Starr, Rev. Dr. Ed O’Malley, Deborah Egerton, Dr. Robert Holden, Rev. Barbara Becker, and more.
Kaleidoscope Teaching Model
At One Spirit, we believe ministry formation should be as dynamic and sacred as the life it prepares you to serve.
Guided by One Spirit’s Kaleidoscope Pedagogy, learning develops through leadership that draws from diverse lived experiences, hands-on practice, and the collective wisdom of the community.
Students don’t just study ministry—they engage in presence, listening, and discernment in real time, discovering how spiritual insight transforms into compassionate action.
Qualifications for Enrollment in One Spirit’s Programs
We are committed to diversity and welcome all qualified adults to apply. All applicants are given full consideration regardless of age, gender identity, race, religion, ethnic background, national origin, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Each applicant will be assessed individually, and acceptance into the program is based on alignment with the program’s interspiritual perspective and program objectives, as well as personal engagement with a deepening spiritual maturity.
Additional Requirements
English fluency: All course materials are in the English language. As a result, written and spoken English fluency is required.
Technology: A computer or laptop with a webcam, microphone and stable internet connection are needed to participate in online classes and meetings via Zoom. You will also need them to access the online student portal (ClanEd) for course communications and learning content.
A Community of Practice for a Changing World
At One Spirit, we believe that the wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions points toward a profound truth: life is interconnected and sacred.
Our programs cultivate this awareness and translate it into real-world service, care, and community leadership.
Through shared practice, dialogue, and skill-building, students learn how to:
Accompany people through life’s most meaningful transitions
Offer spiritual care across traditions and cultures
Build communities of belonging and compassion
Bring spiritual wisdom into activism, organizations, and everyday life
Integrate spiritual practice with justice, service, and collective wellbeing
This is where the sacred meets the work of everyday life.