The Pause

In November 2024, One Spirit made the difficult but necessary decision to temporarily pause new enrollments for our Interfaith Seminary (Seminary 1) and Interspiritual Companioning & Counseling (ISCC) programs that would have begun in September 2025.

We know that change can bring uncertainty, and we want to be clear and transparent about what this pause means and what it does not mean.

• One Spirit is not closing, nor are there any plans to permanently close the Seminary.

• Your ordinations and ministerial assignments remain fully honored and held.

• Our vibrant community is alive and active, with workshops, events, and spiritual gatherings continuing throughout the year.

• The Seminary Class of 2026 will graduate as promised, and we remain deeply committed to supporting them through ordination.

The pause is both financially and spiritually meaningful and is not a step backward—it’s a conscious pause to reflect, realign, and reimagine.

A Financial Decision

Enrollment in our Seminary program has gradually declined over the past decade, even as the cost of providing a high-quality, intimate spiritual education has increased. Today, it costs nearly twice as much to educate a Seminary student as the average tuition covers. To sustain the program, we've increasingly depended on support from affiliations, donations, grants, and revenue from other offerings.

With careful discernment and financial responsibility, the Board of Trustees decided that pausing new enrollments is necessary. This gives us space to explore new financial models, invite community input, and create a Seminary structure that is spiritually, educationally, and financially sustainable.

A Spiritual Decision

This pause is not just financial, it is deeply spiritual. It is a sacred invitation to turn inward as an organization. A time for reflection, repair, reconnection, and recommitment. Freed from the pressures of “business as usual,” we are already experiencing transformation:

• We’ve introduced the Kaleidoscope teaching model, a new approach to teaching that centers collaboration, diverse perspectives, equity, and shared spiritual leadership.

• We’re reforming the way our Board of Trustees leads and listens, adopting the circular leadership structure of the Kaleidoscope model and forming a collaborative working group of stakeholders to guide more inclusive, transparent decision-making.

Our mission remains alive and evolving, and this pause is part of its unfolding.

Your Involvement Matters

If you’re a graduate or affiliated member who feels called to contribute—to share ideas, volunteer, or suggest candidates for the Board of Trustees—we welcome your voice.

This is a community moment where your affiliation matters, and your wisdom is part of the future we’re building.

Reach out to us. As we step together into this season of sacred transformation, we reaffirm, above all else, the importance of our relationships with Spirit, with each other, and with the mission that calls us forward.