www.onespiritinterfaith.org
December 1, 2014
OneSpirit IMPACT Open Your Heart | Awaken Your Mind | Offer Them To The World
Measuring Results Last Summer, we asked our graduates about how they were ministering out in the world. What we learned was breathtaking: OneSpirit Ministers spend an average of 18 hours each in monthly volunteer service. This means that over the course of one year, our graduates are giving the equivalent of more than 14,000 workdays of service around the world, making peace, consoling the grieving, feeding the hungry, and helping people navigate life's most challenging transitions through ceremony, counseling, and selfless work.
How Do We Serve? Percentage of graduates who serve in the following ways: Prayer ..................................76% Ceremonies ........................71% Counseling .........................66% Community Service ...........57% Education ............................41% Familial Support .................39% Healing Arts ........................36% Sacred Activism..................26% Congregational ..................23% Chaplaincy .........................20%
Minister is a VERB, Not a Label A OneSpirit education makes such a difference. Through our training programs, students make a commitment to look deeply within, surface old beliefs, challenge perceptions, and open themselves to a new awareness, a new appreciation of life, and a new call to action. Once opened, once awake, once aware of the profound interconnectedness and the sanctity of all life, there is simply no other way to be in the world, but to be of service.
Meeting the 21st Century’s Unprecedented Needs While millions of people around the world are seeking meaning in life outside the boundaries of traditional religious forms (the most rapidly growing group in the United States label themselves as “spiritual but not religious”), we simultaneously have the ability to avail ourselves of ancient wisdom from every culture, tradition, and corner of the Earth. OneSpirit ministers are uniquely qualified to bridge the sacred and secular, and to celebrate both diversity and unity, in service to anyone in need, no matter their worldview or tradition of origin. Over 60% of our graduates minister outside of an organizational structure. These “freelance ministers” hold an important key to humanity’s future.
“Grow spiritually and help others to do so. It is the meaning of life.” — Tolstoy
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How We Help Even more breathtaking than the numbers about our grads’ service in the world, were their stories about the various and creative ways Spirit is calling them into service. There are too many to list here; this is just a taste! Please see our website!
Rev. Laura Tanyi-Asher ’13 After graduation, Laura started a foundation that, as of September, has rescued 120 street children in Camaroon. The children are placed in dormitory housing provided by a church where they are fed as well as treated medically. On top of (or underneath) it all, the organization teaches the kids to lead lives of love so they might break the cycle of homelessness and poverty.
Rev. Andrew Higgins ’14 Andy is the Founder and President of Worksite Chaplains based in Cleveland, OH. As a Corporate Chaplain, he has an opportunity to care for and support people in the workplace. It seems that overall, people in the workplace are more likely to visit with a Corporate Chaplain than to use an Employee Assistance Program. This is a growing field with much potential.
Rev. Judith Wolf ‘05 In addition to serving with The Institute of Spirituality and Healing in Medicine, Judy f a c i l i t a t e s c o n f e re n c e s f o r Integrative Health (body, mind,
December 1, 2014 spirit), bringing together physicians, nurses, and practitioners of all forms of healing and the science/research arm of the University of Utah to offer evidence-based methods for treating illness, injury and d i s e a s e . “ We s t e r n - t r a i n e d doctors/researchers are growing in their enthusiastic acceptance of working with the whole human being to foster healing, especially if there is valid research demonstrating results (e.g. mindfulness meditation improves outcomes and patient satisfaction.)“
Rev. Nafisa Sharriff ‘07 As Founder & CEO of Entering the Holy of Holies, An Institute of Learning and Healing, Inc., Nafisa recently celebrated ten years of the organization’s incorporation as a nonprofit, w i t h a p ro c l a m a t i o n f ro m Manhattan Borough President, Gail Brewer that the day be called the "Entering the Holy of Holies Appreciation Day!” City Councilwoman, Inez Dickens also presented a letter of recognition for their outstanding service to the "Village of Harlem" in providing meditation, spiritual tools for transformation and wellness services that fulfill the lives and mindfulness of all.”
C h u rc h , a s e l f - g o v e r n i n g jurisdiction of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in the Liberal Catholic tradition, of which he is also presiding Bishop. “Universalism is the belief that, in the fullness of time and in the infinite love and mercy of God, all beings will ultimately find their rest in the Love of God and will be united with him in paradise. We believe that salvation is for everyone – no one gets left behind!”
Rev. Ryan Hibbard ‘06 As a varsity lacrosse coach in Boulder, CO, Ryan has been able to reinforce the unique state of consciousness his team members attain as they reach peak performance: “After a good shot or a good save, I'd ask the kids if they remembered the process through which they made that action become a reality, and you know, you never can, because at that point, you're not thinking. I think that’s where the real lesson is…” Some kids even began asking him to lead them in guided meditations before games!
Are You Inspired?
Bishop George Kuhn ‘06
You can help! OneSpirit relies on the financial support of contributors like you to keep our programs affordable to a wide range of students. A contribution on our website helps make even MORE stories like these possible!
George’s love for the sacred rites of his Roman Catholic upbringing reconciled with the liberating spirituality taught at OneSpirit has led George to found the Catholic Universalist
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“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi