In Loving Memory of Nicola Coombe
Spiritual Director, Teacher, Minister, Friend, Sister, Wife, Mother, Neighbour, Tutor, Guide, Companion on the Path
Message from Alan To Our Community
Messages from the Community
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your reflections. The tribute form is now closed, but we warmly invite you to read through the messages shared by your fellow community members below — reflections, musings, blessings, memories, and moments that speak to Nicola’s presence in their lives.
Together, these words form a tapestry of love and remembrance, not idealised, but deeply real, capturing how Nicola showed up in her many roles, and how she is held in the hearts of those she journeyed alongside.
It seems so ‘not enough’ to say I’m shocked and so saddened by Nicola’s death. And almost childish to say that I simply wish she hadn’t gone, it feels too soon and came too quickly.
In my eyes, she was magnificent facilitator and space holder, so grounded and confident in her being and spiritual authority. Quite a one, she was!
With love to us all in all of the grieving hurting places of our hearts.
– Natasha Hood (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola embodied OneSprit.
Rest in Peace.
I’m sorry my circumstances didn’t allow enrolling or getting to know you.
– Angelo Faria (Friend of OneSpirit)
Thank you precious precious Nicola. May your memory be a blessing. Thank you, I am so grateful to have met you that you have touched my life.
With love, gentle generosity, oppeness, abundance of knowledge wisdom,and Grace…
Your memory lives in my heart.
– Edna Sawdayee Roxburgh (OneSpirit Minister, Past OneSpirit Faculty Member)
Below is a link to the tribute I did for Nicola…
Click here to view the tribute…
Blessings & Love,
Rev Dinah Pemberton
– Rev Dinah Pemberton (OneSpirit Minister)
Memories of class 2022, love to all and remembering Nicolas guidance.
– Anonymous (OneSpirit Minister)
As we remember Nicola, an interfaith minister of One Spirit, may we honor her commitment to bringing together diverse beliefs and fostering understanding.
Her compassionate spirit and dedication to unity continue to inspire us all. Let us carry forward her legacy of love and connection, finding solace in the shared moments we hold dear.
Sending you love and peace during this time of remembrance .
– Kathryn Cashman (OneSpirit Minister)
May your spirit soar, wise and beautiful soul, Nicola.
With gratitude and much love,
– Aine Moloney (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola was one of the most accepting people in OneSpirit. When my faith path offended others she listened to me and accepted me.
She knew that- to use an analogy popular in OneSpirit circles- a garden needs useful not just beautiful flowers, and weeds are simply plants in a place they are not wanted.
It would be amazing if the community as a whole followed her lead.
– Anonymous (OneSpirit Minister)
I first met Nicola in 2012 at my first Intro Day. That day, she took both of my hands in hers – her wonderfully cool hands – and looked through my eyes to my soul and told me I was ready to train as a OneSpirit minister. Twelve years later, I was one of the final students she ordained in the Class of 2024. We both acknowledged that in some way we can’t fully understand, our souls waited for one another to complete this process.
Nicola, thank you for waiting for me. You will continue to teach me for the rest of my life and will always be there to hold my hands, cool me down, and remind me of my vocation and vows. May your memory be a blessing. Amen. Selah. And so it is.
– Eva Mary Spevack (OneSpirit Minister)
Beloved Nicola I sense you will continue to teach us deeply as the imprint of your wisdom, grace, Love and courage here are so strong.
We were so deeply privileged to be your final OneSpirit class and you fiercely and gently loved the group into deep readiness for the work that lay ahead.
As for so many others whose lives and souls have been touched by your radiant love, it breaks my heart that you are no longer here on this plane, yet I release you with boundless love and gratitude and blessings on your journey. Go well dear mighty, immense and exquisite soul.
– Jennifer Liston-Smith (OneSpirit Minister)
Dearest Nicola,
Through your teachings and guidance you offered and continue to offer a shining, embracing and warm light, safely delivering me into a spiritual place of authentic and exploratory being.
Several times I have forgotten the teachings and several times more have I remembered them and deepend them at each opportunity.
Our state of human-ness both being refreshing and frustrating at the same time.
Your warm smile and embracing consoling hug remains with me forever. A gift from the spirit of love, a gift of genuine-ness
– Joanna Lewis (nee Petts) (OneSpirit Minister, OneSpirit Trustee)
When I think of Nicola, what comes to mind is a woman “full of grace and truth” who with such aplomb was to step into Miranda’s shoes when the latter stood down from her lead role in The Interfaith Seminary” (which “One Spirit” was called at that time).
Then, following my ordination in 2006 I was more than fortunate when she agreed to act as my spiritual director.
During the time we worked together (either by phone or, even more memorably, in person on her houseboat in Brentford) her insight and sensitivity knew no bounds. What a precious human being…… I shall always be grateful for her having been part of my life.
– Ann Baeppler (OneSpirit Minister)
Dearest Nicola, gone from this world too soon. I am forever in gratitude for your support, love, kindness and teachings 2016-2019, and through my ordination of 2018. It was here that my heart opened up to working with grief and death, and oh, the wisdom you shared that I forever hold in my heart, as I continue on with this ‘very important work’. (your words) Thank you, perhaps seems miniscule in words, but weighted with so much love and gratitude for having walked along side you for a few years,
I truly ‘Thank You’ from my heart to yours. I offer you this poem which reminds me of you Nicola and your beloved South Africa.
When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down, in tall grasses,
and even elephants lumber after safety.
When great trees fall in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses, eroded beyond fear.
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly,
Our eyes, briefly,
see with a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines, gnaws on kind words,
unsaid, promised walks,
never taken.
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold caves.
And when great souls die,
after a period, peace blooms,
slowly and always irregularly.
Spaces fill, with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed. (You existed)
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed. (You existed)
With deepest love and sadness, Rest now in the deep peace of Love, Reverend Jennifer Morland X
– Jennifer Morland (OneSpirit Minister)
I will always remember Nicola as ‘Queen of the Welcomes’! She made me, and I know others, feel a sense of belonging in the way she so warmly welcomed us into each time and space we shared together. I’ve never felt so welcome in anyone’s presence!
I loved the facilitator she was – passionate, compassionate, boundaried – a true inspiration! I could see how she held us as a cohort, but also how she held her team too. She was an awesome leader. Her feedback to me on my assignments was loving and thoughtful – Nicola made me feel deeply seen and heard in the work… in my life (I always wanted to work with her but sadly I left it too long – I have very few regrets in life, but that will always be one).
Nicola had such grace and curiosity in the face of attack and such integrity in how she held herself in difficult situations – facing into them, holding others in them, holding to love, integrity and truth.
I remember the pain she felt at war, violence, at abuse of the earth and the feminine. The work she chose in these areas and the wisdom she brought to her work… to her life… and to all of us.
Whenever I think of her I remember the delight on her face, the sparkle in her eye – the sheer joy with which she lived. A beautiful soul… lost too soon… although I have no doubt her soul continues her mission to ‘be Love’.
As I read all the messages at the time of Nicola’s death, I was reminded of a meditation, in which I felt the presence of Mary Magdalene. I, overwhelmed by her love, asked how I could love like her, and she told me ‘drop the veils and see through the eyes of love’. It seems to me Nicola achieved this, truly lived love and all those around her felt that love. Thankyou Nicola for all you have been in my life… and in so many other’s lives… a true gift to the world. You’ll live on in all the ways you inspire us to live love.
May we make people feel welcome, held, loved, seen and heard.
May we speak passionately about that which we care and hold boundaries which serve ourselves and others well.
May we live in de-light… of light… allow ourselves to feel joy and happiness, pain and sorrow to equal depths.
May we remain curious in difference and graceful and full of integrity when under attack from others whose views are not our own.
May we live lives inspired by your life, Nicola, may we live love ♡
– Jo Royle (OneSpirit Minister)
May Nicola’s spirit soar straight back home to Source!
Nicola was a lovely lady whom I had the pleasure of meeting a few times.
Each encounter was always a pleasure! Sending my deepest condolences to all Nicola’s loved ones.
The Rose Beyond the Wall, A.L Fink
Near a shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God’s free light,
Watered and fed by the morning dew,
Shedding it’s sweetness day and night.
As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height,
It came to a crevice in the wall
Through which there shone a beam of light.
Onward it crept with added strength
With never a thought of fear or pride,
It followed the light through the crevice’s length
And unfolded itself on the other side.
The light, the dew, the broadening view
Were found the same as they were before,
And it lost itself in beauties new,
Breathing it’s fragrance more and more.
Shall claim of death cause us to grieve
And make our courage faint and fall?
Nay! Let us faith and hope receive–
The rose still grows beyond the wall,
Scattering fragrance far and wide
Just as it did in days of yore,
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will forever-more.
– Cynthia Keating (OneSpirit Minister)
In Loving Tribute to Nicola: A Beacon of Spirit, Strength and Service
Dearest One Spirit family,
It is with a tender heart and deep reverence that I share these words in memory of our beloved Nicola; a luminous soul, a guiding presence, and a true vessel of the sacred. I feel profoundly blessed to have been ordained, along with my fellow ministers, by Nicola in Glastonbury Town Hall in July 2024. That day, bathed in the energy of ancient earth and eternal light, Nicola stood both as a minister, and as a living embodiment of Spirit moving through human form. Her presence was a blessing: firm, radiant, and deeply attuned to the divine threads that weave us all together.
One of the many gifts I carry from her is the simple yet soul-stirring phrase she offered so often: “I see you.” These words, when spoken by Nicola, felt like a seeing into essence. A remembering of who we truly are. I learned from her that to truly see another person is one of the most powerful acts of love and ministry we can offer.
Nicola’s legacy lives on in so many ways; in our hearts, in our practices, in the spaces between words where Spirit speaks. And when I recall the song, “Trees stand tall, all is well,” I feel her presence gently reminding me to root deeply, to rise with quiet strength, and to live each day in service and grace. That melody now carries her voice, her prayer, and her enduring encouragement to honour life as sacred.
Nicola’s wondrous gifts continue to ripple through this world, through each of us who were blessed to know her. May we walk forward holding her light in our hearts, allowing her wisdom to breathe through our words, our work, and our worship. She is safe, healed and whole. Bless you Nicola.
In Spirit, in gratitude, and in love,
Susan
– Susan Goldsworthy (OneSpirit Minister)
I first met Nicola in the mid 1990s when i was living in Findhorn and she visited as a guest. Of the many guests in those days I remember she had a presence. She was the first I believe in Findhorn to start the newly formed Interfaith Seminary.
Years later I started the Seminary training and it coincided with Miranda’s leaving and Nicola and others stepping in to hold us, and she held us well, allowing the power of the training to continue its transformative work. She had a light touch combined with a clear direction. I appreciated these qualities of strength and openness with her South Africanness, bringing sparks of clarity to the interfaith and ceremonial work.
She had the ability to manage an organisation, I imagine a hundred tasks, individuals and remits to be done. And at the same time i saw her hold supervision sessions in a deep quiet way, and shepard us students in a light and direct manner.
I imagine it was a powerful role not necessarily an easy one, but she seemed from little small conversations we had here and there to understand the deeper currents that move us all, what its all about.
I’m sad she’s been snatched away so very early, sorry for her family that they have lost her too soon and that she can’t savour more family and retreat time. As the Jewish people say, ‘may her memory be a blessing’
– Peter Lloyd (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola,
I never met you in person, and yet, when I heard you speak I cried tears that had been waiting all my life to fall.
Down my cheeks came a flow of recognition & wholeness in one river.
I heard love, softness and so much hope in your message.
And I knew that becoming a one spirit Minister was what I had to do.
I hoped to meet you someday alas you have been called away, this leaves me sad and at the same time sure, that I must continue in the path you walked for all of us to follow.
Thank you Nicola for calling us in, I am so grateful that you did that I can still hear your voice and your carefully chosen words.
Will do forever.
They have rocked me into service, Thank you Amen.
With love Abi x
– Abigail Miranda (Petit) (OneSpirit Student)
I Have Been a Thousand Different Women
by Emory Hall
Make peace
with all the women
you once were.
Lay flowers
at their feet.
Offer them incense
and honey
and forgiveness.
Honor them
and give them your silence.
Listen.
Bless them
and let them be.
For they are the bones
of the temple
you sit in now.
For they are
the rivers
of wisdom
leading you toward
the sea.
When I think of Nicola I think of this poem because she helped and guided me to understand, feel and forgive the thousand different women in me xx
– Catherine O’Connor (OneSpirit Minister)
As I write, I am on Mull, in my campervan. This morning, it was bright and sunny, and I sat looking out to sea, over the beautiful and rugged coastline, with a view of the Island of Iona, a holy place – a ‘thin’ place. In these places, it is believed that the veil between this world and the next is gossamer thin. I felt drawn, as I thought of Nicola, to listen to John Rutter’s setting of the Gaelic Blessing. This is a blessing I shared (in my own setting) often with our OneSpirit Group, and of course with Nicola, our beloved tutor.
GAELIC BLESSING
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you
You can listen to a recording of it here.
Nicola was, and is, beloved of so many people whose lives she touched. She certainly helped to change my heart for the better.
May she go well into the next life, with deep peace, with joy, and with so much love.
– Jude Mills (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola was one of my very first exposures to OneSpirit in the form of her videos on the organisation’s website.
Hearing her speak was inspiring and was a key factor in me wanting to join OneSpirit as a Trustee.
I then met her and sat next to her at the first graduation ceremony I attended 2 years ago. I only spoke to her briefly but I will always remember her warmth and kindness, what a loving presence she was.
I’m grateful I got that opportunity to meet her and have no doubt her spirit lives on amongst everyone she touched. May she rest in peace.
– Marco Fernandez (OneSpirit Trustee)
Thank you, Dearest Nicola.
Your service to OneSpirit will be appreciated always.
As a co-founder of OneSpriit, I will always be grateful to you for carrying the torch and helping this sacred community to evolve, flourish and grow in all the ways that it has.
OneSpirit would not be what OneSpirit is today without your love, wisdom and service.
You added to a ripple of love that will never stop rippling, such is the nature of love.
Thank you. God bless.
Love you, Robert
– Robert Holden (Friend of OneSpirit)
‘This Love will carry, This love will carry me. I know this love will carry me’. – Dougie MacLean
Beloved Nicola,
Such courage, wisdom and grace.
May this love that you so generously poured upon us, combust into pure spirit and carry you, beloved one, to rest in the lap of God.
Thank you for your brilliant mind, Thank you for your courage and strength,
Thank you for your heart,
Thank you for your Love
Thank you for your life.
I celebrate you here as Life itself, Infinite, timeless, formless and free.
Peace to you beloved
– Alison (Swarupa) Whittall (OneSpirit Minister)
Dear Nicola,
This is what you gave me and I thank you with my whole being…
Do not believe just because wise men say so.
Do not believe just because it has always been that way.
Do not believe just because others may believe so.
Examine and experience yourself
Kalama Sutra, the Buddha
– Lorraine De (OneSpirit Minister)
Dearest beloved soul traveller. Mentor. Teacher.
Words alone cannot explain my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to you for holding me at a tine I was at my lowest. You indeed saw me.
Through your gently guiding hands, words of encouragement and belief in me, I travelled through the meanderings of OneSpirit Ministry that enabled me to also see myself.
I came to know myself. The true me and not what others had said or made of me. Some painful journeys brought deeper meaning and truth to who I was and am today. Because of you and others I do not doubt myself or my abilities.
I am and will remain eternally grateful for the day I first walked the path where all is seen and heard and is accepted.
Through the teachings of OneSpirit I too hold others in the same light. Your legacy for mr will have no end only beautiful beginnings with every soul I meet there you will also be Travel well and keep smiling that beautiful smile of yours.
Much love and gratitude,
Mashallah
– Mashallah Faith-Odd (OneSpirit Minister)
Dear Nicola,
“My teacher- my friend
Was always my greeting
And so it remains…
My teacher- my friend
Beacon – trailblazer
A node within Indras net
A jewel of unfathomable beauty
Reflecting…
You are now in the breath of the four winds
Inspiring- invigorating- encouraging
Lifting my wings with hope, in your ruffle of feathers.
Now in the solidness and groundedness of earth
Providing footfalls for me
Teaching me to trust in both valley and mountain top.
Now in the water.
Surrendering with the abundance and grace of a waterfall
As your teachings and love have cascaded into me.
Now in the unquenchable fire in my heart
Burning with a passion for love
Of you, and all that you brought to my life
My teacher- my friend
Loved beyond measure
Because love…and you…are limitless
With Love as always
Lizzie
xx
– Lizzie Foster-Bollons (OneSpirit Minister)
So many words have been used to describe our dear Nicola, a whole forest of words, and yet none can truly do her justice.
I feel inordinately blessed to have had Nicola as my main tutor for my 2 year training, for which I am so grateful.
Her presence was a joyful one; she had the ability to be fully present to whatever she was presented with.
She dealt with us all in a nonjudgemental way that elegant and sincere, rather than cold, and I never felt anything other than fully seen and accepted.
I only hope I can do justice to all that she taught me, by her words, her actions, and her presence. May she rest in peace.
– Mel Cronin (OneSpirit Minister)
I want to take a moment to honour someone who had a profound impact on my journey. I had the privilege of experiencing Nicola’s extraordinary gift for teaching and guiding others in ministry.
She played a vital role in facilitating my own path to ordination in 2020, and I will always be deeply grateful for her presence during that time.
Nicola was a person of remarkable grounding and vitality. She brought both wisdom and warmth into every interaction.
My very first memory of her still stays with me—it was during an information session for ministry training. She looked at me and said, “I see you, and I am here to be seen.” That simple yet powerful statement left an imprint on my heart.
Her presence in my life was a true blessing, and I will carry her influence with me always. I’m forever grateful for having known her in this lifetime.
– Caroline Lennon (OneSpirit Minister)
Dearest Nicola,
It’s been such a privilege to have you as a teacher and guide. Among many things, you taught me how to be fierce and loving when expressing boundaries and how to nurture conflict resilience.
Thank you!
May you rest in power. If the universe allows, I look forward to seeing you again.
– Rev Zafira Vrba Woodski (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola was my lead tutor from 2020-2022.
I was consistently impressed by her higher heart – higher mind harmony and how she beautifully wove the two into expression..
She taught so expertly on the skills needed for ministry work. She had great kindness in her and I am sorry she is gone from the earth realm.
– Sinéad De hÓra (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola’s beaming smile, the profound wisdom and inspiration of her words, the calm warmth of her voice…
I will always cherish the memory of my kind, wise mentor and friend.
– Faith Florence Agaba (OneSpirit Minister)
To live from love was Nicola’s way. I see her as vibrant and warm, humble and strong.
She was here to be seen and to let others see themselves and find God/Love/The Great Mystery in their own way. To have a teacher like Nicola is a once in a lifetime experience and she leaves an inheritance to so many.
Beautiful, brave and real, devoted and free.
In gratitude for her service, love and being,
Alison Stoker, class of 2010
– Alison Stoker (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola was a deep practitioner and a spiritual alchemist. I can give no higher recognition.
In the words of Pablo Neruda, she fostered in people, “what spring does to the cherry tree”.
I am moved to say you are in my lineage. Two palms.
– Genkai Breeze (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola has been an inspiration, a warm and loving presence, a deeply committed human being. A gentle yet strong soul she has given so much to all us ministers and the wider community.
When she spoke it was from her heart and we listened. When she smiled at us we felt the warmth of that smile. She gave so much and she will be remembered and honoured by so many.
– Patricia Tidy (OneSpirit Minister)
Thank you, dear Nicola, for your special presence in this world.
I feel blessed to have known you.
– Anja Saunders (OneSpirit Minister)
Nicola, you helped light the spark in me and so many others to step into our spiritual journeys. You did so with such grace and gentle power – sometimes simply awesome power too yet always with love. Your divine presence on this earth is sorely missed however your spirit lives within every one of us.
May our love and Gratitude journey with you now.
– Diane Denney (OneSpirit Minister)
A Living Evolution
Since the early days, OneSpirit has grown from a founder-led initiative into a decentralised, collaborative organisation. Tutors began working in teams, new regional formats emerged, and the culture of the training deepened, shifting from spiritual authority being granted by another, to each person claiming their own path of service.
Ordination, always sacred, has evolved too. It is no longer something given, but something claimed. Today, it is a personal rite of passage, a quiet, profound moment in which the ordinand steps forward not to be ordained by another, but to affirm their inner calling, witnessed and upheld by community.
As Nicola Coombe wrote in her 2016 reflection Ordination: On Whose Authority?, this marks “a massive break from tradition,” where “no one ‘does’ the ordaining ‘to’ the ordinand.” Instead, she says, it is “100% in choice… in communion with their own alignment within Grace.” This path is not always easy. It asks each person to anchor into “the self-affirmed authority of the Divine Self, the Inner Teacher, the God Within, the Great Silence, the Source, the Call It What You Will.”
Ordination marks not just the completion of training, but the beginning of a lifelong practice. Each graduate steps forward in their own way, ready to serve with humility, presence, and deep care for the sacredness of life in all its forms.
Read Nicola’s full reflection...
“Ordination: On Whose Authority?”
I was in Dublin on that extremely strange day after Brexit, grateful to have a creative purpose leading an event to introduce our training to potential applicants. These events are attended by amazing people who are seriously seeking ‘something’. Some have words for it; some have eyes that shine with it; some bring tears for a desire that words don’t express; some come terrified that they either will or won’t find the elusive possibility within the experience.
A pandora’s box of questions healthily animates the circle. One of the big ones is something along the lines of ‘on whose authority does ordination take place?’ On 23 July this month, at a public ceremony in London, our community will affirm the class of 2016 at their Ordination and Graduation, as they bring their two year contract to fulfilment. In so doing they cross the threshold to begin the new pilgrimage of anchoring their purpose – expressed in a vow unique to each person– into the fulltime practice of Life.
This class crosses this courageous portal when questions of authority, leadership, and the responsibility of power are truly in our face on the world stage. Who leads, who determines who leads, who ‘wins’, who picks up what those stepping out of leadership leave in their wake? It’s a deeply unsettled landscape locally and internationally. I don’t know anyone who is not affected by the speed and confusion of the politics here and abroad, and the trauma and shock of violence erupting and lives shattering.
So back to the question of authority and ordination. A radical shift evolved about ten years ago in OneSpirit: our ordinands stepped forward towards the altar in silence, and stood alone to receive their ordination. They then stepped back into the circle to have this experience, their ordination, blessed, anointed and affirmed by those present. This change emerged as we shifted to a new vision of the expression of spiritual leadership in that time.
So what is the big deal? It is the shift away from another person, an outer authority, being the conductor for the energy of ordination. No-one ‘does’ the ordaining ‘to’ the ordinand, and this is a massive break from tradition, both in our own organisation, and way beyond this too. The ordinand opens within themselves instead. And in this is the shift towards the awakening of inner authority. The awakening of inner authority is the need to be able to receive ordination having forged its meaning in the inner language of the ordinand, 100% in choice, and in communion with their own alignment within Grace.
This is a seriously demanding requirement. Religion and much spirituality is steeped in hierarchies of power and permission, which have largely and devastatingly reflected the gross biases of the day, often excluding at least half the world from having access to the table. So this apparently simple act of stepping forward on one’s own terms challenges our much-absorbed patterns of looking outwardly to have our place in the world affirmed, our love received, our safety given, and our work blessed and rewarded. It requires an unsettlingjourney into the inner world of our identity, and our relationship to the past and the present, and the untangling of these complex strands.
It invites – and takes as a given – that we are able to communicate with our own sovereign nature, and it requires that that inner connection is established.
One whose authority? On the natural, pre-ordained, ordinary, sacred, original, essential Authority of who we each truly are. On the self-affirmed authority of the Divine Self, the Inner Teacher, the God Within, the Great Silence, the Source, the Call It What You Will – it is within, as it is above, below and between too. We have chosen to be on this planet at this time. The presence of women, men and children who are in contact with and know how to act from their internal compass, aligned with a respect for life and interconnection, is a deeply valuable gift and calling.
May we hear the call.
May we anchor our inner connection.
May we help each other in this life-affirming work.
Set your phone for 11.58. We’ll be there together.
Nicola Coombe,
OneSpirit Head/Focaliser
Written for “Focaliser’s Blog”
11 July 2016
Marking Moments of Change
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1981 – The New Seminary is founded in New York by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, with Diane Berke and Joyce Lichenstein as faculty.
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1996 – The first UK interfaith training cohort begins, founded by Miranda Holden (now Macpherson).
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1998 – The first ordination of Interfaith Ministers takes place in the UK.
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2002 – The name changes to The Interfaith Seminary.
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2004 – Becomes a UK-registered educational charity.
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2006 – Miranda transitions out of leadership and a new collaborative model begins to emerge.
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2011 – The organisation becomes OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation.
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2016–17 – A period of review, reflection, and structural transformation.
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2023–present – A phase of renewal, reconnection, and a revitalised vision for inclusive ministry and interfaith education.
For a full collection of Nicola’s speeches, mainly at Ordination & Graduation Ceremonies, click here.