onespirit connects newsletter

One of our beloved community members, Nicola, is currently moving through a time of significant health challenge. She is receiving kind and attentive care, and is surrounded by love. Nicola has asked that we hold her and her family in our hearts, not only in concern, but in the fullness of peace, strength, and healing. This is a time of deep spiritual movement, and your presence matters.

As we hold Nicola, we invite you not only to offer your love and prayers, but to see her in her fullness: already surrounded by peace, already touched by healing, already held in wholeness. To support this intention, we are setting aside a shared moment for the community to focus our hearts and thoughts together. If you feel moved, please join us in holding Nicola in loving presence on Monday, 5th May at 5:00pm (UK time).

Wherever you are, please pause to light a candle, offer a prayer, or simply hold Nicola in your heart, whole, loved, and surrounded by peace. There’s no need for individual messages; your quiet love is enough, and we trust it will be felt.

“When we can’t find the words, presence becomes the prayer.” – Unknown

It’s that joyful and sacred moment in the OneSpirit year when we gather to honour and celebrate the ordination of our graduating students. The Sylvan and Aspen Classes of 2025 have each completed two years of courageous inner work, deep spiritual inquiry, and soul-led commitment through OneSpirit’s Spiritual Development and Ministry Training. Now, they prepare to step into ministry, carrying with them all that they have learned, become, and held. We’re thrilled to formally invite our whole community to mark this threshold with them. Whether online or in person, these ordination ceremonies are being crafted with the same love, care, and intentionality that each student poured into their training. Your presence is not just welcome, it’s part of the celebration itself.

Once you RSVP, you’ll receive a downloadable invitation with everything you need to know, including details you can pass on to loved ones who may wish to attend. Please note: the invitations below are intended for our wider community members: staff, faculty, ministers, and trustees. Students will receive a separate invitation by email tailored specifically for them.

These are not just ceremonies… They are thresholds. They are celebrations of spirit, service, and love. We hope you’ll join us in holding these moments and welcoming the next generation of OneSpirit ministers! Please reach out if you have any questions.

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” — Rumi

“Come, come, whoever you are: wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving: Ours is not a caravan of despair.” – Rumi

We’re delighted to introduce a new monthly offering from OneSpirit, lovingly held by Minister Eva Mary Spevack. This online circle will be a sacred space for interspiritual prayers, reflective readings, and expressive writing prompts. Open to ministers, students, and anyone connected to our wider community, the circle invites you to pause, breathe, and reconnect with the Divine Beloved. Each session will gently explore seasonal themes and include writing suggestions inspired by nature’s rhythms, offering a calm and confidential space for spiritual replenishment.

In the midst of today’s fast-paced world—where burnout, illness, and overwhelm are all too common—this circle offers a quiet sanctuary. A place to step away from the constant doing, and instead simply be.

The first prayer circle is taking place on Tuesday 27 May, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, online via zoom. This circle is completely free and open to all who are interested: ministers, students, and anyone else in our community!

This offering is hosted by Reverend Eva Mary Spevack, a OneSpirit minister ordained in 2024, with a background in the Arts, academia, and mental health. Eva Mary has taught piano, drama, and music theory, facilitated therapeutic writing groups, and researched Victorian fairy tales and liminality in fantasy literature. She lives with multiple disabilities, and brings deep wisdom from her lived experiences as both a carer and spiritual companion. She also loves trees, musicals, the wind, and Japanese stationery.

If you have any questions or would like to reach out, Eva Mary welcomes you to contact her directly at evaspevack@hotmail.com.

We’re delighted to introduce Josh, who recently joined the OneSpirit Board of Trustees!

Josh brings a wealth of professional experience as a lawyer specialising in media and copyright, currently working with the BBC in London. Alongside his legal career, he has a deep and long-standing interest in spirituality, shaped by a non-exclusive affiliation with the Buddhist tradition. His journey has included exploring both Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, and he is now connected with the Plum Village community, which is rooted in Vietnamese Zen. He also regularly attends a local Quaker meeting.

Josh’s outlook is broadly inter-spiritual. Raised in the Anglican tradition, he holds a deep respect for the “mystic heart” found within many paths and questions whether any single institution holds all the answers. He has travelled extensively and values learning from a wide range of beliefs and practices.

Drawn to OneSpirit’s open, non-dogmatic approach to spirituality, Josh feels a strong alignment with our values and community. While he may one day take up the OneSpirit interfaith ordination training, for now he’s happy to contribute as a trustee, bringing a unique blend of legal expertise, spiritual depth, and curiosity to the table.

In addition to his professional and spiritual commitments, Josh is currently producing a feature-length documentary exploring reincarnation from a broad range of perspectives. He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Philosophy, Science, and Religion, an MA in Buddhist Studies, and a degree in History, alongside various professional legal qualifications.

Josh lives by the sea in Ramsgate, Kent, with his partner and their two beloved pussycats—where, on a clear day, he can see France in the distance.

We’re so grateful to have Josh on board and look forward to the insight and wisdom he’ll bring to OneSpirit.

Rev. April Kling (from the 2022 ordination cohort) is pleased to announce the launch of ALCHEMISING ACTIVISM a 4-part online conversation series in May/June with coach, artist, and astrologer Phoebe O’Regan. This collaborative offering will lead discussions based on higher-level academic teachings of peace-building by authors Lisa Schirch and John Lederach as well as the teachings on Sacred Activism by Andrew Harvey. We are even more excited to announce that Andrew Harvey himself will be joining us for the first gathering!

Space is limited and already filling up. There is already a lot of excitement around this program so we recommend booking early and inquiring now if you have any interest in attending. If you are feeling the call to join us, email aprilkling@gmail.com, and she will personally send you over the booking details or answer any questions.

As an Interfaith Minister in training wishing to delve deeper into the world’s faiths and someone who is trying to live more mindfully and soulfully I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book and I was not disappointed. In this little treasure of a book, Dr Elliot Cohen draws upon a variety of spiritual traditions and modern psychology to show how slowing down is not merely a lifestyle choice but is, perhaps, a revolutionary act in defiance of the fast-paced, consumer-driven world that promotes “ever more things, even faster.”

Casting a light on ancient narratives he encourages us to reconnect with a slower, more reflective way of living—illuminating approaches that are anchored in stillness and presence. Cohen also highlights some of the challenges posed by our current age of speed and greed, offering an alternative vision of life that invites hope and restoration. He deftly illustrates ways of finding peace in the midst of chaos, offered by sages both ancient and modern.

If you are looking for a self-help style ‘how to’ book, this isn’t the one for you. But if you are looking for inspiration to encourage you to develop your own practice, supported by the guidance of some of the most profound and beautiful sacred traditions and psychological understanding then you have found it.

In a warm and engaging, but also scholarly, style Dr Cohen presents us with the approaches of multiple ‘masters of the mind’ to assist us in slowing down and being still, enabling us to be fully present to the experiences of deep nourishment and transformative wisdom that each moment can offer. The author shows a deep knowledge and understanding of these different traditions, weaving together threads of wisdom inherent in each of their perspectives, within a web of psychological insight to create a rich and powerful altar cloth at which to practice. Here we can create harmony, balance, wholeness, and deep self-awareness.

In showing us the value of these practices in less diluted forms, Cohen reminds us of the deeper power inherent within them, far beyond the superficial “health gimmicks” that are often peddled in popular culture. By taking me deeper into the context of these religions I was able to experience the beauty and sacredness of life through an Interfaith lens. From the Ox Herding pictures to the stillness of the Dao, from nature connection to the Sabbath dinner table – here is wisdom to help us transform life from fast and shallow to slow, rich and deep. For those seeking to create balance in their lives, this book is an invaluable guide.

What I find most inspiring about this work is how it gently encourages a shift in mentality, reminding us that slowing down is not a luxury, but a necessity for holistic well-being. Whether you are on a healing journey, seeking balance, or simply craving more peace in your life, The Psychology of Slow Living is a wonderful companion to cultivate more presence, purpose, and serenity.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking to reconnect with themselves and embrace a life of intentional slowness and deeper fulfilment. I will revisit this often as a useful resource to help me on my own path to presence.