our past

OneSpirit was founded on a vision of peace, compassion, and service — values that continue to guide everything we do.

What began as a bold response to suffering has grown into an educational charity training interfaith ministers, spiritual companions, and celebrants across the globe. With over 1,000 graduates, our community is rooted in spiritual diversity and united by a shared commitment to inclusive, heart-led ministry.

So where did it all begin? This is the story of how OneSpirit came to be, and the foundations on which our present now stands.

Rooted in Compassion, Grown Through Community

The story of OneSpirit is a story of courage, response, and devotion. It began not as a concept, but as a call — a call to live love, embody peace, and stand for something greater in a world in need of healing.

OneSpirit’s earliest roots stretch across continents and decades, growing from the efforts of spiritual leaders moved to serve humanity beyond the boundaries of their individual traditions. Their work formed the soil in which our foundation was planted.

We carry that legacy with reverence.

The First Seeds: A Shared Response to Suffering

The impulse behind OneSpirit’s work first emerged in the 1970s, born out of global movements seeking to rekindle compassion in the aftermath of atrocities like the Holocaust. In the United States, a diverse group of religious leaders, including Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, began to explore what they might achieve if they aligned not only in dialogue, but in purpose. Their shared focus wasn’t to blend beliefs, it was to face suffering together, and to use their collective leadership to offer healing and hope.

“Peace has no point if it’s not lived. Love is fruitless unless given. So live your peace. Give your love.” — Jackie Amos Wilkinson, former Director of Education

Crossing Oceans: From New York to the UK

In 1981, The New Seminary was founded in New York, USA, by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman.

Together with others, Rabbi Gelberman was inspired to support the exploration of how diverse religious and spiritual leaders might serve the world.

Years later, Diane Berk, a key faculty member, established the Interfaith Seminary in New York. Among those drawn to this work was Miranda Holden (now Macpherson), who completed her training in the mid-1990s.

Moved by what she had experienced, and supported by her mentors, Miranda returned to the UK to establish a new home for interfaith ministry.

With support from the USA school and others, Miranda opened The New Seminary in the United Kingdom. The first two-year programme to train interfaith ministers and spiritual counsellors launched in October 1996 in London. Two years later, that inaugural cohort was ordained as the first Interfaith Ministers in the UK.

From left to right, Miranda Holden (now Macpherson), Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, and Diane Berk.

Learn more about Miranda's story...

Miranda Macpherson is a contemporary spiritual teacher and author of The Way of Grace: The Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation. Miranda has been teaching internationally since 1995, and is known for her depth of presence, clarity, and refined capacity to guide people into direct experience of the sacred.

Miranda’s work is a synthesis of self-inquiry, spiritual psychology, devotion, and meditation practice offered with feminine grace that embraces our everyday human experience as a gateway into the depths of our true nature. Through a blend of silent transmission and articulate teaching, she leads ongoing programs oriented to guiding people into direct spiritual experience while providing a practical map for actualizing our realization into daily life.

Drawing from the ancient lineages of Advaita and mystical Christianity, as well as from more recent wisdom teachings such as A Course In Miracles, Miranda leads from the ground of unconditional love and compassion for our humanity, emphasizing receptivity, discrimination, and surrender.

Miranda was the founder of OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation in London where she trained and ordained over 600 ministers. Today, Miranda leads the Living Grace Global Sangha and holds retreats internationally.

Miranda’s books include The Way of Grace: the Transforming Power of Ego Relaxation (Sounds True), Boundless Love (Rider) and Meditations on Boundless Love (Sounds True). She is a kirtan musician with 2 mantra albums – Streams of Grace and The Heart of Being. Miranda is also the author/creator of the Cultivating Grace Card Deck.  She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Bob Duchmann, a teacher of the Diamond Approach.

Growing Together: The Early Years

Under Miranda’s leadership, the organisation grew steadily. She assembled a remarkable team of tutors and speakers, introduced new teaching methods, and nurtured the essence of the training. In 2002, the name changed to The Interfaith Seminary, and by 2004, it had become a registered UK educational charity.

When Miranda stepped away in 2006, the work continued, not from one voice, but many.

What followed was a period of transition, collaboration, and deepening. The training evolved. The role of the tutor expanded. Ordination shifted from being granted by a teacher to being claimed as an inner milestone.

No longer centred on one leader, the training began to unfold across new cities, new styles, and a broader, more decentralised faculty.

Our Living Legacy

Our past is not just behind us, it is within us.

From New York to London, from the seeds of post-war compassion to the vibrant network of ministers today, OneSpirit has been shaped by all who have come before: the founders, faculty, students, trustees, staff, and supporters who poured themselves into something bigger.

It is because of them that we can now say: We are here. Still learning. Still growing. Still listening.

Marking Moments of Change

  • 1981: The New Seminary founded in New York by Rabbi Gelberman

  • 1996: First UK interfaith training cohort begins

  • 1998: First Ordination in the UK

  • 2002: Name changes to The Interfaith Seminary

  • 2004: Officially becomes a UK-registered educational charity

  • 2006: Miranda transitions out of leadership

  • 2011: Becomes OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation

  • 2016–17: Period of review and structural transformation

  • 2023–present: Renewal, reconnection, and a revitalised vision for the future

If you’d like to explore who we are today, you can visit Our Present to learn more.