HOME

D O W N L O A D

Admissions Packet

Conscious Leadership Application
 PDF  |  Microsoft Word  

Interfaith Seminary Application
 PDF  |  Microsoft Word  

Recommendation Form  PDF 

ONE SPIRIT BIOGRAPHIES

Rev. Stephen Adler, Ph.D. is a gifted teacher and inspired healer Stephen is a certified group therapist, senior control psychoanalyst, hypnotherapist, and international trainer of EMDR. Stephen has worked with many sorts of trauma in the United States, Central, and South America for over twenty years. He heads up a trauma institute at the National University in Mexico, and is the founder of the International Institute for Eriksonian Hypnosis, Trauma, Training and Research.

Rev. Diane Berke, Ph. D., is the Co-Founder and Spiritual Director of One Spirit Interfaith Learning Alliance and One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. Diane holds master's degrees in sociology and psychology, and a Ph.D. in therapeutic counseling. A psychotherapist and spiritual counselor in private practice for nearly thirty years, Diane is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of New York, a Diplomate of the American Psychotherapy Association, and a workshop and retreat leader on spiritual development throughout the United States and England. She co-founded and served for fourteen years as Senior Minister of the Interfaith Fellowship and co-publisher of Inspiration magazine, and is well-versed in the world's spiritual traditions, psychology, and A Course in Miracles. Ordained as an Interfaith minister in 1988, Diane has been a pioneer and leading figure in Interfaith ministry education. For ten years she served as a dean and faculty member, and as Curriculum Development Director for The New Seminary, and then served as Director of The New Seminary from 1998 to 2002. Diane is the author of two books, Love Always Answers and The Gentle Smile, as well as five spiritual reference manuals: Developing and Deepening Your Spiritual Practice: An Interspiritual Approach, The Interfaith Minister's Training and Reference Manual, Understanding Ourselves and Others: Basic Psychological Concepts for Ministers, Forgiveness as a Path of Awakening, and All Things Are Lessons: Essential Teachings of A Course in Miracles. Most important of all is the impact Diane has on those who study with her. Her boundless care, clear intelligence, and deep safety create an extraordinarily rich learning environment. Her students and clients, in both classes and private sessions, experience profound acceptance and a deep calling to the truth that facilitates genuine transformation and healing.

Rev. Lili Berley was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in June 2007. Interested in Consciousness and Spirituality for over two decades, Lili counts Reiki and Rebirthing as skills in her toolbox. Lili is an avid bibiophile, lover of all things Jung and has taken more workshops and seminars than she can count up to. Suffering a degree of dilettantism, she finally decided to legitimize herself by becoming an Interfaith Minister in June 2007. She is excited about continuing her studies in Spiritual Counseling I this September. She serves as Assistant Dean with much pride, honor and gratitude for her many great teachers on this incredible journey.

Rev. Damaris Margaret Bernhard was ordained as an Interfaith minister in 2007. Damaris expresses her ministry primarily through music, energy work and Authentic Sounding. She has been a performing singer-songwriter for over 30 years; a Third Degree Reiki Practitioner since 1997; and has been a student of A Course In Miracles since 2000. One of Damaris' deepest passions is dance (Gabriel Roth's 5 Rhythms and Contact Improvisation are her favorites). Coming from Vermont, with strong ties to Southeast Arizona and Austin, Texas, she currently lives in New York City.

Rev. Mary Ann Brussat was ordained as an interfaith minister in June 2007. She and her husband Frederic are the co-directors of the multifaith website SpiritualityandPractice.com, where they provide “resources for spiritual journeys” through book and movie reviews, articles on spiritual practices, homepages devoted to 37 essential practices of the world religions, Practicing Spirituality e-courses, profiles of spiritual teachers, and more. They are the authors of Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life, which inspired a 26-part DVD series, and Spiritual Rx: Prescriptions for Living a Spiritual Life. They are the media editors for Spirituality & Health magazine. Mary Ann and Frederic live and work in a loft in the Flatiron district with their cats.

Rev. Betsy Clarke graduated from One Spirit in 2004 and works professionally as an interfaith minister, life coach, presenter and workshop facilitator. Betsy helps people connect authentically with themselves and others by using compassionate communication. Betsy’s open, warm and supportive approach creates trust and encourages people to meet their own truth with compassion and understanding.

Rev. Tom Cummiskey is Long Island born and raised, but has spent most of his life in PA and NJ. After graduating with a BS in Health and Human Services, Tom spent 12 years in the field working with people with disabilities in the area of vocational training and supported employment. He moved onto higher education and earned a MS in Library and Information Science from Drexel. Raised Catholic, Tom respects the roots of his religion but now Wicca and Buddhism resonate most for him. Since his ordination from OSIS in June, 2007, Tom has been finding ways of creating sacred space for gay/lesbian people of Central NJ where he lives. He also is a Reiki practitioner and uses the labyrinth and healing gardens as ways to foster inner-space for self and others.

Dr. Robert Forman, Ph.D. founded and is the president of the Forge Institute, a nonprofit learning community dedicated to fostering a renaissance of what he calls trans-traditional spiritual wisdom -- wisdom that goes beyond the limits of a particular religious tradition. His work at the Forge was in part a result of research that he and his team conducted on a profound shift in the nature of spirituality in the United States and elsewhere. His critically acclaimed book documenting the results of his research, Grassroots Spirituality: What It Is, Why It Is Here, Where It Is Going, all but predicted the emergence of Humanity's Team as a grassroots spiritual movement.

To run the Forge Institute, Dr. Forman retired from his tenured position as Associate Professor of Religion at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He also taught at Vassar College, Union Theological Seminary and the New School for Social Research. Dr. Forman is also a co-founder and Executive Editor of The Journal of Consciousness Studies: Controversies in Science and the Humanities, which has become the central venue for the study of consciousness and its relation to an array of disciplines. Dr. Forman also founded and chaired for seven years the American Academy of Religion's Mysticism Group and Mysticism Consultation. He is the author of seven books on spirituality, mysticism, consciousness and world religions.

Dr. Forman received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and an M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. A 31-year practitioner of twice-daily meditation, Dr. Forman is also a trained teacher of meditation.

A graduate of One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, Laura Berman Fortgang is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the personal coaching field and is known for her no-nonsense, entertaining writing and speaking style. She is the best-selling author of Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction, Living Your Best Life, and Take Yourself to the Top. Laura’s appearances on Oprah, The CBS Early Show, NBC's Weekend Today, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and many others, combined with print media such as USA Today, Fast Company, MONEY and many national and international newspapers have paved the way for most of the successful coaches in the industry today. She is currently a contributing editor for REDBOOK magazine with a regular feature called "Live Your Dreams". One of the first recipients of the International Coach Federation's Master Certified Coach credential, Laura was a founding member of ICF, a four-year board member and has been a tireless champion for coaching around the world.

Rev. Joseph Hambor, LISW, is a dean of first year students at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. Ordained as an Interfaith minister in 2004, he served as a first year dean for The New Seminary for two years before coming to One Spirit. Joseph?s ministry includes spiritual counseling and creating sacred ceremonies from an interfaith perspective, as well as facilitating clergy support groups in Ohio and New York. He volunteers as Clergy Advisor to the Marion Advisory Council of Kairos Prison Ministries at Marion Correctional Facility, and as a labyrinth walk facilitator at Shepherds Corner. Joseph is a licensed independent social worker with over 33 years clinical and administrative experience in the mental health and recovery fields, and has served as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Social Work of Ohio State University. He maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Westerville, Ohio.

Andrew Harvey is a world-renowned scholar and teacher and is the author of over thirty books, including the critically acclaimed Son of Man and Journey to Ladakh, and coauthor of the best selling The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Born in South India in 1952, he studied at Oxford University and became the youngest person ever awarded a fellowship to the prestigious All Souls College. He has devoted the past twenty five years of his life to studying the world's various mystical traditions, living in London, Paris, New York, and San Francisco, and teaching at Oxford, Cornell, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Andrew Harvey's book The Direct Path-Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World's Mystical Traditions is a guide to practical spirituality which empowers and challenges each of us to take control of our spiritual destinies. It is filled with easy to follow yet profoundly transformative spiritual practices gleaned from the world's sacred traditions.

Robert Holden, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author and pioneer in the field of positive psychology and well-being. He coaches leaders in business, healthcare, education and sport, his services being retained by some of the world’s leading organizations. Dr. Holden gives 50 presentations a year on positive psychology and success intelligence, is author of ten best-selling books, including Success Intelligence, Shift Happens! and Happiness NOW. He has given public lectures worldwide and shared platforms with Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Patch Adams, Alan Cohen and Paul McKenna.

Rev. Robin Lane was ordained in 2003 as a member of the first graduating class of One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. Upon ordination she was hired as a Hospice Chaplain at Jacob Perlow Hospice. Robin has worked in Women’s Reproductive Health for the last 24 years and currently works at the Department of Health and Human Services. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has a small psycho spiritual counseling practice. Robin is an adoring mother of her 27 year old daughter Rachel, who works with young people in need, using dance as a healing modality.

Rev. Allan Lokos, Co-Founder and Co-Principal Minister of Community of Peace and Spirituality in NYC, officiates at more than 30 weddings a year and facilitates a weekly sangha in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Allan has performed on Broadway in the original productions of Oliver!, Pickwick and the Tyrone Guthrie production of The Pirates of Penzance, as well as in opera and as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras. He has written extensively on various aspects of performance, and been a vocal teacher and performance coach for many years. Formerly a second year dean for One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, Allan has taught a presentation skills seminar for ministers for a number of years.

Rev. Jody Lotito-Levine was ordained as an interfaith minister in 2006. She is excited and blessed to be a single mother to Alexa, 14 years old and Julia, 8 years old. She is a wedding celebrant and ongoing volunteer in her community in Hoboken, New Jersey, as well as at One Spirit Learning Alliance, where she has worked on several projects, has managed the bookstore and is entering into her 2nd year as a dean's assistant. Jody has been a student of the Infinite Way for the past 25 years.

Miranda is a dynamic spiritual teacher, counselor and the author of Boundless Love. She founded the Interfaith Seminary in the U.K. Miranda works inspirationally in the moment, often with an open chair, in which any issue that arises becomes a gateway into a direct experience of our deepest Self. Her work is original, compelling and compassionate.

Reverend Leslie Morris, J.D., is a graduate of both Columbia Law School and One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. As an attorney, she worked at a corporate law firm and clerked for a federal judge. After leaving the law, Leslie became both a yoga teacher and a student of Buddhism. Leslie has also studied other religious and spiritual traditions at Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary and One Spirit Learning Alliance. More recently, Leslie has been an avid student of Eckardt Tolle’s work (a non-dual perspective) and mystical poetry (often a dualistic perspective). Leslie is also currently studying psychoanalytic theory at a psychoanalytic institute in New York City. She is not aligned with any particular tradition and is most interested in the universal human spiritual journey. Leslie is part of the teaching team of the Spiritual Depth course at One Spirit.

Rev. Lucille Rosen, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., is a certified social worker and certified Psychodrama therapist. She has an active psychotherapy practice, and extensive background in working with addictions as well as family dynamics. From 1995 – 2002, Lucille was a lecturer and faculty member for The New Seminary, lecturing on alcholism and Twelve-Step spirituality and professional ethics in the practice of ministry and spiritual counseling. For the last seven years, she collaborated with Rev. Joyce Liechenstein to develop and teach post-ordination courses in Basic and Advanced Spiritual Counseling. Lucille has served as an adjunct faculty member of the Fordham University School of Social Work, and is the founder of A Safe Place, an interfaith worship community on Long Island.

Rev. Mindy Rosengarten is an ordained Interfaith Minister and a second year dean at the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. She earned her Masters in Createive Arth Therapy from Pratt Institute, and works as a creative arts therapist at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital in Trenton, NJ. A certified Spiritual Disaster Care Chaplain, Mindy has been a chaplain with the Red Cross and served eight months at Ground Zero. Mindy sings and composes inspirational music, and worked for over twenty years as a Creative Director in major advertising agencies.

Rev. Kevin Rusty is an Ordained Interfaith Minister and a Tingan Sob (Earth Priest). Kevin is a student of Ayurveda, The Tao and The Medicine Buddha. This trinity serves as the light for his personal spiritual practice. Kevin's spiritual work is rooted in Indigenous African & Native American Spiritual Technology and consists of ritual work, earth work and artistic expression. Kevin is a member of the Bodemé Clan, also known as Gatekeepers, Two Spirit or Third Gender. Kevin has been employed by Bloomberg, LP since 1999.

Rev. Ariel Sebastian, M.A., R.D.T, L.C.A.T. was formally a 2nd Year Dean at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, where the class affectionately referred to her as "Little Mama." She is a Registered Drama Therapist, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Bereavement Facilitator who has been in private practice since 1987. Ariel serves as a Chaplain for Disaster Chaplaincy Services, and she and her dog Mercy are registered Delta Society Pet Partners.

Rupert Sheldrake is the Wisdom University Chair of Evolutionary Science and the Perrott-Warrick Research Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge University. He has authored more than 75 technical papers and several books, including The Sense of Being Stared At and Other Aspects of the Extended Mind and Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home Wisdom and Consciousness.

Rev. Carolyn Simpson was ordained as an interfaith minister in 2007. She has had a practice in death and grief counseling and more recently, life ceremonies. Carolyn has lived in NYC since 1974 and practiced Civil Rights law in the 1980s. Carolyn has been searching for a long time, receiving a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in 2004. Carolyn found a heart home at One Spirit and has been blessed to work as part of the office admissions team and now also as a dean’s assistant. Carolyn tacks sayings on walls and refrigerators – the latest reminds her, “Don’t believe everything you think.”

Rev. Susan Turchin serves One Spirit Learning Alliance as the Director of Admissions and Dean of the Second Year Class. Additionally, she teaches Ceremonies Based Ministry and the Embodiment of Spirit in the Professional Training and Essential Spirituality Programs. Susan performs 30 to 50 ceremonies each year. For more than ten years, Susan was an addiction counselor on staff at the International Center for the Disabled and CIS Addiction Services, where she developed programs in Spirituality. She has taught classes at The New York Council on Alcoholism, The Nassau County Counsel on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Hazelden New York, Freeport Outpatient Clinic and the Caron Foundation. Susan served as a Corporate Wellness Consultant to such corporations as The New York Times, Forbes, Viacom, Minolta, University Settlement House, and LaGuardia Community College. She was a former Associate Minister at the All Faiths Congregation and currently has an active ministry teaching and performing ceremonies.

Rev. David Wallace (Dean) is an Interfaith Minister and 2nd year dean for One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. He is a graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM, and a lifelong student of the “great books” of philosophy and archetypal psychology. David has an extensive career in publishing and marketing, along with award winning work through his own retail galleries. He has been a consultant to FAO Schwarz , was a founding board member of the teaching facility Miriam’s Well, in Saugerties, New York, and served on the worship committee and board of Judson Memorial Church in New York, where he has preached and taught centering prayer. An active officiant, David is also involved with the Alzheimer’s Association of NY, serves as a certified Spiritual Disaster Care Chaplain for the City of New York, and teaches electives on the sacred texts of both the Eastern and Western traditions for One Spirit.

Rev. Karen Watt, M.A., is an ordained Interfaith Minister, a consultant to business, educational, and non-profit organizations, and a personal and business coach. She is a trained facilitator, a certified mediator, an experienced educator, a certified Enneagram teacher, and a board member of One Spirit Learning Alliance. She has facilitated organizational learning and coached both individuals and teams in large corporations. Karen served as a lead teacher and Board President at the Institute for the Advancement of Service in Alexandria, VA., and has a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. In her various roles as teacher, counselor, and coach she provides a safe space for individuals to understand the “limits to growth” that impede their development. Karen nurtures her students personal mastery, self knowledge, and capacity for skillful action in personal and professional relationships.

Rev. Tony Zito, M.D., is an ordained Interfaith Minister, retired psychiatrist, pianist, cook, meditator, and avid student of the world’s spirituality. Tony has a deep knowledge of both psychology and spirituality. He expresses his understanding in a down to earth and human way that creates safety and the opportunity for insight. Living with spiritual principles through abundant and trying times in life has brought Tony to a deep and practical spirituality well suited to life in contemporary society. Tony is a gifted teacher who energizes his students as he inspires them to a deeper way of knowing.