THE CHERRY TREE PATHWAY

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

OneSpirit’s Spiritual Development and Ministry Training offers a unique approach to personal and spiritual growth. For over 25 years, we’ve guided individuals on a journey of self-discovery and compassionate service. Our training is designed to help you deepen your spiritual connection, develop your inner leadership skills, and engage in meaningful service.

Through practices like deep listening, inclusivity, and respect for diversity, we explore what it means to be human and how to live a more authentic life.  Are you someone seeking personal growth or exploring a career in ministry? For those who value inclusivity, compassion, and authenticity, our profound training offers the opportunity to unlock your potential and embark on a deeper spiritual journey.

No matter the reason that you’re here, we welcome you to join us on this transformative journey…

Overview of Our Training

Each year, we adapt our training pathways to meet the unique needs of the new students joining our ministry training. This year, inspired by the cherry tree—a symbol of the ongoing cycle of life and renewal—we’re excited to introduce the Cherry Tree Pathway. This blended programme, with community connection at its heart, is carefully designed to support our students’ growth and development.

Building on the success of our Aspen and Birch Pathways, the Cherry Tree Pathway reflects our commitment to evolving ministry training. As the world continues to change, we thoughtfully adapt our approach each year to ensure our training remains relevant, impactful, and aligned with the needs of each new group of students. This pathway is guided by four key principles:

DEEP EMPATHIC LISTENING

This underpins much of our curriculum, focusing on how we listen to ourselves, to Spirit, to the wisdom of the world’s faith paths, and to others. You’ll approach deep listening as an essential skill to both your inner development and your ministerial outreach. 

SELF-AWARENESS

You’ll explore a range of self-reflective models and how to implement these in your own practice to deepen your self-awareness and personal growth.

HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT

You’ll journey through the development of the whole self by an active inner exploration of what spirituality means to you, implementing physical and mental practices to dive ever deeper into your self-development. 

YOUR MINISTRY

Integrating this all, you’ll enquire into who, and what, the community is, exploring the interconnectedness of all beings. In doing so, you will journey through what it means to be of service in community, and how this may realise itself.  

Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is deeply experiential, drawing on the richness and diversity of your own life experiences to shape meaningful explorations in class. This approach creates opportunities for profound self-reflection, opens us to hearing diverse perspectives, and enables us to continually meet others with love and respect. The world becomes our classroom, reminding us that to be in sacred service — however that may look for each of us — our work must remain deeply connected to the realities of the world in which we live.

At the heart of the curriculum:

  • Recognising the inherent worth and sacredness within ourselves and learning to see this in others.
  • Cultivating loving and compassionate relationships with ourselves and those around us.

We incorporate the principles of nonviolent communication to guide us in engaging with difference, encouraging us to respond with love and understanding. Deep empathic listening serves as the golden thread weaving together every aspect of our curriculum.

The Cherry Tree Pathway follows both an inner and outer curriculum:

  • The Inner Curriculum focuses on our relationship with ourselves and the Divine. Through a self-reflective process, you will explore practices that foster growth and personal development. By deeply listening to yourself, you become more attuned to your internal landscape and can access the wisdom that resides within. This inner work is essential preparation for the outer curriculum.
  • The Outer Curriculum explores how our inner transformation manifests in the world. It examines our relationships with others, the ways we engage with the world around us, and how we embody sacred service in our daily lives.

Together, these elements guide you on a journey of self-discovery, connection, and meaningful engagement with the world.

The Curriculum Themes

To guide your journey, our curriculum is designed with a cyclical structure, meaning key themes are revisited at various stages throughout your training. This approach allows you to explore these themes in greater depth over time, with each repetition building on what you’ve already learned. As you move through different stages of the curriculum, you’ll have the opportunity to see these themes from new perspectives, helping you integrate and reflect on the material in a more meaningful way.

This repeating process not only deepens your understanding but also strengthens your connection to both the inner and outer aspects of the work. By revisiting the themes, you’ll find yourself continually growing, both personally and professionally, as you gain greater clarity and insight into your journey.

Through this cyclical approach, you’ll come to understand what it truly means to meet people where they are in sacred service, whether that’s offering support, guidance, or simply being present.

Whatever form this service may take for you, you will learn how to show up authentically and compassionately, honouring the diverse needs of those you serve.

Deep Listening Skills
Self-Reflective Practice
Faith Paths and Worldviews
Spiritual and Pastoral Service
Ministry of Spiritual Accompaniment
Ceremony and Ritual

A Sneak Peek at the Reading List

We’re excited to have you join us on this enriching journey, and we thought you might like a sneak peek at some of the readings that will guide you along the way. As part of your ‘Welcome Pack,’ you’ll receive an initial reading list, but we’re sharing some of the information here to inspire you as you learn more about the Cherry Tree Pathway! There’s no need to read every book on the list — you can absolutely select those that resonate with you most. We recommend focusing on five core texts as a solid foundation for your Pathway experience.

Here’s a selection of potential readings:

  • Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
  • Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent by Rabbi Shapiro
  • Everything is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution by Diane Musho Hamilton
  • The Power of Ritual by Rachel Pollack (If this book is tricky to find, no worries! Check out the alternatives on ceremony work provided below).
  • Tao Te Ching Online Translation (This can be found on Taoism.net)

In addition to the core texts, we’ve compiled a selection of further readings to enrich your journey. Browse through the books, authors, and links below, and feel free to choose what resonates most with you. There’s no need to purchase everything (or agree with all of it); follow your curiosity and interests. While we may or may not refer to these specific texts during the training, having an awareness of them will deepen your experience and align with the spirit of the course. You might find some of these available second-hand or in digital/audio formats. A more comprehensive reading list will be shared along with your course materials.

Also, we encourage you to explore our free online course, Foundations of Belief, which is a wonderful resource to complement your learning. You can find more information about this on our Courses & Retreats page! We hope these additional resources inspire and guide you as you move through your Cherry Tree Pathway.

Faith Paths
Spiritual Accompaniment
Listening, Communication Skills & Psycho-Spiritual Awareness
Sacred Activism – Ministry in Community
Ceremony
Self-Reflective Practise & Self-Care

Supervision

A key part of your training, and indeed your ministry, is being in regular supervision with an accredited supervisor. We are proud to have our own body of accredited supervisors working with both our student and minister community.

Supervision fosters a culture of ongoing learning and development in your ministry and plays an essential role in your own reflective practice. We ask all our students to be in regular supervision throughout their training. This is not included in our fee structure as we feel this gives you the freedom to work with a supervisor from our accredited body that you feel most drawn to and allows you to work within your own budget. With this in mind, there are so many reasons that supervision is a valuable tool, both during your training and afterwards…

  • Spiritual Support: Supervision offers a space for guidance and encouragement from a trained individual, an important part of staying connected to yourself, and your boundaries, and preventing burnout.
  • Accountability: Regular supervision keeps us continually engaged in reflective practice having someone else to keep us accountable can go a long way in your work.
  • Personal and Professional Development: Supervision allows you to reflect on your strengths and your areas for growth, as well as discuss any challenges that have come up for you recently.
  • Regular 1-1 Support: Supervision allows for regular check-ins with another individual in a similar line of work, supporting you in feeling you are heard and part of a wider community.

“My experience of supervision as a client has been transformational, educational, at times thrilling and mind and heart-opening, challenging – and simply game-changing for my own work practice and self and professional development.” – OneSpirit Minister & Supervisor, Nicola Coombe

I would heartily recommend the course! For me, the quality of our tutors was an outstanding feature of the programme, especially in their ability to create a sacred vessel, full of love, creativity, agility, sensitivity and wisdom, in which we would learn and grow together: and that was true both online and on the in-person retreats.

The guest speakers on different faith paths were also a joy and a great help. The advice I’d offer if asked, would be that it’s important to be ready to throw yourself into the course – like jumping into an inviting river. It feels vital to be ready to share all your strengths and vulnerabilities and also be willing to join in around the edges (for example in the discussions on the online platform between sessions).

I sense that the more we put in, the more we benefited and grew, even if it wasn’t our instinct to be so engaged. It was beautiful to see everyone’s gifts and qualities emerging, the more the group relaxed and felt supported. I would add that it is important to read the material explaining the purpose and stance of the course, and take on board that this is not a form of therapy (though it will be hugely therapeutic!) but is, rather, a preparation for service.

As such, it demands a high level of self-responsibility and willingness to face challenges.

Jennifer, 2024 Graduate