Questions And Answers

Which Church Or Religion Are You Associated With?

We're not associated with any church and don't represent any religious tradition.

We've been trained and ordained by The Interfaith Seminary (IFS) as non-denominational ministers in service of people from all faiths and none.

As Interfaith Ministers we operate independently of any church and don't have assigned parishes or posts - the whole world is potentially our parish!

What Training Do You Have?

We both trained for two years - Angie was ordained in 2004, Will in 2005. Angie did an additional two years of post graduate training and service to IFS as a mentor completing in September 2006.

The first year of the training focusses on deepening and strengthening our own personal connection to our divine nature and building greater Self-awareness; also building a foundation of knowledge of different spiritual and religious paths, 'tasting' the essence of the different paths through spiritual practice, structured reading and written assignments, and talking with people of those faiths and visiting their houses of worship.

Part of our philosophy for what we offer is 'always in addition to' and we cultivate the deepest respect for the essence at the heart of each tradition and for the work being done by many of those in positions of spiritual leadership. We know that there are obvious differences between religions, but approach them as a potential source of enrichment rather than as threatening and hold the vision of a brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity. If there's to be peace and tolerance in the world the invitation for us is to practice the essence of spiritual teachings - forgiveness, compassion, acceptance, kindness, honesty, truth, unconditional love - we find this to be a continual personal journey and every day brings new opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.

The second year concentrates on the practical aspects of ministry - ceremony and spiritual counselling with a continuation of the personal journey.

We feel that the completion of the training is just the start of a life-long journey and we hope that we can offer support where it's needed. We're not trying to create a new religion, nor convert anyone away from their existing faith, but support people to enquire more deeply within, in the direction of living peaceful, meaningful and loving lives.

Who Did You Train With?

We trained with The Interfaith Seminary which was founded in London by Reverend Miranda Holden in 1996 (it was known as The New Seminary at that time). This was an independent sister program to The New Seminary in New York where Miranda trained and was ordained.

The New Seminary New York was founded by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman in the 1981 with the support of religious leaders Swami Satchidananda, Reverend Jon Mundy (a Methodist Minister) and Father Giles Spoonhour (a Catholic Priest). Should you be interested you can look up www.newseminary.org.

IFS retains links to The New Seminary and has close affiliation to One Spirit Interfaith, a sister seminary, again in New York, founded by Reverend Diane Burke in 2002. The New Seminary UK training programme evolved over the years to suit UK culture and needs, and in 2002 was renamed The Interfaith Seminary to reflect the changes - in 2002 it also became a registered charity. You'll find more information about IFS on www.theinterfaithseminary.com or One Spirit on www.onespiritinterfaith.org.

In 2006 Miranda stepped down as Spiritual Director of IFS. She continues to support IFS as both the Founder and as an Elder - the evolution of her work has led her to base herself in the US and she also holds retreats in India twice a year. For more information about Miranda and her work her website is www.awakeningwithmiranda.com.

What Does The Term Interfaith Mean?

The term Interfaith for us as graduates of The Interfaith Seminary means responding to those who regard themselves as spiritual but who don't regularly take part in traditional religion - this could be those grappling with issues their faith may not encompass (ie mixed faith marriages, divorce, a person's sexual orientation), those seeking spirituality not necessarily religion or those whose spiritual belief can't be encompassed entirely by one faith.

The term Interfaith has existing connotations - dialogue between religious leaders, worship services co-led by religious leaders from different traditions, shared dialogue and worship between people of different faiths. Often people believe us to be professing to be experts in all religions which is not the case. Certainly there are graduates who have considerable knowledge both in terms of wisdom, intellect and experience who could minister that way, but on the whole we aspire to have some background knowledge which would help us to sit with and support a person in need from any faith or with no clear faith, to help us sit in complete acceptance and non-judgement of our brother or sister in need, with some understanding of what's meaningful for them.

As a group of peers we each of us have very individual ministries - some of us are working in education, some in business, some ministers are involved with dialogue between religious groups, some minister to minority groups, some work in conflict resolution, many work with alternative therapies. Slowly, slowly there are more of us called to traditional type ministries offering ceremony and counselling support.

For us our ministries so far have been about responding to those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, who want to talk about their spiritual path, or heal or deepen their relationship with God, to awaken to love; or who want ceremony or ritual to honour their spirituality and special occasion.

What Do You Mean By Tailor-made? Can You Do Absolutely Anything I Want?

The short answer is yes we can absolutely anything you want - within reason and if appropriate to the occasion!

There is more to say! We can hold the legal element of marriage literally anywhere in Scotland but as yet this isn't the case in England or Wales, in the rest of Europe or elsewhere in the world (we have Ministers in Spain, Italy, France and Germany as well as New Zealand who all trained in London).

We respond to your individual needs in terms of where you'd like the ceremony to be; what readings, music, prayers, terms/names for your deity, creative or traditional elements you'd like. And in any ceremony we create, we guide you as to what would be appropriate and what wouldn't, and what we feel would work and what wouldn't.

If you came to us requesting a 'Christening' or 'Baptism' or a 'Bar or Bat Mitzvah' we would clarify what you really want and if necessary re-direct you to a Church or Synagogue - these are religious terms denoting ceremonies from a religious tradition which would have to be performed by religious personnel. What we offer would be termed a Welcoming, Blessing and Naming rather than a Christening; or something like a Blessing and Acknowledging for a thirteen / fourteen year old rather than a Bar Mitzvah.

We would never claim to hold traditional religious ceremonies and are very clear that we offer additional options to those offered by Church Ministers, Rabbis, Imams and so on. We would respond to and consider requests for traditional 'elements' to be included in a ceremony, and this would be done with sensitivity, clarity and the greatest reverence for the tradition it comes from making clear where it comes from and what the symbology is.

Do You Ever Travel To Hold Ceremonies?

Yes! We travel!

Between us we've held ceremonies in our local area and also in London, Dorset, South Wales, Southern Scotland, Manchester and Southern France. We're very willing to travel to hold ceremony anywhere if our travel and accommodation expenses can be covered in addition to the fee for the ceremony.

We're based at The Park, in the wider community of the Findhorn Foundation, near the village of Findhorn near Forres in Northern Scotland.

If your ceremony is overseas or if it's difficult to meet with the circumstances of your life we can do the majority of our communicating by phone, e-mail and post and meet up on the day of the ceremony.

In the case of ceremonies local to us we can meet you at a mutually convenient place, or you're welcome to come to our home. Each ceremony is different and needs a discussion around how to progress forwards in terms of meeting, what needs to be done in person and what can be done via other forms of communication.

What Does The Term Ordained Mean?

We're ordained and certified by our community of elders and operate as an independent body - legally we fall into the category of 'non-conformist' ministers.

Our understanding is that some other traditions such as Buddhists and Christians use the term ordination but that their definition may be different to ours, so to clarify, we use the term to indicate that we've taken vows and that we've been witnessed taking our vows; also that as a graduate body we share a philosophy and purpose, and commit to living and working by a code of ethics.

We have a vow-taking ceremony when we take our own individual and personal vows - this is a ceremony just for our community and all graduates are invited to retake their vows should they wish. The next day we have an ordination ceremony to which family, friends and members of the public are invited which includes further vows taken as a group, and also a blessing and annointing of each individual by the teaching faculty.

Yes! Marriage is the only ceremony that includes a legal element and in Scotland through our affiliation with The Interfaith Seminary we're able to hold the legality as part of a spiritual, or religious, or non-religious ceremony. The legal aspect is very simple - you each say you'll take each other as husband / wife, we pronounce you husband and wife, and we sign the paperwork along with your two witnesses.

After a child is born you need to adhere to the law of the land and register the name and obtain a birth certificate. A Blessing or Christening is a spiritual ceremony with no legal element - actually anyone could perform such a ceremony.

Likewise, after someone dies, by law you must register their death and obtain a death certificate (this is needed for burial or cremation) but again a funeral ceremony is a sacred ceremony and as such there are no legal elements required.

What Does The Term Minister Mean?

Many people are familiar with the term Minister used either for a member of the clergy or for a politician. We'd like to redefine the term Minister to clarify why we use the term and what it means to us.

Some people call us a new breed of Minister which feels fitting. We operate independently of any church or particular religious or spiritual path (as do most of our peers). This means that we don't have assigned parishes or posts. In our area of Scotland we are two of a group of Ministers but we are the only ones at present available full time for ministry.

We feel called to respond to society's needs and wants - so in terms of the dictionary definition 'attend to the needs of' - that's what we aim to do as Ministers, attend to the spiritual needs of our fellow human beings, whatever those needs might be. We are in no way claiming to replace members of the clergy and have the greatest respect for the work done by many of those in positions of spiritual leadership. As Ministers we'd like to offer something in addition to what religions offer; and just to clarify we're not claiming to be a new religion.

How Much Do You Charge?

Charges vary and we begin with a conversation with you about what it is that you want and what we can offer you. We offer a range of different ceremonies to suit different needs and budgets.

Depending on which ceremony you're interested in you'll find more information in the Wedding, Funeral and Baby Naming sections. For other ceremony and for the whole range of costs within each of the three areas below we'd need a conversation to give you a guideline or quote for costs as they depend on what your needs are.

At present our ceremony fees begin at
Baby namings £150
Funerals £150
Weddings £200