Ministry

Michael Walker’s ministry as a volunteer interfaith chaplain is a heartfelt journey of service, compassion, and spiritual connection. Supporting the South Wales Police and diverse communities, his work is rooted in love, inclusivity, and deep faith.

My name is Caroline Lennon, and I serve as a OneSpirit Minister in a small coastal town in County Dublin, Ireland. Ordained in 2020 through the OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation, I began a new chapter devoted to compassion, inclusivity, and service—seeking to create spaces where all voices are heard and celebrated.

My ministry is one of telling stories. My speciality is the stories of people and animals that are often overlooked. As well as reading stories, I tell stories and write stories. Income from my ministry and sales of my books enable me to plant fruit trees in memory of those whose stories I tell as a funeral celebrant, and to support vulnerable people, such as offering memory workshops to the forgetful.

This is a great point along my timeline to share what I’ve learned so far as an advanced-beginner, in hopes that you can receive some assurances from my own experience, know that you’re not alone, avoid some of my pitfalls, and receive some encouragement, too.

It should not be a surprise to sit to write this and reflect that I am living my Personal Statement of Ministry. Being guided by all that came to me before my ordination in 2019. Checking in with those words and my vow regularly feels a vital and indeed necessary part of navigating this path.

Like many of us, I thought when I began my One Spirit training that it would mainly lead to creating ceremonies. It ended up being so much more!

Kindness is at the very heart of Nickie Aven’s ministry deep in the beautiful lands of Dartmoor in SW England. I had a chat with her, interested in the work she is doing in co-managing the Bala Brook retreat centre.

In 2012 I was invited to a retreat in the Amazon Rainforest, where we were led by shamans to sing together as a community. Our songs were devoted to the great mother. They named their songs Icaros. Icaros are songs the shamans sing to heal during a ceremony. The term that may be used also is medicine songs.