The Path to Sacred Ministry
The 6-Week Foundation Ministry Program
120 hours of ministerial formation, twelve modules across six weeks, two per week. Establishing, protecting, and nurturing sacred healing ministries that honor diverse spiritual traditions.
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What IOSHA is
The International Order of Sacred Healing Arts (IOSHA) is a private faith assembly and ministry order. We hold that healing, in the broadest sense, is one of the oldest forms of ministry: the restoration of wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. Practitioners who have trained for years in modalities like energy work, sound healing, bodywork, herbalism, ceremonial practice, or pastoral and prayer ministry often find themselves doing the work of ministers without an ecclesiastical home to stand in. IOSHA exists to provide that home: education, ordination, and a community of ministers who share a calling to the healing arts.
IOSHA welcomes practitioners across traditions and does not require anyone to abandon their lineage or adopt a new theology. We hold that all sincere healing ministry, whatever its modality, belongs under one roof. IOSHA is organized as a 508(c)(1)(A) free church, a recognized category of religious organization. What that structure means for your own ministry depends on your circumstances; please review our Disclaimer.
The program
✦ You enroll in the 6-Week Foundation Ministry Program: 120 hours of ministerial formation across twelve modules, two per week for six weeks. Enrolling buys the education itself, not a credential.
✦ You complete the training: theology, law, pastoral care, ceremony, and healing practice, building toward a full ministry launch plan.
✦ You apply for ordination, at your own cost. Once training is complete, you submit your application and a background check, each completed at your own expense.
✦ The Council of Elders reviews and approves. Ordination is earned this way, never purchased, and is granted at the discretion of the assembly.
✦ Once ordained, a separate formation service is available to help your ministry prepare and organize its own foundational documents, using educational templates you complete yourself.
Please review our Disclaimer before applying. Our courses and materials are educational and are not legal, tax, or medical advice, and we do not guarantee any legal, tax, or regulatory outcome.
Who We Ordain
Every healing modality, as sacred service. IOSHA ordains ministers across the full spectrum of healing arts, subject to council approval and covenant commitment.
✦ Energy Healing
Reiki, pranic healing, biofield therapy, chakra balancing, frequency medicine
✦ Sanctified Healing
Prayer, anointing, laying-on-of-hands, intention, spiritual invocation
✦ Quantum Healing
Consciousness-based healing, vibrational medicine, sound therapy, light work
✦ Earth-Based Healing
Herbal medicine, plant spirit work, elemental healing, sacred ceremony
✦ Somatic & Embodied Healing
Breathwork, movement, trauma release, nervous system regulation
✦ Ceremonial Ministry
Weddings, memorials, blessings, rites of passage, sacred ceremony
...and any healing modality understood as sacred service, subject to council approval.
The Program
6-Week Foundation Ministry Program
120 hours of real ministerial formation: theology, law, pastoral care, ceremony, healing practice, and a full ministry launch plan, delivered as twelve modules across six weeks.
01
Week 1: Foundations
Calling, Theology & Legal Framework
✦ IOSHA identity and sacred healing lineage
✦ Statement of Fundamental Truths
✦ 508(c)(1)(A) free church status & First Amendment protections
✦ Discerning your call and spiritual gifts
✦ Documentation and congregation systems
02
Week 2: Ethics & Pastoral Care
Legal Practice & Pastoral Foundations
✦ Informed consent & membership agreements
✦ Scope of practice, what you can and cannot do
✦ State jurisdictional review
✦ Pastoral care essentials and grief ministry
✦ Spiritual counseling and professional boundaries
03
Week 3: Church Operations
Ministry Setup & Financial Foundations
✦ Sacred exchange and financial sustainability
✦ Record-keeping and documentation systems
✦ Forming your auxiliary church under IOSHA
✦ Designing your healing services and offerings
04
Week 4: Ceremonial Ministry
Sacraments & Sacred Ceremony
✦ Officiating weddings and commitment ceremonies
✦ Funerals, memorials, and death rites
✦ Baby blessings and life transition ceremonies
✦ Healing ceremonies, rituals, and sacred space
05
Week 5: Advanced Ministry
Healing Modalities & Trauma-Informed Practice
✦ Energy healing as sacrament
✦ Herbal ministry and plant medicine wisdom
✦ Sound healing and vibrational ministry
✦ Trauma-informed ministry and nervous system care
06
Week 6: Ministry Launch
Portfolio, Ordination & First 90 Days
✦ Ordination portfolio completion
✦ Exam preparation and council review
✦ Launch planning, your first 90 days
✦ Ethical ministry marketing and community building
What Ordination Gives You
Credentials, community, and clarity.
✦ Official Ordination Credentials
Your certificate, credential number, and clergy standing, recognized in all 50 states. Present it anywhere a minister's credentials are required.
✦ Ministerial Authorization Letter
A personal letter from IOSHA that describes your ministry within IOSHA's ecclesiastical framework. Your official ecclesiastical credential, it speaks for your ministry.
✦ Foundation Course
Six weeks of real ministerial formation. Theology, healing practice, how to structure your assembly, how to stand in your calling. Built for working healers.
✦ Community & Ongoing Standing
You are not ordained and abandoned. Annual covenant reaffirmation keeps your credentials current, and the IOSHA network keeps you connected.
As an ordained IOSHA minister, you may:
✦ Officiate weddings in all 50 states
✦ Lead funerals and memorial services
✦ Perform baptisms, dedications, and naming ceremonies
✦ Practice healing as recognized sacred ministry
✦ Lead worship, healing circles, and sacred gatherings
✦ Bless persons, places, land, and sacred objects
✦ Establish your own Private Faith Assembly
✦ Offer pastoral counsel and spiritual care
✦ Perform rites of passage and seasonal ceremonies
✦ Conduct earth-based ceremony and plant medicine rites within applicable state and federal law
Actively serving ministers may also qualify for clergy tax benefits, consult a tax professional; this is not tax advice.
The Process
01
Pay for classes
$997, one time, for the 6-Week Foundation Ministry Program.
02
Complete the 6-week course
Twelve modules across six weeks, 120 hours of ministerial formation.
03
Apply for ordination
Submit your ordination application to the Council of Elders.
04
Background check & portfolio
Completed at your own cost; your portfolio demonstrates readiness to serve.
05
Elders Council approval
Your application, references, and portfolio are reviewed by the Council.
06
Ordainment
Receive your credential. Ordination is earned, never purchased.
Investment
Ministry classes, one time payment
$997
6-Week Foundation Ministry Program
✦ 6-week Foundation Course, 120 hours across twelve modules
✦ Worksheets, checklists, and reference materials
✦ The ordination exam, required before you apply for ordination
✦ Access to your student dashboard and progress tracking
✦ Direct support throughout the program
Then $500/year
Annual Ministerial Covenant, to keep your credentials active once ordained.
Ordination is not a purchase and is never a line item in this price. It is a separate outcome: an application and background check, reviewed and approved by the Council of Elders after the course is complete, granted at the discretion of the assembly.
You don't have to do this alone.
Many of us have been doing this work for years without standing, without community, without anyone who truly gets it. That ends here.
Apply for OrdinationApplications personally reviewed by the Elders Council.