 In addition to his academic pursuits Donald Nicholl taught church history to the Poor Clares in Aptos, California and to novices in the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa's order, in London.More informally he conducted a class in the "Penny University" at the Caffe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz, reading through Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov".Alongside his wife Dorothy Nicholl, he was active in the co-workers of Mother Teresa.