Board Update on Executive Director Search
Dear Friends,
As the Shalem Institute looks toward its next season of leadership, we are invited into a moment that is both grounded and generative—grounded in the contemplative vision of our founder, Tilden Edwards, and generative in responding faithfully to the spiritual hunger and complexity of our present time. The search for a new Executive Director is therefore more than an organizational transition; it is a discernment about the kind of leadership that can hold our heritage while guiding us into the future God is unfolding.
At the heart of Shalem’s life is a simple yet profound conviction: contemplation is not an escape from the world but a way of being present within it. Tilden Edwards often described prayer as an opening to God’s gracious presence with all that we are—a posture of receptivity that gradually reshapes how we see ourselves, others, and creation. The contemplative leader, then, is not merely a manager of programs but a practitioner of this deep attentiveness, one whose leadership flows from communion rather than ego, from listening rather than reactivity.
Our next Executive Director must embody this contemplative stance. Such a person demonstrates what Tilden called a “mind in the heart”—an integration of wisdom, compassion, and thoughtful discernment. They are comfortable with silence, patient with unfolding processes, and attentive to the subtle movements of the Spirit within community life. This is not passive leadership; it is leadership rooted in spiritual depth, capable of responding creatively because it is grounded in God rather than driven by anxiety.
Yet contemplation alone is not enough for this role. Shalem’s mission calls for a leader who can translate spiritual vision into sustainable structures. Administrative leadership is itself a form of spiritual stewardship. The Executive Director must oversee organizational health with clarity and competence—guiding staff, strengthening financial sustainability, cultivating partnerships, and ensuring that programs are carried forward with excellence and integrity. Good administration creates the container within which contemplative formation can flourish.
In this sense, we seek a leader who understands that spreadsheets and silence are not opposites. Organizational clarity supports spiritual depth; thoughtful governance protects the space where transformation occurs. Administrative skill, when exercised contemplatively, becomes an expression of care for the community and for the future of the Institute.
Holding our heritage is equally essential. Tilden Edwards gave Shalem more than structures or curricula—he offered a spiritual ethos shaped by radical openness to God, inclusive love, and the conviction that contemplation naturally flowers into compassion for the world. The next Executive Director must honor this lineage not by preserving it unchanged, but by allowing its living essence to speak anew.
Faithfulness to tradition does not mean rigidity. Every generation must rediscover contemplation within its own context. Today we face widespread distraction, polarization, ecological crisis, and a deep longing for authentic spiritual grounding. Many seek practices that foster interior freedom while empowering meaningful engagement with the suffering and hope of our world. Shalem is uniquely positioned to meet this moment—but only if we are guided by leadership courageous enough to adapt while remaining anchored in our deepest identity.
Therefore, we seek a leader who can hold paradox with grace: rooted yet innovative, prayerful yet strategic, humble yet decisive. Someone who listens deeply—to God, to the community, and to the signs of the times—and who can help others listen as well. Someone who understands that contemplative communities are not built merely through programming, but through relationships marked by trust, reverence, and shared purpose.
The challenges ahead will require resilience and imagination. They will call for wise stewardship of resources, thoughtful engagement with emerging forms of spiritual formation, and a capacity to articulate the enduring relevance of contemplation in a restless age. Above all, they will require a leader whose life quietly witnesses to the transforming presence of God.
As we discern together, we might remember Tilden’s insight that prayer opens us into a Love that is already holding all things. Our task is not to manufacture the future, but to consent to the Spirit already at work among us.
May we therefore seek an Executive Director who helps Shalem remain what it has always been at its best: a community attentive to the divine Mystery, hospitable to seekers, grounded in prayer, and courageously responsive to the needs of the world. By holding fast to our contemplative heritage while embracing the possibilities before us, we trust that the next chapter of Shalem’s life will continue to nurture awakened hearts for the healing of creation.
Please continue to pray for Shalem during this contemplative pause as we work together to find our next Executive Director. We will soon commission the search committee, which will start by defining the Executive Director position description based on ongoing input from the Shalem community, and begin the next part of our journey together.
Blessings and peace,
Reverend Jeffrey Ross
President, Board of Directors
P.S. If or as you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at frjeffross@aol.com or our interim executive director, Pamela Leland, at pam@shalem.org