Articles on Contemplation in Action

  • Reflecting on the 3 L’s of My Experience in the Transforming Community Program (TCP26)

    During the Transforming Community Program (TCP26), I worked three days a week for five hours at the seminary, drove 100 miles each day, occasionally preached on Sundays, and facilitated various cohorts and community gatherings. I was in a new season in life, serving contractually. For over two decades, I served as a pastor of a…

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  • More Board/Staff Contemplative Recommendations

    “The Green Chapel” Substack by Gideon HeughI have frequently thought of Shalem when reading posts here — Gideon writes with beauty, nuance, and deep sensitivity. (Available to subscribe and free to read.)-Laura Lee Ernst, Board of Directors Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow…a 1959 novel about a wealthy, middle-aged American who feels unfulfilled and…

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  • 2026 Shalem Picks for Contemplative Resources

    As Yourself by Caroline VogelI have loved Caroline Vogel’s book, As Yourself. Caroline is a Shalem graduate and her book is about how we can take seriously Jesus’s mandate to love ourselves (love your neighbor as yourself). The book is wise and compassionate and full of embodied practices. – Jehanne Gheith, Board of Directors Becoming…

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  • Contemplatives Build Bridges

    Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP By mid-December 2025, Minnesotans knew we were in for a rough winter.On January 7, 2026, our fears were realized and expanded when Renée Nicole Macklin Good was shot by a federal agent after saying directly to him, with a sincere smile on her face, ‘I’m not mad at you.’…

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  • “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:5

    Shalem Institute invites you into a new special limited series: “Contemplation in Troubled Times” Minnesota’s example of courage and nonviolent action in the face of oppression is something we continue to witness and be in solidarity with as best we are able. It also extends beyond Minnesota to our brothers and sisters across the U.S. and around…

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  • Contemplation Through Our Shared Humanity

    In these months of federal occupation in Minneapolis, as a person of faith and as a pastor, I have relearned that contemplation is connection – rather than, as I have sometimes been tempted in the past to believe, contemplation being withdrawal. Partly because of the unpredictability of each day during this stretch, contemplation for me…

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Our mission is to nurture contemplative living and leadership.

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In 2025, Shalem will be a dynamic and inclusive community, empowered by the Spirit, where seekers engage in transformation of themselves, their communities, and the world through spiritual growth, deep connection, and courageous action.

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