• Margaret Benefiel

    • Margaret became Shalem's executive director in July 2015. Prior to coming to Shalem, she ran her own consulting, speaking, training, and coaching business, Executive Soul, helping leaders and organizations nurture their souls and express their deepest values institutionally. At the same time, she taught as adjunct faculty at Andover Newton Theological School in the area of contemplative leadership. She holds a B.A. in History from Princeton University, an M.A. in Mathematics from Portland State University, an M.A. in Theology from Earlham School of Religion, and a PhD in Spirituality from Catholic University of America. She has written extensively on various aspects of contemplative leadership and spirituality at work, including The Soul of Higher Education; The Soul of Supervision; The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Fulfillment and Success; and Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations.

New Movements of the Spirit

Article by Margaret Benefiel (July 2017 eNews) What is the Spirit doing now? This question frames the New Contemplative Exchange, a gathering of 19 young contemplative leaders with Thomas Keating, Tilden Edwards, Richard Rohr, and Laurence Freeman, occurring next month at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. Fifty years ago, the Spirit stirred Keating, Edwards, […]

July 07, 2017 by Margaret Benefiel 30 Comments
Categories: Contemplative Leadership and spirituality in community. Tags: laurence freeman, New Contemplative Exchange, richard rohr, Thomas Keating, and tilden edwards. Formats: Article, Article by Shalem Staff, and eNews Article.

Grounded in Love: Creative Leadership for our Times

Article by Margaret Benefiel (May 2017 eNews) Marches. Online petitions. Letters to the editor. “Am I doing any good?” I ask myself. “Am I making a difference? Is there another way?” In the face of injustice, wars, and humanity’s inhumanity to humanity, I long to be faithful to doing my part to heal the world. As […]

May 05, 2017 by Margaret Benefiel 4 Comments
Categories: Contemplation in Action, Contemplative Leadership, and Pilgrimage. Tags: leadership, Pope Francis, St Francis, and TED talk. Formats: Article, Article by Shalem Staff, and eNews Article.

Contemplative Collaboration

by Margaret Benefiel At the initiative of Thomas Keating, the founder of Contemplative Outreach, the founders of three other major Christian contemplative organizations were invited to meet with him in early October at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado: Tilden Edwards of the Shalem Institute, Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and […]

November 11, 2016 by Margaret Benefiel 5 Comments
Categories: Contemplative Spirituality. Tags: center for action and contemplation, contemplative, contemplative outreach, laurence freeman, richard rohr, Thomas Keating, tilden edwards, and world community of christian meditation. Formats: Article and Article by Shalem Staff.

Contemplative Grounding in the Midst of Overwhelming Challenges

Article by Margaret Benefiel (in the October eNews) In the face of bitter political division, environmental degradation, police shooting of black men and shooting of police, the refugee crisis, wars, world hunger, and international political tensions, I sometimes find myself feeling helpless and even hopeless. Over dinner with friends, when the topic turns to such […]

October 10, 2016 by Margaret Benefiel 4 Comments
Categories: Contemplation in Action, Contemplative Leadership, and Contemplative Living. Tags: contemplative grounding, contemplative leadership, elections, and leadershipo. Formats: Annual Report, Article, Article by Shalem Staff, and eNews Article.

Only a Feather: Contemplative Leadership in Action

Article by Margaret Benefiel (April 2016 eNews) “A feather on the breath of God,” Hildegard of Bingen’s image of her life, leaped out at me when I sought a guiding image for my new leadership position at Shalem nine months ago. I return to it again and again as I seek to balance being and […]

April 04, 2016 by Margaret Benefiel
Categories: Uncategorized. Formats: Article, Article by Shalem Staff, and eNews Article.