Soul Food

WESTINA MATTHEWS is an adjunct professor for the Center for Christian Spirituality at General Theological Seminary. Matthews is an author, theologian, public speaker, and retreat leader whose practice reflects contemplative living through “holy listening.” Her latest book is This Band of Sisterhood. A graduate of Shalem Institute's Spiritual Guidance Program, she currently serves on the Shalem board. She lives in Savannah, Georgia. MARGARET BENEFIEL, Executive Director of the Shalem Institute, has served as Chair of the Academy of Management's Management, Spirituality, and Religion Group, as Co-chair of the Christian Spirituality Program Unit of the American Academy of Religion, and in various leadership roles in Spiritual Directors International. Over 3,000 executives, managers, and other leaders have participated in her seminars and courses. She directs Shalem's Soul of Leadership program and has written extensively on various aspects of contemplative leadership and spirituality at work, including Crisis Leadership, The Soul of Higher Education, The Soul of Supervision, The Soul of a Leader, and Soul at Work. She lives with her husband in Greenbelt, Maryland. JACKSON DRONEY is the Director of Operations and Online Learning at the Shalem Institute. He is a graduate of Shalem’s Personal Spiritual Deepening Program, Young Adult Life and Leadership Initiative, and Soul of Leadership program. At Shalem, Jackson also serves on the faculty of the Crossing the Threshold program and leads Shalem pilgrimages to Spain. He is an M.Div. student at Luther Seminary and is a candidate for pastoral ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He lives in Washington, D.C. ALTHEA BANDA-HANSMANN is the Founding Director of Transforming Moments Consulting, where she offers spiritual direction, coaching and organizational development services. She is part of Luther Seminary’s spiritual direction team in St. Paul, Minnesota where she offers online individual and group accompaniment. Althea is a graduate of Shalem’s Soul of Leadership Program. She lives in South Africa. THE REV. WINSTON BREEDEN CHARLES is a spiritual director, teacher, and poet, who as an Episcopal priest served churches for thirty-five years. Through Shalem, he discovered the rich Wisdom tradition of contemplative spirituality and was for several years director of Shalem’s program for clergy, Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership. ANITA-YVONNE (AY) BRYANT holds a doctorate in Clinical/Community psychology from the University of Maryland and has served over thirty years as a psychologist, administrator and equity advocate in higher education. She and is a graduate of Shalem Institute’s Soul of Leadership program and serves as a co-director of the Heart Longings: An Invitation to the Contemplative Path program. KOLYA BRAUN-GREINER is an interfaith educator, facilitator, and curriculum writer focused on the intersection of faith and environmental justice, encouraging people to explore their own faith tradition finding inspiration to act for a healing and a reverent relationship with God’s Creation. She is a certified Work That Reconnects facilitator. GAY L. BYRON is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Howard University School of Divinity. She is the author of Symbolic Blackness and Ethnic Difference in Early Christian Literature, Womanist Interpretations of the Bible (coedited with Vanessa Lovelace), and Black Scholars Matter: Visions, Struggles, and Hopes in Africana Biblical Studies (coedited with Hugh R. Page Jr.). MELANIE DOBSON is an assistant professor and the Lefler and Wohltmann Chair in Methodist Studies at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) of Lenoir-Rhyne University. She also directs the seminary’s two-year Spiritual Direction Certification Program. Dobson also is a registered yoga teacher and incorporates yoga into her ministry and community service. LERITA COLEMAN BROWN is a professor emerita of psychology, spiritual director, and retreat leader. She promotes contemplative spirituality and the renown mystic, Howard Thurman. She is the author of several articles, chapters and two books, including her latest, What Makes You Come Alive-A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman. SARAH FORTI is a contemplative ministry leader, songwriter, and fencer. She has a B.A. in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, an M.Div. from George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and is a graduate of the Shalem Institute. Sarah resides in Ashland, VA with her husband Nik and their son Thomas. AMANDA LINDAMOOD is a postpartum doula, organizational consultant, creative educator and freelance writer with multidisciplinary experience and training. She brings to contemplative leadership a commitment to Black feminisms, womanism, spiritual depth, community organizing and children's liberation, and lived and professional experience in complex trauma. MARCELLE MARTIN has led workshops across the U.S. and was a resident teacher at Pendle Hill. She is the author of Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey, A Guide to Faithfulness Groups, and the blog A Whole Heart. Swarthmore Friends Meeting supports her ministry of spiritual nurture. CARL MCCOLMAN is a graduate of Shalem’s Personal Spiritual Deepening Program (1986) and Leading Contemplative Groups program (1987), a popular contemplative blogger, podcast host (Encountering Silence), and author of books including The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Unteachable Lessons, and Eternal Heart. LEAH MORAN RAMPY is a Shalem graduate who has served as board member, Executive Director, program leader, and pilgrimage guide. Founder of Church of the Wild Two Rivers, she leads retreats and writes about the call to reweave Earth and soul. Leah and her husband David live in Shepherdstown, WV. DANALEE SIMON, a Lutheran Pastor and Spiritual Director, lives with her husband and two sons in Salt Lake City, UT. When she’s not out communing in nature, she can be found teaching self-compassion, connecting with people in Spiritual Direction, writing, or driving a carpool. PHILLIP STEPHENS is the Director of Nurturing the Call, The Shalem Institute's Spiritual Guidance Program. He is an Episcopal lay-person and graduate of the 2006 Spiritual Guidance Class. In addition to being an associate of the Order of the Holy Cross, he serves as a spiritual guide and retreat facilitator. His interests include cross-cultural studies and inter-spirituality. JOANNE YOUN is a published author and speaker with a passion for collaboration among diverse demographics both within the U.S. and abroad. Although she has lived and served in various locations around the world, she currently resides with her husband Tom and their three children outside of Washington, D.C. ELAINE VOCI is a life coach, grief group facilitator, and the author of Bridge Builders: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things and Creating the Work You Love: A Guide to Finding Your Right Livelihood. She lives in the Midwest with her spouse. J. M. SMITH lives in Washington, D.C. and enjoys writing at the intersections of social justice and contemplative life.

Foreword

Valerie Brown

A Note from the Founder

Tilden Edwards

Introduction

Westina Matthews, Margaret Benefiel, and Jackson Droney

Led by Starlight Down a Marvelous Road

Winston Breeden Charles

Part 1: Welcoming and Belonging

God's Pronouns: A New Translation of a Mystical Classic Invites Us Into the Beautiful Mystery of Gender

Carl McColman

Listening for the Holy

Sarah Forti

Contemplative Collegiality: Caring for the Souls of Black Biblical Scholars

Gay L. Byron

Toward a Decolonised Spiritual Direction Practice: Weeping, Gnashing Teeth, and Opening to the (Ancient) New

Althea Banda-Hansmann

I Am

Joanne Youn

Tell Me about Mary's Rage

Amanda Lindamood

To Heal What Ails Us: Belonging through Group Spiritual Direction

Melanie Dobson

Part 2: Holy Awe

A Thousand Paths to Contemplation

Westina Matthews

Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart: Social Justice and the Art of Spiritual Guidance

Phillip Stephens

Coming to Our Senses: Embracing Wonder and Gratitude

Leah Moran Rampy

Embodying Contemplative Leadership: Howard Thurman and Feeding the Timeless Hunger of the Human Spirit

Lerita Coleman Brown

Considerations of Recovery, Centering Prayer, and Social Justice Action

Anita-Yvonne (AY) Bryant

What Your Tender Heart Knows

Marcelle Martin

Embodied Contemplation of Deep Time: Resourcing for Spiritual Resilience

Kolya Braun-Greiner

A Contemplative View of Resilient Aging

Elaine Voci

Summer Day of the Owls

DanaLee Simon

Contributors

Vision Statement 2025

Acknowledgements