Shalem's mission is to nurture contemplative living and leadership.

• We trust that God is immediately present, and lovingly, liberatingly active and responsive in our lives. This Presence is always available to guide us toward being our deepest, truest selves in God.

• We share and interpret our experience of God’s immanent presence primarily through the wisdom of Christian contemplative tradition, and we are enriched by the contemplative dimension of other religions and sacred traditions.

• Because we see God as the one true guide for both individuals and groups, we believe that the best orientation in life should always be toward God.  In all things, we seek to be intentionally open to God in each moment as the Spirit guides and co-creates through us.

• We pray to trust God at work in our own lives and in the lives of others—individuals, organizations and nations—even when all seems obscure to us and we do not comprehend the path ahead.

• Because God works uniquely in and through each of us, we offer a wide variety of contemplative practices and teachings that address the three classical expressions of spiritual life: knowing, acting and feeling.

• We understand that a contemplative orientation towards life requires the support of spiritual practices and spiritual community.  We especially value the power of shared silence, the encouragement of attentiveness to God, and the mutual support provided by spiritual community.  We commit to the integrity and faithfulness of our spiritual lives as individuals and in community.

• We believe a contemplative orientation not only draws us to our deepest, truest self in God but also shapes both an individual’s and a community’s way of being in, listening to, and caring for the world.