Program Leaders

Bob Abarno

Bob Abarno, a pastor for thirty-six years, is currently serving a congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. He participated in Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program, class of Summer 1991 and has ministry experience as a spiritual director, retreat leader and pastoral counselor. Married to Eleanor, they prayerfully support one another in their ministries, while they share their home with two very independent cats.

Eleanor Abarno

Eleanor Abarno, a graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Program, has worked with both Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program and the Personal Spiritual Deepening Program. She is a theologian, spiritual director, and retreat leader. She and her husband Bob are a “clergy couple,” Eleanor serving as a parish pastor in the ELCA, and Bob in the UCC.

Franklin Adkinson

Franklin Adkinson has participated in Shalem programs for more than fifteen years and has served on the Board of Shalem for six years. He was on the staff of Shalem's Facilitating Group Spiritual Direction Program, and currently facilitates spiritual direction groups in Baltimore. Franklin is an Episcopalian and an academic physician at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.

Douglas Battenberg

Douglas Battenberg is an Episcopal layperson, spiritual director, economist, group and retreat leader, and a graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program.

Cynthia Bourgeault

Cynthia Bourgeault is the principal teacher and advisor to the Contemplative Society, an ecumenical, not-for-profit association that encourages a deepening of contemplative prayer based in the Christian tradition. She is a retreat and conference leader, teacher of prayer, writer on the spiritual life, and Episcopal priest. Passionately committed to the recovery of the Christian contemplative path, she has worked closely with Fr. Thomas Keating as a teacher of Centering Prayer, Fr. Bruno Barnhart, and other Christian contemplative masters, as well as in Sufism and the Christian inner traditions. She is the author of Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, and Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, as well as many articles on the contemplative life.

Martha Campbell

Martha Campbell, Director of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program, is a spiritual director, retreat leader, a licensed psychologist, and a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program.

Amy Cole

Amy Cole, a Presbyterian lay woman active in the postmodern evangelical church, is a writer, teacher, spiritual director, wife, lover of the outdoors (especially raptors!) and graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program.

Philip Cover

Phil Cover is a Catholic priest, a graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program, and currently an assistant executive director with the National Catholic Education Association. He also serves as a spiritual director, retreat leader, and pilgrim guide to the Sinai and New Mexico deserts. His spiritual roots are in the contemplative Christian tradition, from which he tends to the transformative work of the heart. He is co-author of Journey with Purpose and The Inner Working of Lent.

Marshall Craver

Marshall Craver is Associate Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Mobile, Alabama, ministering primarily in the areas of adult spiritual formation, meditation and contemplative prayer groups and retreats, and one-on-one spiritual direction. He is a graduate of Shalem’s Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program.

Carole A. Crumley

Carole Crumley, an Episcopal priest, is Director of Shalem's Clergy Life and Leadership Program and a long-time retreat, pilgrimage and program leader.

Ann Dean

Ann C. Dean is the Director of Shalem's Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program, is a long-time leader of retreats and conferences and part of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC.

William C. Dietrich

William C. Dietrich (Bill), is Executive Director of Shalem, program staff member for several of Shalem's local and extension programs, a Quaker and a spiritual director.

Rose Mary Dougherty, SSND

Rose Mary Dougherty, Shalem's Senior Fellow for Spiritual Guidance, currently works as a volunteer at Joseph's House, a hospice for formerly homeless men who have AIDS, and offers retreat and group spiritual direction for hospice care-givers. She is a sensei (teacher) in the lineage of the White Plum Sangha.

Robert Duggan

Robert Duggan is the retired longtime pastor of a large, culturally varied Roman Catholic parish and has been connected with Shalem's ministry for many years. He is known nationally and internationally for his wisdom in the church's process for forming new members and sustaining old ones. He is the author of books and articles on liturgical, sacramental and pastoral theology and is a sought-after speaker on a variety of topics.

Rod Dugliss

Rod Dugliss, Dean of the Episcopal School for Deacons in Berkeley, CA, is a retreat leader and a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program.

Tilden H. Edwards, PhD.

Tilden H. Edwards, Jr, Shalem’s Founder and Senior Fellow, is the author and editor of six books related to the spiritual life, and an Episcopal priest.

Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford, PhD, is an ordained clergy in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with standing in the United Church of Christ. He has served as a parish pastor for 21 years, and is currently founding partner in Alternatives: Professional Dispute Resolution Services.

Katy Gaughan

Katy Gaughan is registrar for the Spiritual Guidance Program and Shalem’s Webmaster. When not at Shalem, she can be found drumming and facilitating drum circles in and around the Washington, DC, area.

Sid Fowler

Sid Fowler is the Minister for Worship, Liturgy, and Spiritual Formation with the national office of the United Church of Christ. He has served as pastor, as a spiritual director, and is a graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program.

Ethel Hornbeck

Ethel Hornbeck, a lay Presbyterian, is involved in various contemplative ministries inside the church and out. She is a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program and holds an MTS from the Washington Theological Union, where she pursued an ongoing interest in the women mystics.

Jim Hall

Jim Hall has practiced medicine at an inner city health clinic associated with the Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, for many years. These days he spends most of his time at Dayspring, the church's retreat farm, studying natural history and ecology and building a new Earth Ministry Center. He and his wife lead classes, retreats, outings and liturgies on the land that link faith and ecology.

Jan Jones

Jan Jones, a retired Lutheran pastor, is a graduate of both Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program and Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program and is a spiritual director and retreat leader.

Don Kelly

Don Kelly is a graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program and has facilitated both clergy and parish-based groups for spiritual direction.

Donald Krickbaum

Donald Krickbaum, Episcopal priest and retired Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Miami, Florida, is a spiritual director and formation teacher, and graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program.

Ann Kulp

Ann Kulp, D.Min., is a graduate of Shalem's Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program. She leads workshops, quiet days and retreats, is a spiritual director, and the author of SPIRIT WINDOWS: A Handbook of Spiritual Growth Resources for Leaders. She is an ordained Elder and certified educator in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Marianne Lewis

Marianne Lewis, a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program, is active in ecumenical and interfaith work in both northern New Mexico and Cuba, where she leads contemplative retreats/spiritual journeys.

Rich Macheski

Richard Macheski, married, father of four and an educator for 31 years, graduated from Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program in 2002 and tries to find new ways to incorporate his spirituality in his daily affairs.

Susan Murphy

Susan Murphy, a Quaker, university professor, and graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program, leads meditation and contemplative prayer groups and facilitates renewal retreats for educators and other leaders.

Rhoda Nary

Rhoda Nary has been on the associate staff of Shalem since 1981, having served on the Spiritual Guidance staff and the Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program staff for a number of years. She is currently a member of the Personal Spiritual Deepening staff and continues to offer spiritual direction to individuals, participates in group spiritual direction and co-leads a contemplative prayer group in her church.

Virginia (Ginny) Niemeyer

Virginia (Ginny) Niemeyer, is a Catholic laywoman, wife, mother, grandmother, spiritual guide, retreat facilitator, and graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program.

Mary Perschy

Mary Perschy is a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program. She facilitates group spiritual direction within her Catholic Congregation at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia, Maryland, and also at the Bon Secours Spiritual Center, where she presents BioSpiritual Focusing programs. She also accompanies individuals in spiritual direction and enjoys contemplative moments while kayaking.

Patience Robbins

Patience Robbins, a Roman Catholic laywoman, is the Director of Shalem's Personal Spiritual Deepening Program and a seasoned spiritual director and retreat leader.

Gigi Ross

Gigi Ross, the Assistant Director of the Spiritual Guidance Program, also serves as a mentor and presenter for the Personal Spiritual Deepening Program. Gigi has a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Washington Theological Union. She is a prayer group and retreat leader and a spiritual director.

Oleta Saunders

Oleta Saunders, a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program, leads retreats and pilgrimages through the Ghost Ranch Conference Center in New Mexico. She especially enjoys expressing prayer through journaling, music, art, poetry and movement.

Sharon Shutler

Sharon Shutler, a graduate of Shalem’s Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program, leads retreats and groups both in her local parish and with other organizations. She is an attorney practicing environmental and natural resources law.

Kathy Spaar

Kathy Spaar is a graduate of Shalem's Personal Spiritual Deepening Program and is a former member of Shalem's Board of Directors. She is a spiritual director and is on the staff of the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage at Washington National Cathedral.

Charles J. Stephens

Charles J. Stephens is a Unitarian Universalist Minister, spiritual director, husband and father of three, gardener and graduate of Shalem's Spiritual Guidance Program.

Phillip Stephens

Phillip Stephens is a voice specialist, staff member of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, associate of the Order of the Holy Cross, spiritual guide and retreat facilitator. He is interested in cross-cultural studies and inter-religious dialogue, and is a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program.

Phil Stone

Phil is a graduate of Shalem’s Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats Program and leads contemplative prayer groups and retreats in the DC area. He serves as a mentor in Shalem’s Personal Spiritual Deepening Program. He is active in Contemplative Outreach and serves on the Boards of Benedictine Pastoral Center and Loyola Retreat House. He is the founder of FindtheDivine.com, a popular web site to assist those seeking the retreat experience.

Kit Turen

Kit Turen is Shalem’s Registrar for Mid-Atlantic Programming. Kit also facilitates Shalem’s weekly Prayer Peace Circle and provides information to anyone who feels called to form a Prayer Peace Circle. She is one of the earliest members of her Reconstructionist Synagogue and is a follower of the Ageless Wisdom. A Certified Celebrant, Kit creates and facilitates personalized ceremonies and rituals to mark life passages and events. Kit’s professional background includes working as a nationally broadcast writer/producer/reporter in radio and television.

Liz Ward

Liz Ward is an Episcopal layperson and a graduate of Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program. She is an experienced spiritual guide and retreat leader and has assisted several local churches desiring corporate discernment.

Nancy Weir

Nancy (Nan) Weir, serves on the Personal Spiritual Deepening Program and Midwest Regional staffs. She is a graduate of Shalem’s Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups & Retreats and Facilitating Group Spiritual Direction Programs. Nan facilitates small groups and retreats, works as an architect, and has a special interest in sacred space.