Ruth
Haley Barton Was Trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual
Formation
What
Do They Believe
and Teach?
"This mystical
stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern
spirituality … It is no accident that the most active frontier
between Christian and Eastern religions today is between contemplative
Christian monks and their Eastern equivalents." —Tilden
Edwards, Shalem Founder
Ruth
Haley Barton and
Contemplative Prayer
Ruth
Haley Barton is the former associate director of spiritual formation
at Willow Creek Community Church. Here's what she says about contemplative prayer:
"Ask
for a simple prayer to express your willingness to meet God in the
silence … a simple statement …such as "Here I am."
… Help yourself return to your original intent by repeating
the prayer that you have chosen."
—Ruth Haley Barton Quotes taken from Discipleship Journal
Vol. 113 1999
What Is She
Doing Now That She Has Left Willow Creek Community Church?
"Ruth
Haley Barton's Invitation to Solitude and Silence:
Experiencing God's Transforming Presence, is a good
first step in this direction. She presents contemplative
prayer in a manner that most evangelicals will
be comfortable with." Theocentric
"Ruth
Haley Barton, who studied spiritual direction at the well-respectedShalem Institute
for Spiritual Formation, makes it clear that An Ordinary
Day With Jesus is not a drive through experience, but
the embodying of ancient disciplines and practices that
can revolutionize our lives, over the slow, long haul." Byron
Borger
"A
few years ago, I began to recognize an inner chaos in my soul
. . . No matter how much I prayed, read the Bible, and listened
to good teaching, I could not calm the internal roar created by
questions with no answers." "Beyond
Words:Experience God's presence in silence and solitude "
"I
sought out a spiritual director, someone well versed in the ways
of the soul eventually this wise woman said to me, What you
need is stillness and silence so that the sediment can settle
and the water can become clear. I decided to accept this invitation
to move beyond my addiction to words."
