“Shalom Spirituality Center is, for me, a nurturing place for my spirit. It is, above all, a place to escape the clutter in my life. It, too, generously provides a comfortable room wherein I take a monthly spiritual journey with a group of friends. It’s also a place to retreat and be guided by a wisdom figure. But, most of all, it’s an OASIS in which the sign, ALL ARE WELCOME IN THIS PLACE, might be hung above every door!”

–  Janaan Manternach

“Shalom has educated and inspired and formatted me in many ways! I have had some of my most inspiring life-changing moments in Shalom’s walls! My horizons have been broadened and I am more whole because of relationships built at Shalom! My distinctive experience has been that of living in the very building of Shalom and sharing life for the last 25+ years with Sr. Marie Therese, the foundress and first director! We pray together virtually daily for this God-space — that it may continue to be welcoming and a direct conduit to the God of all creation!”

—  Sr. Carol Hemaseth

“You walk in, you feel the calm. You put your cell phone to sleep and your notebook away. In a matter of minutes you recognize you have arrived at a holy place, a place to replenish and reflect. I have attended many events at Shalom and each time it is evident how knowledgeable the presenters are and their genuine interest in the audience. The networking and exchange of ideas is more than by chance. Your arrival at Shalom is not a coincidence. You will never leave without feeling you have just done something very special for yourself.”

–  Kathy McDonnell

“In my life, retreats, videos about evolution, discussions, books through Shalom, days of prayer ever since Shalom’s beginning — all have been and continue to be a wonderful help to grow in my understanding of God’s awesome goodness and greatness. Shalom has helped move my faith from a child’s understanding to an adult faith. How differently I see God now, and have a happy heart living in God and God’s living in me — so One, so suffused in Love. Without what Shalom offers, I would not have had the opportunities to learn and grow in concepts that bring me great joy and freedom. My relationship to God and neighbor continues to move out of crippling dualism. Now I try to live in the present, this moment, this ever new experience of God.”

—  Sr. Ruth Elsbernd

“My first experience at Shalom Center was an overnight yoga retreat. I went for the yoga, but found the solitude, silence, and simplicity of the building to be exactly what I needed. It was the first time I found peace after losing my eight-year-old son, Jacob, to cancer. Later that year, I attended a grief retreat held at Shalom, and again experienced the peace I’d felt with my first visit. Simple things, like the request to pray for the next visitor while making up the bed with fresh linens, the homemade comfort meals, the scent of freshly polished wood, the rainbows of light that the stained glass windows cast upon the floors, and the silence of the empty chapel. I find that time at Shalom restores a piece (peace) of my wounded soul.”

— Elizabeth Flesher