Dr. Shelton is an honorably retired PC-USA minister. He earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1963, as well as a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School in 1966. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia in 1985. He has worked in an administrative capacity in the inner city of Charlotte. He has served three churches.

Dr. Shelton also has a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina School of Social Work (1975), with a concentration in Organizational Development and Training. He has worked in a county department of social services, area mental health center, and as state coordinator of child protective services. In 2003, he was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chose to retire. Dr. Shelton has spent over 20 years reading about The Contemplative Life. He has read from the writings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and contemporary writers in the Contemplative Life. He has committed his life to the daily discipline of Centering Prayer.