Berrigan’s Folly Organizer and Activist Respite Program
Flexible Dates
“The times are urgent; we must slow down.” –Bayo Akomolafe Are you an organizer or activist in need of rest and rejuvenation? Kirkridge Retreat Center is launching Berrigan’s Folly Organizer and Activist Respite program. We are offering no-cost week-long private retreats for movement organizers and activists in Daniel Berrigan’s Folly Cottage at Kirkridge Retreat Center. Located along the beautiful, forested Kittatinny Ridge, the one room cottage is fully furnished and has a kitchenette where residents can prepare their own meals. Deer, black bear, groundhogs, and other woodland creatures forage just outside the large windows, and on rainy evenings, the space is…
Wild Yoga
With Britt
July 16, 2025
Turning Point Meeting Room
Wild Yoga 2nd Wednesdays at 6:00pm (In July, we'll meet on the third Wednesday) Free community yoga Donations accepted, not required For all bodies, races, ages, genders, and faiths. BYOM - Bring Your Own Mat Registration welcome but not required. Description: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month, we come together to connect to our bodies and the true nature of our being through the movement practice of yoga. By connecting movement and breath, we calm our sympathetic nervous system. By noticing the sensations in our bodies, we bring ourselves into the present moment. This practice is made accessible to all…
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – July
July 21, 2025
Zoom
July 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, July 21, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Vacation Bible Study: Revelation
With Jean Jeffress
August 3 - 31, 2025
Zoom
Kirkridge is pleased to cosponsor this book study with Plymouth UCC Jazz & Justice Church in Oakland, CA Vacation Bible Study – The book of Revelation thru the lens of Can I Get a Witness Cosponsored by Plymouth UCC Jazz and Justice Church and Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center Weekly on Sundays, August 3, 10, 17, 31 1:30pm PT / 4:30pm ET Join in person or on Zoom We will dive into Revelation using Brian K. Blount’s book, Can I Get A Witness: Reading Revelation Through African American Culture as an interpretive guide. “In the provocative study, Brian Blount reads…
Foraging Workshop
With Rain Black
August 3, 2025
The Farmhouse
Rain Black will guide participants through the forest surrounding Kirkridge where they will learn the basics of foraging. From identification to cooking or craft, participants will walk away with a deeper understanding of nature, how to have a relationship rooted in reciprocity, and the basics of how to incorporate foraging into everyday life. An optional light lunch will be provided at 1pm and the event will start at 2pm. This project is partially supported by Audubon.
Wild Church
August 6, 2025
The Farmhouse
Let's let church go a little wild! We gather at the beautiful Kirkridge Retreat Center every month, outside, on the first Wednesday, to listen together and in solitude for the voice of the Spirit that speaks through the more-than-human world. Most gatherings involve song, prayer and/or ritual, a time of wandering in the woods and fields and among the rocks, and then a time to share what you heard, if you like (no pressure). We also occasionally incorporate advocacy for the creatures and other ways of connecting with the earth. Children are always welcome! And we have a potluck afterward…
LGBTQ Social Events – August
August 10, 2025
The Farmhouse
Join us as we build local LGBTQ+ community! Our activities vary from month to month and can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but unless otherwise specified, we gather at 7pm near the Farmhouse or Barn at 2281 Fox Gap Road, Bangor, PA 18013. Hope to meet you soon!
Leaping Upon the Mountain
With Mike Lew and Thom Harrigan
August 15 - 17, 2025
Turning Point
The leaders are asking that all participants be fully vaccinated. Double and limited single rooms are available. This weekend workshop is for non-offending adult male survivors of sexual child abuse, rape, physical violence, emotional abuse and/or neglect. Our goal is to offer a safe, encouraging environment of healing. The weekend will provide a variety of healing activities, including the sharing of stories, writing exercises, anger work and other emotional expressions, small group discussion, relaxation and yes, even fun. This event is for men who are actively engaged in recovery work; it is not a substitute for therapy. A letter of…
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – August
August 18, 2025
Zoom
August 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, August 18, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Wild Yoga
With Britt
August 20, 2025
Turning Point Meeting Room
Wild Yoga 2nd Wednesdays at 6:00pm Free community yoga Donations accepted, not required For all bodies, races, ages, genders, and faiths. BYOM - Bring Your Own Mat Registration welcome but not required. Description: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month, we come together to connect to our bodies and the true nature of our being through the movement practice of yoga. By connecting movement and breath, we calm our sympathetic nervous system. By noticing the sensations in our bodies, we bring ourselves into the present moment. This practice is made accessible to all levels of experience through various options suggested throughout…
White Antiracist Practice Group Series 9
With Nichola Torbett
September 3 - October 8, 2025
Zoom
Six weekly sessions on Wednesdays, noon-1:30pm ET, with this next session running September 3 to October 8, 2025. Looking for a place to deepen your antiracist practice? For a committed, kind community of support and accountability for taking action to dismantle white supremacy? You are in the right place! Our next white antiracist practice series will run for six Wednesdays, Sept 3-Oct 8, from noon-1:30. Every session offers embodied practice, (re)connection with land, a little bit of teaching with reflection and discussion time, and then time to workshop situations that are coming up in our own lives. We do ask…
Wild Church
September 3, 2025
The Farmhouse
Let's let church go a little wild! We gather at the beautiful Kirkridge Retreat Center every month, outside, on the first Wednesday, to listen together and in solitude for the voice of the Spirit that speaks through the more-than-human world. Most gatherings involve song, prayer and/or ritual, a time of wandering in the woods and fields and among the rocks, and then a time to share what you heard, if you like (no pressure). We also occasionally incorporate advocacy for the creatures and other ways of connecting with the earth. Children are always welcome! And we have a potluck afterward…
Did That Help?: Revisiting Black Women’s Everyday Techniques of Resistance
With Dr. Pamela Lightsey
September 5 - 7, 2025
Turning Point
The air in America is thick with anxiety and the weariness of national uncertainty. This retreat for Black women will review the resources and ways of being of Black women who, seeing the challenges before them, refused to silently acquiesce to the demands of their oppressors. We will delve into the third part of Alice Walker's definition of womanism and the historical lessons of Black women before us to help us understand our current personal needs. We will frequently ask one another, "Did that help?" Bring your favorite music, your dance shoes, your favorite recipes, your favorite resistance stories, and…
“Free to Live! Free to Love!” Honoring the Centenary of Pioneer Priest John McNeill (1925-2015)
With Brendan Fay and Dave Howser
September 11 - 14, 2025
A retreat for gay, bisexual, transgender men of faith. “We gay and lesbians… must not let our enemies outside ourselves define who we are. We must let the spirit of God, the Spirit of love dwelling in our hearts, define who we are. And then give witness to all the great things the Lord has done for us.”- John McNeill John McNeill was prisoner of war in Nazi Germany and a voice for peace during the Vietnam War. A pioneer of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) liberation, John co-founded the Catholic Group Dignity NY in 1972. His 1976 book…
Sisterly Conversations: Sharing Our Stories Across Generations
With Grace Aheron and Riot Mueller
September 12 - 14, 2025
Nelson Lodge
What was it like to come out in the 1970s and 80s? What is it like to come out now? What stories would you like to tell about coming into your full gender expression, whether as trans, butch, femme, androgynous, nonbinary, agender, or something equally glorious? What other stories are important to your lesbian or queer development? Stories are how we connect, how we learn about one another, how we come to love one another. As elders, middle-aged people, and young queer and trans people in a world too often hostile, we need each other. Let’s build friendships across the…
LGBTQ Social Events – September
September 14, 2025
The Farmhouse
Join us as we build local LGBTQ+ community! Our activities vary from month to month and can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but unless otherwise specified, we gather at 7pm near the Farmhouse or Barn at 2281 Fox Gap Road, Bangor, PA 18013. Hope to meet you soon!
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – September
September 15, 2025
Zoom
September 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, September 15, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Taking the State Out of the Body: Embodied Resistance to Zionism
With Eliana Rubin
September 19 - 21, 2025
The Farmhouse
The fight for Palestine is a fight for all of our aliveness. We cannot afford to be numb. The ongoing colonization of Palestine and current genocide we are witnessing can feel unbearably devastating. And yet, we must keep feeling so that we can keep fighting. As Jews, our trauma has been weaponized as a moral cover for genocide. And as people in the belly of the imperialist beast of the U.S., the government counts on our numbness as we implicitly consent to billions of dollars being sent to the Israeli apartheid state every year. We must keep feeling. We must…
Wild Church
October 1, 2025
The Farmhouse
Let's let church go a little wild! We gather at the beautiful Kirkridge Retreat Center every month, outside, on the first Wednesday, to listen together and in solitude for the voice of the Spirit that speaks through the more-than-human world. Most gatherings involve song, prayer and/or ritual, a time of wandering in the woods and fields and among the rocks, and then a time to share what you heard, if you like (no pressure). We also occasionally incorporate advocacy for the creatures and other ways of connecting with the earth. Children are always welcome! And we have a potluck afterward…
with the land: remember, relationship, repair
With Susan Raffo
October 3 - 5, 2025
Nelson Lodge
The land where we rest, grieve, and celebrate is the only thing we have in common with those around us. Our bodies are created of and are part of the land. When we die, we fold back into the land's cycle of life. Our breath, the sea water that is beneath our skin, and the minerals of our bones and eyelashes are all shared with the oak and marmot and seal. And for most of us living on Turtle Island, the land we are on is occupied. Most of us are living as uninvited guests, as settlers of people who…
Writing Table Retreat
With Eileen Campbell-Reed
October 9 - 12, 2025
Turning Point
Join us at the Writing Table in person. Enjoy the beauty of Kirkridge in the autumn and ample structured and unstructured time to inspire a rhythm of writing and rest. We invite you to bring a writing project with you or dream up a new one at this retreat. The retreat includes short teaching sessions about writing craft and habits, daily time for writing, and evening sessions for sharing brief excerpts of your work. Individual coaching spots will be available on a limited basis. After registration you will receive an email to schedule individual time with retreat facilitator and coach,…
LGBTQ Social Events – October
October 12, 2025
The Farmhouse
Join us as we build local LGBTQ+ community! Our activities vary from month to month and can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but unless otherwise specified, we gather at 7pm near the Farmhouse or Barn at 2281 Fox Gap Road, Bangor, PA 18013. Hope to meet you soon!
Rooted in Hope – Lived in Community
With Ruth Harvey
October 17 - 19, 2025
Turning Point
The Iona Community has been experimenting with the power of faith-based intentional community since1938. We do this through welcoming guests to share a ‘common life’ with us at our residential centres on the Scottish islands of Mull and Iona. And we do this, as a dispersed, global Membership community, through meeting monthly in one another’s homes. We pray, sing, listen, laugh and learn with one another about what it means to work for the justice and peace of Christ’s gospel today. Founded in a time of war and the rumour of war, we boldly assert that in the face of…
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – October
October 20, 2025
Zoom
October 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, October 20, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Taking Cues from Womanists to Break Rank with Toxic Masculinity
With Rev. Dr. Nick Peterson and Tommy Airey
October 24 - 26, 2025
Nelson Lodge
More than four decades ago, Alice Walker coined the term “womanist” to name a space for Black feminists in a movement that centered white women’s striving to be equal to white men. In this retreat, men will let down together and learn from the voices and experiences of Black women to re-member the wholeness, mutuality, abundance, joy, tenderness, nurture, playfulness, awe, wonder, open-heartedness and emotional expressiveness that has been atrophied by the forces that bell hooks famously called imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. On the opening pages of her book on masculinity, bell hooks wrote that men long for love…
Living, Dying, Music, and Mystery – A Retreat Exploring the Threshold
With Barbara McAfee
October 30 - November 2, 2025
Turning Point
“Everyone knows everything sings and dies. But could it be, too, everything dies and sings….” Galway Kinnell Join singer/songwriter and wise woman, Barbara McAfee, in a soulful investigation of life and death, living and dying, song and silence, beauty and mystery. This retreat incorporates people of any belief system. During our sacred time together, we will: share stories about what we’ve learned from encountering death delve into experiences that make us come alive sing simple, nourishing songs (no music to read, no talent required) gather a collection of songs to sing for our loved ones as they face illness…
Walking Awake into the Celtic New Year
With Denise Crawn and Nick Prance
October 31 - November 2, 2025
The Farmhouse
If you feel a deep connection to Nature, have an interest in Celtic Spirituality, and a longing to be amongst the stunning autumn foliage at Kirkridge, this annual weekend retreat may indeed call you ‘home’ to the mountain. Throughout our weekend together we will explore some of the many surrounding lessons and gifts available to us as we ‘walk awake’ together into the Celtic New Year. In Nature it is the time of year when the woodlands transform: Leaves begin to turn into vibrant colors and float to the forest floor as the trees prepare for dormancy. Animals are busy…
Wild Church
November 5, 2025
The Farmhouse
Let's let church go a little wild! We gather at the beautiful Kirkridge Retreat Center every month, outside, on the first Wednesday, to listen together and in solitude for the voice of the Spirit that speaks through the more-than-human world. Most gatherings involve song, prayer and/or ritual, a time of wandering in the woods and fields and among the rocks, and then a time to share what you heard, if you like (no pressure). We also occasionally incorporate advocacy for the creatures and other ways of connecting with the earth. Children are always welcome! And we have a potluck afterward…
LGBTQ Social Events – November
November 9, 2025
The Farmhouse
Join us as we build local LGBTQ+ community! Our activities vary from month to month and can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but unless otherwise specified, we gather at 7pm near the Farmhouse or Barn at 2281 Fox Gap Road, Bangor, PA 18013. Hope to meet you soon!
Liturgical Direct Action: A Discernment Retreat
With Bill Wylie-Kellermann, Naomi Washington-Leapheart and Nichola Torbett
November 14 - 16, 2025
Turning Point
How is direct action or civil disobedience altered when framed in prayerful worship? What dimensions of freedom are then embraced? When public witness tells the story of faith and marks a feast or season, what new depth of communication is opened? When nonviolence is practiced in sacramental forms, how is liturgy itself enhanced? With examples from the freedom movement, antiwar movements, anti-imperial and decolonizing struggles, and more, this retreat will offer opportunities for the imaginative work of movement action from a Christian perspective. Join practitioners in re-discerning your own local work. Come as a group to think it through together…
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – November
November 17, 2025
Zoom
November 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, November 17, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Wild Church
December 3, 2025
The Farmhouse
Let's let church go a little wild! We gather at the beautiful Kirkridge Retreat Center every month, outside, on the first Wednesday, to listen together and in solitude for the voice of the Spirit that speaks through the more-than-human world. Most gatherings involve song, prayer and/or ritual, a time of wandering in the woods and fields and among the rocks, and then a time to share what you heard, if you like (no pressure). We also occasionally incorporate advocacy for the creatures and other ways of connecting with the earth. Children are always welcome! And we have a potluck afterward…
Winter Craft Retreat
December 5 - 7, 2025
The Farmhouse
On these cold December nights, we will have a fire burning and hot chocolate on the stove. Bring your knitting needles, quilting squares, paint brushes, wrapping paper, or whittling knife and gather in the warmth and stillness of the season. This retreat will have no facilitator or agenda. There will be delicious food, good company, and lots of time to craft and share stories. On Sunday afternoon following the retreat, there will be a Craft Fair at Kirkridge with local artists. Retreat participants are welcome to have a table if you have crafts you would like to sell. Or stop…
LGBTQ Social Events – December
December 14, 2025
The Farmhouse
Join us as we build local LGBTQ+ community! Our activities vary from month to month and can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages, but unless otherwise specified, we gather at 7pm near the Farmhouse or Barn at 2281 Fox Gap Road, Bangor, PA 18013. Hope to meet you soon!
Kirkridge / Columcille Spirit of the Earth Book Group – December
December 15, 2025
Zoom
December 2025 Spirit of the Earth Book Group Meeting Join us online for our book group! This will be a great opportunity for heartfelt, stimulating conversation and for building community. This month, December 15, @ 6:30 pm ET, the book is TBA. Email us for details kirkridge@kirkridge.org. To attend online by zoom, please register in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqfuutqzsrGtYuU5bOqRspIV75P7E5-sdm. Once you have registered once, the link you receive will enable you to attend any month through 2025. Here's more information about the book group: Each month, we will read and discuss a book with some emphasis on what we can learn…
Weaving our Iona Connections: A Walking Awake Pilgrimage
With Denise Crawn
August 7 - 15, 2026
A Walking Awake pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, Scotland with Columcille Megalith Park and Kirkridge Retreat Center (registration is open to all). After experiencing a wonderfully memorable shared pilgrimage to Iona in 2024, Columcille Megalith Park, Kirkridge Retreat Center and Walking Awake are excited to announce that we've decided to offer another in August, 2026! If you are curious about the connections that link these three places together, have a love of Celtic Spirituality and Nature, always dreamed of traveling to Iona (or to return), this pilgrimage is for you! Our journey will begin on Friday, August 7th, 2026 with a group pick-up…