Retreat Programs
Retreat Schedule
All upcoming Retreats
Below is our full upcoming program schedule for retreats.
Whose Liturgy Is It Anyway? Lenten Liturgy as the Work of and For the People
With Naomi Washington-Leapheart
February 7 - 9, 2025
Turning Point
Familiar and traditional liturgy in Christian worship can be a source of comfort. But liturgies left unexamined can do harm. In this retreat timed for a month before Lent begins, we'll explore various liturgical forms and ask - whose liturgy is this and what "work" is this liturgy doing? This retreat will engage participants in theological wrestling about liturgy, collective reading and interrogating various liturgies, and creating new liturgical forms, including songs, litanies, and prayers, for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Let's liberate liturgy and put it back into the hands of the people! CEU certificates available upon request.
Reclaim Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Scripture, and Early Christian, Medieval, and Contemporary Art
With Beth Maczka
February 21 - 23, 2025
Turning Point
Participants are taken on a journey through scripture, art, and history to trace the steps of Mary Magdalene, of whom Jesus declares in Mark 14:9, Truly I tell you, wherever the Gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her. Embodied activities include acting out scriptures, illuminating Bible verses, and smelling spikenard. The session will close with a ritual of anointing. CEU certificate available upon request.
William Stringfellow: the “Giant Triplets” and the Communion of the Saints
With Bill Wylie-Kellermann
February 28 - March 2, 2025
Turning Point
A year before his martyrdom, Martin Luther King, Jr. identified the giant triplets of racism, militarism, and extreme materialism, as demanding a revolution of values. William Stringfellow, in his discerning of signs and spirits, also identified them among the reigning powers of that era, as indeed our own. As an exercise in practical theology, this retreat will contemplate a spiritual, personal, and political struggle with these principalities even in their new guises. This anticipates a work of intercession on behalf of Earth’s creatures – human and more – one joined by a cloud of kin and witnesses on whom we…
The P-Pastor’s BIPOC Pleasure Retreat
With Rev. Lorren Z. Buck
March 14 - 16, 2025
Turning Point
The “good girl” image cons women into banishing their sexual power through the coercive judgement of shame. Shame causes us to compartmentalize our identities, dividing our humanity into two separate categories, never the two shall meet. Our bodies can be a divine source of pleasure when we devote our energy, mind and spirit toward an inner place of ecstasy. Begin your journey towards self-acceptance, sexual exploration, and spiritual discovery. This pilgrimage will endarken your power of the erotic and enlighten your quest for healing. This retreat is rooted in a womanist sexual ethic with somatic practices from Authentic Tantra©. Join us…
Beyond Diversity 101: Whole System Transformation – Training 1
With Niyonu D. Spann
March 19 - 23, 2025
Turning Point & Nelson Lodge
When you mean to radically change the system, including YOU! (BD101 WST - TO APPLY: Complete this form Form link: https://forms.gle/puBJz6Vs7rwMUXt39) The BD101 WST Series invites those who hold a deep commitment to liberation, wholeness, and the well-being of all. It is a response to a world crying out to remember. Some are called to sit on councils helping community to run smoothly, others bring artistic expression, some are led to teach while others master plant medicines and other forms of healing. Regardless of the particular role or the medicine that you bring, making the jump from dominator culture to…
Dreaming Our Way Forward: A Collective Dreaming Retreat
With Michelle Johnson
March 28 - 30, 2025
Turning Point
At this time on our planet, when many things seem to be on fire, literally and figuratively, we must be creative in responding to all that is burning, churning, crumbling, and being dismantled. Systems of oppression make us feel limited in our response to the magnitude of what we are up against. Yet, we have the power to dream and vision outside of systems of oppression such as white supremacy, the cishet patriarchy, capitalism, ableism, and all systems meant to further fracture us from ourselves and one another. In fact, we must learn to dream outside of the constraints of…
Justice and Fascism in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
With Adam F. Braun, Ph.D.
April 4 - 6, 2025
Nelson Lodge
With the rise of neo-fascist, far-right extremist, and populist movements across the globe, and particularly across the "liberal" West, now is a better time than ever to re-read Paul's letter to the Roman assemblies. Following both the "Paul within Judaism" and "Paul among the Philosophers" schools of Paulinist thought, this retreat will challenge the protestant and individualist readings of Romans that have laid the foundation for fascist risings amidst Christian societies. Reading from Jewish perspectives and recognizing Paul as a political thinker of "justice outside the law" (Rom. 3:21), we will look at Paul's psychological self-reflection (in Romans 7) and…
We are Deaf, Queer, and Here!
With Mervin Primeaux-OBryant and Spencer Grugan
April 4 - 6, 2025
Turning Point
A weekend retreat program for individuals who are 18+ years of age, identify as LGBTQ+, and Deaf/deaf/DeafBlind/Deaf+/hard-of-hearing. This retreat gathering is presented as an opportunity to bring together individuals who are Deaf and queer. Through group facilitations, community-building, and activities, the two co-facilitators will foster a space of healing, connection, and celebration of the intersectionality of Deaf queer people. With our shared identities and experiences with which we’ll have the opportunity to express ourselves in many different modes of communication, art, and expression, we will have the space to acknowledge our best authentic selves. One does not need to know…
Women’s Writing Retreat: Healing the Heart through Writing
With Dr. Juanita Kirton
April 11 - 13, 2025
The Farmhouse
Write to unravel confusion, to understand, to question, explore feelings, honesty, to heal and break silence. Art guides us to new experiences and engages the present moment to work within. Exploring yourself through your creations and connecting with your emotions. We invite women and nonbinary people to explore shared hurts and wounds in a safe space; LGBTQ+ participants warmly welcomed. This workshop reminds us that every person has artistic wisdom inside that is asking for an outlet; that in community we can write together to support and encourage this creative release. With this kinship, we can connect around healing the…
Unstructured Retreat for Pastors (and Their Families)
Flexible Dates
Turning Point
He is risen! Or he will be! And, after guiding your congregation through Lent and Holy Week, it will be time for you to rest. Join us for this unstructured retreat, specifically for pastors, on the beautiful Kittatinny Ridge. We’ll provide you with three meals each day, starting with dinner on Monday, the 21st and ending with lunch on Sunday, the 27th. The rest of the time is yours to nap, read, hike, journal, walk the labyrinth, explore the Pocono region, get reacquainted with your family…. (Yes, your family is welcome to come with you.) You can come for part…
Allies in Recovery: A Weekend Workshop for Sexual Abuse Survivors and their Partners
With Mike Lew and Thom Harrigan
April 25 - 27, 2025
Nelson Lodge
It is required that all participants be fully vaccinated. The long-term and often painful process of recovery from sexual abuse has profound effects on relationships. Partners and survivors experience a parallel process of understanding the nature of abuse, its effects on the survivor and the couple, and the requirements of healing. Lack of information and understanding on both sides cause great strain on the couple. This weekend workshop is designed for couples where one or both of the partners is a non-offending survivor of sexual child abuse, rape, physical violence, emotional abuse and/or neglect. It is open to heterosexual, gay,…
Spirituality of Stone: Palestinian, Celtic, and Lenape Voices
With James W. Perkinson
April 25 - 27, 2025
The Farmhouse
It is obvious as we face climate-chaos, empire-collapse, techno-conundrums of all kinds (drones as the new soldiers, pagers as bombs, “should we geo-engineer the sky, the ocean . . . ?”) that we need ancestral wisdom. So yes, we turn to “elders”—especially among our humankind kin, and even our plant-sisters and animal-brothers. But what if the demand of the hour goes beyond what seems to breathe and grow like us? Our oldest progenitors are water and rock. Jacob anointed a rock. Pre-Celtic Indo-European ancestors built cairns. Bedouin in the Hejaz enshrined a meteor fragment. So what’s up with this spirituality…
Women in Recovery: A Spiritual Retreat
With Nichola Torbett and Rev. Deb Staniszewski
May 2 - 4, 2025
The Farmhouse
You are warmly invited to join us for a weekend of 12-step recovery fellowship and conscious connection in a beautiful natural setting. Expect meetings, ritual, art-making, time in nature, a candlelight labyrinth walk, and more. The retreat is open to self-identified women and nonbinary people of all spiritual belief systems. We hope you’ll come!
Festival of Radical Discipleship
May 23 - 26, 2025
Kirkridge Retreat & Study Center
A Collaboration between Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries (BCM) and Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center. Grace Boggs, Detroit organizer and now ancestor, would ask over and over again, “What time is it on the clock of the world?” We cannot deny that we are standing at an urgent and catastrophic moment. We are witnessing an assault on humanity and all of creation from so many directions. From climate disaster to genocidal militarism, to racial and religious supremacy, and so much more. Our souls are hungering for time and community to be asking what it means to live humanly in this moment. We…
Queer Dating and Relationships: Consciousness, Communication, and Consent
With Max Pearl
June 6 - 8, 2025
Most people think about dating and relationships as just about finding the "right person". But then people are disappointed over and over again when that doesn't work out. Yes, finding compatibility is important, but ironically enough, the most important factor is our relationship to ourselves, our desires, our emotions, and our limits. This workshop will help you hone your skills: skills of self-compassion, learning to navigate and regulate your emotions, learning more about your desires and limits, and learning how to communicate. This workshop is for queer and trans folks of all sorts, whether monogamous, poly, or somewhere in-between. It's…
Trans Sanctuary Weekend
With Kerr Mesner
June 13 - 15, 2025
Nelson Lodge
This weekend is an opportunity for trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive people* to gather in community together. In these challenging times, we invite you into a space of sanctuary, refuge, and an honoring of our glorious gender diversity. With a creative spirit of playfulness, we’ll connect, rest, play, and explore what gives us joy, even in—especially in—difficult times. Stay tuned for some amazing trans/nonbinary/gender expansive artists who will be joining us. In a spirit of radical inclusion and care, this retreat will be observing additional covid risk protocols. All attendees will be required to take a rapid covid test within…
Friendship, Community, and Resilience: A Circle of Trust® Retreat
With Cat Greenstreet
June 13 - 15, 2025
The Farmhouse
“We are participants in a vast communion of being, and if we open ourselves to its guidance, we can learn anew how to live in this great and gracious community of truth.” – Parker J. Palmer from Let Your Life Speak How are we creating friendships and community in a time of division and increasing isolation? How is our friendship with ourselves? How are we navigating the rapid changes and too slow ones in this time of turbulent Earth change? What is breaking our hearts open? What brings hope and inspiration? How does acknowledging and including Mother Earth as our…
The Heart of the Novel Workshop and Retreat
With Meg Eden Kuyatt
June 20 - 22, 2025
Nelson Lodge
Get to the heart of your novel! Learn how to discover the guiding light of your project to focus and tighten your drafting and editing processes. We’ll also discuss the essentials of novel structure, and how to discern what to keep and cut in your novel. Bring a novel in progress—or seeds for a new project—to explore through some reflective exercises. Feel free to bring a one-line pitch of your project, as well as a first page and any questions or road blocks you’re hitting with your project for optional sharing. All writers welcome. For those interested, there will be…
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…
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…
Sisterly Conversations: Sharing Our Stories Across Generations
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. 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 generations. This retreat builds on nearly 40 years of “Sisterly Conversation”…
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…
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,…
Rooted in Hope – Lived in Community
With Ruth Harvey
October 17 - 19, 2025
Nelson Lodge
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…
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. 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 and death savor poetry that awakens our spirits…
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…
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…
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…