Programs

For this retreat, we offer you a private room and three meals a day. Other than that, the time is yours. Use the space however you need. Come for one night or two or three. We are living in heavy times. Take some time to be with yourself. Be nourished by this beautiful land. Write. […]

Why Not Sing? A Weekend Immersion in Community Singing When you get up in the morning, why not sing? When you’re sitting down for dinner, why not sing? When your heart is full of grief, you could find some relief If you sing, why not sing?                                                             - Barbara McAfee Singing is an ancient and […]

Most North Americans grow up in a culture that worships money, embedded in an economic system that holds money up as the only true measure of value. But money is a failed god, as we see in the fear that threatens our personal well-being and our relationships, in the overwork and overwhelm that guts community […]

Have you ever thought about transporting the ashes of a loved one to a favorite beach and wished the container would just dissolve? Or thought about making your own burial urn? This mid-week workshop will offer you a contemplative experience of making an unfired burial urn or simply using clay as a meditative practice. No […]

In this workshop we will read and write all the brilliance and beauty of what we have survived and what we are building. Using prompts, free-writes, the magnificent muck of our lives, and the full wing-span of our imaginations, we will create new writing across genres. Be prepared to dig deep. In our writing, we […]

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 […]

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman Do you long to feel alive and to sustain that feeling in your life and work? How are we creating friendships and community in a […]

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 […]

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 […]

Limit 5 participants. The focus of this retreat is listening in nature. Your primary “spiritual directors” will be the creatures, beings, and elements of the more than human world on Kittatinny Ridge in the Appalachian Mountains, and you are encouraged to spend significant time out of doors. Each day will include a morning and evening […]

What do creatures, plants, landforms and waterways have to teach us about stealth and fabulousness? How does the more than human world invite us to authentic gender expression? Often people with non-cis gender identities are pushed into urban spaces and find rural and wilderness settings dangerous, or we are told who we are or what […]

“Chant deepens the very nature of prayer. It becomes the beat of the heart, the hope of the seeker. It is the etching of the Presence of God on the mind. It is the daily memory and promise of God’s presence that clasps two souls to one another: I in God, God in me.” ~ […]

In an age of intolerance, they practiced compassion. In an era of religious arrogance, they embraced the Divine Feminine and celebrated gifts of the Spirit. Under suffocating patriarchy, they rejected cultural dictates limiting women to the roles of wives owned and subjugated by husbands or nuns cloistered and controlled by the church. They boldly lived […]

For nearly 40 years, women who identify as lesbian have gathered here on the mountain every year to learn from lesbian feminist theologians, engage in spiritual practice, and build lifelong friendships. This year, we will expand the circle to younger people, including those who identify as nonbinary or genderqueer, for an intergenerational exploration of queer […]

As we move deeper into the 21st century, it has become strikingly clear that what could once be ignored and dismissed requires a new disposition and demands we assume a different posture. There are many questions that arise as we, the human family, turn toward great troubles–ecological crises, cultural and political polarizations, economic frustrations and […]

The effects of climate change are all around us. We feel it in little ways as we harvest from our gardens a little earlier each year. And in big ways as we watch fires blaze through entire towns and our streets fill with rain. Climate anxiety touches nearly everything we do, but perhaps nothing so […]

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 […]

Fear keeps us white people from accessing so much of our power. We fear “doing it wrong” or not doing enough. We fear losing relationships because of our commitment to racial justice, which is a fear related to our belonging. We fear violence and the repercussions of taking bold action in the context of empire governed […]

A retreat for gay, bisexual and trans men of faith and spirituality, this annual Kirkridge Men’s Retreat offers time together in community worship, conversations and small groups plus time for reflection, relaxation and casual hikes along the Appalachian trail that runs across the mountain that is Kirkridge. This peaceful setting offers inspiration for body, mind […]

Potter, sculptor, philosopher MC Richards said, “It’s not pots we are making, it’s ourselves.”  Come to the mountain at the height of Autumn colors.  Take some clay in your hands and listen to your life.  Listen to the wind and leaves.  Walk the stony paths.  We’ll listen and wonder and create as we reflect on […]

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 […]

The world is filled with chains and cages. Though sometimes literal, the most insidious constraints are the ideas and stories that bind our imaginations. Wherever the Spirit is, the spirit subverts—she breaks the chains. Unfortunately, so much of what we call “spirituality” or “religion” serves to press those chains ever deeper into our minds. In […]

We are between stories now. We are evolving from the world dominated by technology and entering the age of biology when there will be a resurgence of interest in learning how to work with the forces of nature rather than against them. It will be a time for following what feels most natural, organic and […]