What a Year! 2024 in Review
Faith-Based Groups—local, national, and international—both returning and newcomers felt the welcome, respect, and support Stony Point Center strives to embody. Faith groups represented in 2024 include, in addition to Presbyterian: Baptist, Episcopal, Inter-Faith, Inter-denominational, Islamic, Jesuit, Jewish, Methodist, Non-denominational, Plymouth Brethren, Protestant, Quaker, Roman Catholic, and Unitarian Universalists. Secular groups working toward ethical living include Ethical Societies, Humanists, Stoics, and Buddhists. Faith-based groups directly tied to other countries include Filipino, Japanese, and South Korean.
Faith-based + Social justice = Many of these groups intersect, such as interdenominational anti-racists, Jewish feminists, Jesuit and Jewish year-long, youth-led social justice projects kick-off and end-cap here, and Presbyterian pacifists.
Social Justice Groups—again, local, national, and international—are working on addressing the following hardships facing our collective society: children’s rights, climate, community-building, democracy, early childhood care for low-income families, economy, empowerment/development for social justice among the marginalized, gender, housing justice & rights, Indigenous peoples’ justice, labor rights, legislative activism, LGBTQAI+ rights, patriarchy/violence, peace, police reform (safety/accountability), racial justice, racism in education, reparations/equality, social justice writ large, and youth leadership. Several social justice coalitions—representing multiple approaches/areas dealing with the same issue(s) also meet at Stony Point Center.
Educational Institutions
(seminaries, universities & high schools) & Creativity Groups use Stony Point Center as a place for retreat, training, and workshops: All Faiths Seminary International, Association of Vision Educators, Cornell ›University, Gestalt Associates, Grand Rising Interfaith Seminary, New York University (NYU), One Spirit Alliance Seminary, Princeton University, Pace University, Ramapo College, St. Peter’s Prep High School, State University of New York (SUNY).
Creativity Groups include a chamber music conference reunion, a folk music project coming here for decades and a group of faith-based dancers.
Healing & Community is another large portion of the groups that find Stony Point Center aligns with their mission and goals.
- Healing: A medical center comes here to help heal the healers; a zen center introduces participants to holistic healing, another works on modality therapy—connecting the body and feelings; reiki healing; retreat for healers; peer-to-peer healing for police; healing for vulvovaginal pain.
- Community: A recreational school teaches play and community-building; “Children of Deaf Adults” came to connect; another group comes together each year to support one another in their battle against addiction; a Russian immigrant community gathers to keep traditional arts alive from generation to generation; a program runs here to teach compassion and community-building skills; breath therapy.
Did You Know?
Our busiest months are in the Spring and Fall. October is the most popular (prime leaf-peeping season), followed by May, September, a tie between November and June, and April coming in last of the peak SPC months
The two most popular lodging spaces are Maple Lodge and Gilmor Sloane House.
Pro Tip:
If you are looking to book during the months above and in the places above, book early. Also – if you do an annual event, it helps improve attendance if you stick to the same time and place. Consistency helps!
Want to book a retreat yourself?
Just give us a call (845-786-5674), fill out a form online (stonypointcenter.org) or send us an email: guestservices@stonypointcenter.org. We’d love to hear from you!
Stony Point Center Programming & Partnerships Residential Nonprofits
Stony Point Center’s rich history of missional work in various forms has given the campus the gift of 23 buildings to use for our mission. Since 1949, we have hosted programs and organizations to address the needs of our evolving world. The “resident nonprofits” below all either rent from us or are located close by.
The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice connects biblically informed activists and justice oriented scholars through a research library and educational programs in order to develop an empowering use of the Bible for enacting social justice today.
Fellowship of Reconciliation: As an interfaith organization, FOR-USA’s mission is to organize, train, and grow a diverse movement of people of conscience committed to using the transformative power of nonviolence to create peace, end structures of violence and war, and build the beloved community.
Proyecto Faro (Project Lighthouse of Rockland County): an immigrant-led organizing effort, is helping build a community where all people can live without fear or anxiety. Working to galvanize support and action among those in Rockland County who feel insecure due to their immigration status, we strive to create solidarity across boundaries of legal status, country of origin, and secular and religious affiliation. We are committed to acting as a lighthouse in the midst of the storm….
Sweetwater Cultural Center: an Indigenous-led organization is dedicated to promoting “the education, health, and welfare of Indigenous or Native Peoples and to preserve their cultures and ceremonial practices locally, regionally, and around the western hemisphere”.
Penguin Rep Theatre was founded after the old hay barn had been used for religious plays and was no longer in use. The current creative director, Joe Broncato, was encouraged by Jim Palm to follow his dream of starting a professional theatre here in Stony Point. The plays they choose to produced tend to have a religious, moral and/or loving message, a legacy of that connection between Palm and Broncato. This year they held 121 performances, 5 productions, 5 readings and special events, and more than 14,000 attendees.
Stony Point Center & Partner Programming Bringing Programming Back
2024 saw the continued growth of program offerings at Stony Point Center. After a decade of focusing on a lived-in interfaith community experiment and moving away from SPC directly offering programming, we are moving back into program delivery with an eye for innovation of delivery, expansion of reach outside of SPC, and an ongoing emerging dialog to keep momentum as social justice needs evolve. We experienced success and learned a lot in 2024.