Clergy Retreat: Tradition and Transformation

Monday–Wednesday, October 27–29
Featuring
- New York City
- Stony Point Center
- Museum of Biblical Art
- Jewish Museum
- The Cloisters

Looking for a unique and affordable study leave opportunity this Fall?

Join us as we explore tradition and transformation in the New York City area. Share adventure, time, and conversation with colleagues.

Experience

PC(USA)’s Stony Point Center Located on 32 beautiful acres in the scenic and historic Hudson River Valley, SPC is just 30 miles north of Manhattan. The facility offers a wide variety of accomodations for small groups, individual retreats, and conferences for up to 180 guests. Stony Point Center's diverse and dedicated staff teams with a wonderful group of mission volunteers to keep the very spirit and legacy of this historic center operational and in focus with its mission.
Marc Chagall’s Biblical Visions Echoes of Loss, Promises of Renewal No other modernist painter melded the traditions of Jewish Hassidism, eastern Orthodoxy, and western catholic tradition into such dramatically rich and personally significant expressions of biblical narratives. From his White Russian youth in Vitebsk to his professional life as a painter in Paris, Chagall recorded in his graphic works and paintings symbolic elements derived from each of these religious traditions. The intersection of Hassidic and Christian iconographies in Chagall's representations of biblical heroes, prophets, or scenes of the Crucifixion yields an intriguing dynamic tension, which has never been adequately addressed in a major museum exhibition.
The Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947, a discovery of ancient Jewish texts was made in a cave near the Dead Sea. Since their discovery, these Dead Sea scrolls have shed light on the major transformations and debates that occurred in ancient worship during the first centuries BCE and CE, leading to the emergence of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. This exhibition will present six Dead Sea Scrolls complemented by objects excavated from the site near where they were found. Three of the scrolls have never been exhibited, including a portion of one of the three earliest copies of the Hebrew Bibles in existence, and three others have never been shown in New York.
The Jewish Museum At the heart of the Jewish Museum is the permanent exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, representing one of the world's great opportunities to explore Jewish culture and history through art. It examines the Jewish experience as it has evolved from antiquity to the present, over 4,000 years, and asks two vital questions: How has Judaism been able to thrive for thousands of years across the globe, often in difficult and even tragic circumstances?
The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. The building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters and from other monastic sites in southern France. Three of the cloisters reconstructed at the branch museum feature gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval documents and works of art. Approximately five thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about A.D. 800 with particular emphasis on the twelfth through fifteenth century, are exhibited in this unique context.

Register Early! Space is Limited!

Costs

Registration Fee: $50
Lodging: $120–$220 (Due to contract obligations, housing fees may be non- refundable after October 6 depending upon enrollment.)
Optional Dinner @ Stony Point: $18
Transportation costs will be shared in carpools and partially underwritten.

Registration Form

Questions?: Contact 242-0080

Proposed Itinerary

Monday

8:30 am

Depart Presbytery Office

Lunch

On the Road (Cash or brown bag)

3:30 pm

Arrive Stony Point (Check in, explore, relax)

5:00 pm

Choices:

Stay at Stony Point for Dinner (additional fee $18) and Movie on site
Depart for Dinner in New York City (Reasonably priced food in Chinatown/ Little Italy)

10:00 pm

Return to Stony Point

Tuesday

7:30 am: Morning Devotions
8:00 am: Breakfast at Stony Point (included with accommodations)
8:45 am: Depart for New York City
10:00 am: Arrive Museum of Biblical Art (admission included) featuring works by Marc Chagall
Noon: Lunch (Brown bag or cash) and Travel to Jewish Museum
2:00 pm: Jewish Museum featuring the Dead Sea Scrolls (admission included)
4:00 pm: Depart for Stony Point
6:00 pm: Dinner at Stony Point (included)
7:00 pm: Conversations: Tradition and Transformation

Wednesday

7:30 am: Morning Devotions
8:00 am: Breakfast at Stony Point (included with accommodations)
8:45 am: Check out and Depart
9:30 am: Arrive “The Cloisters” (admission included)
11:45 am: Lunch (Brown Bag or Cash)
3:00 pm: Depart for Rochester (Supper on the road)
10:30 pm: Arrive Presbytery office