The Stony Point Center

Dear Synod Community, 

Many of you already know and some of you may not have heard that Stony Point is the latest casualty of COVID-19.  The Presbytery Mission Agency (PMA) which owns Stony Point announced that it was time to let go of Stony Point as we have known it.  Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase, co-directors for twelve years, helped turn the financially struggling Stony Point around through a variety of efforts and new vision.  They were on their way to a bright future that included becoming the leadership development and training center for PMA’s Matthew 25 initiative.  Once Stony Point had to shut down and could not accept groups during the pandemic, there were no funds coming into Stony Point to continue to make it viable.  

On Stony Point’s website, there is a piece that speaks to all that has happened.  It includes the following.  “Here are the most important implications of our new reality: 

  • All of us who remained as the staff will be laid off. This includes our co-directors, Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase. As was the case with our colleagues who lost their positions in June, we will receive standard separation packages from the PMA. 

  • The volunteer relationships with members of the Community of Living Traditions (CLT) has ended. We supported them through a process to form their own 501(c)3, nonprofit organization. They will continue to work for justice, full-inclusion, care for the earth and we hope they will thrive and be successful in their newly created structure. 

  • The CLT members have the option to live on the campus until March 2021. 

  • The PMA will conduct a search for a retreat manager who will live on campus and host a smaller guest program starting in January 2021. 

  • All of the main lodges and Evergreen, our main meeting spaces, dining room and staff offices, will be closed for the foreseeable future. 

  • The Gilmor Sloane and Allison House will be open in January 2021 to guest groups of 20 or less under the new leadership of the PMA and new retreat manager. 

  • The open spaces, the Labyrinth, Art Space and Meditation Space, that help to define Stony Point Center, will be open January 2021 for guests to use.” 

So many of us have memories of Stony Point – all the gatherings we attended there; all the meals we shared with old friends and new; the various places we gathered in big groups and small; the ways that the auditorium was continually rearranged for special worship services;  

seasons that we encountered with all their colors and smells; fresh and organic food; the labyrinth; the Friendship Circle; the places to meditate and to create art; the library to read; and all the different buildings each with a special feel.  It was truly a sacred place.  It was clear that God was in this place and will continue to be. 

We do not know what God has in store for Stony Point in the long term.  We will know this in God’s time.  In the meantime, let us come together to thank Rick and Kitty for their steadfast faithfulness, vision, creativity, energy and love.  Let us thank all the staff who welcomed us, engaged with us, and made our time there comfortable in so many ways.  Let us thank the Community of Living Traditions for their willingness to share with us their understanding of what it means to be part of God’s creation without the walls that humans so often create.   As these co-creators and inhabitants leave Stony Point to journey on, let us pray that they all find a soft place to land among people who will welcome them and welcome all the gifts they have to bring to the table.   

 

Peace and love, 

The Synod Leadership Team 
Nancy Talbot, Acting Synod Leader and Stated Clerk  
Jacinth Hanson, Synod Moderator 
Warren McNeill, Synod Commission Moderator 
Leslie Latham, Synod Moderator-Elect 
Alan Ford, Treasurer 

Lori Hylton