Chestnut Retreat Center

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United States
Saylorsburg, PA
Chestnut Retreat Center

Rooted in worship, dialogue, education, and community service in the Poconos. A welcoming space for spiritual growth and meaningful connection.

CRC’s mission is to serve the community through:

•Offering a space for spiritual development, education, reading, meditation, and prayer.
•Providing community services.
•Helping the needy in collaboration with local aid agencies.
•Organizing dialogue events where people of different faiths, cultures, and backgrounds can interact with each other. CRC envisions a society in which every person is respected for who they are while living in peace with themselves and others.

06/10/2026

195 local families in Monroe County received Eid al-Adha meat packages through a community effort organized by Chestnut Retreat Center in partnership with Embrace Relief and local food pantries.

At the CEC Food Pantry at Christ Episcopal Church - Stroudsburg, PA, packages were shared with 120 neighbors. We then continued the effort at PVEN Food Pantry with packages for 75 more families.

Each family took home 4 pounds of meat — 2 pounds of beef cubes and 2 pounds of ground beef.

Eid al-Adha is a time when Muslims remember the story of Prophet Abraham and share meat with family, neighbors, and those in need. This year, members of our Turkish Muslim community wanted their Eid al-Adha giving to reach local families, and we were honored to help coordinate that effort.

We are deeply grateful to Embrace Relief for partnering with us, to Lehigh Dialogue Center for their support, and to the leaders and volunteers of the CEC Food Pantry and PVEN Food Pantry for welcoming this effort and serving our neighbors with care and dignity.

Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, and helped make this possible.

05/25/2026

Wishing everyone a peaceful Memorial Day!

05/08/2026

We were honored to participate in this year’s Interfaith Celebration of the National Day of Prayer at Courthouse Square in Stroudsburg.

We were grateful to share an Islamic perspective on prayer alongside faith leaders and neighbors from many traditions across the Poconos.

Thank you to the Pocono Interfaith Council and everyone who helped make this meaningful gathering possible.

04/05/2026

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Wishing you a blessed day with family, friends, and loved ones.

03/20/2026

As Ramadan comes to a close, we send our warmest wishes to all who are celebrating Eid al-Fitr. May this special day bring peace, gratitude, and togetherness to families and communities.

03/17/2026

Two iftars. Around 170 guests. One shared table.

This Ramadan, Chestnut Retreat Center had the joy of welcoming many guests — most of them joining us for the first time — for two evenings of iftar marked by hospitality, conversation, and a genuine spirit of togetherness.

Academics, teachers, writers, community leaders, business professionals, clergy, public servants, and neighbors from across the wider community gathered around the same table. In a world that often feels heavy and divided, these evenings were a quiet but powerful reminder that goodwill, friendship, and shared humanity still matter deeply.

One guest expressed it beautifully:

“Today, many difficult things are happening in the world. But seeing an environment like this, where people of good will come together, is truly meaningful. If gatherings like this continue, maybe we can teach the world how to live together.”

We are grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make these evenings so meaningful.

03/16/2026

As Christians observe Lent and Muslims observe Ramadan, neighbors came together last week at St. Luke’s Church in Stroudsburg for an evening of reflection and friendship.

The program included reflections on Lent and the Catholic tradition of fasting, a short introduction to Ramadan, and a moment of prayer before the fast was broken at sunset with the adhan (call to prayer).

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed dinner and conversation together.

Evenings like this remind us how much friendship grows when people simply share the same table.

We are grateful to everyone who helped make this evening possible.

03/15/2026

It was a joy to share an iftar dinner at East Stroudsburg University, gathering with students, faculty, and staff for an evening of conversation and community around the table.

Many thanks to the Center for Student Engagement and Belonging (CSEB) and Muslim Student Association (MSA) for their partnership and support in making the evening possible.

03/14/2026

We had a wonderful Ramadan dinner at Plainfield Elementary School.

Teachers, staff and families came together for an evening of conversation, connection, and community. It was a joy to spend time together around the table and strengthen the friendships that support our schools.

We are grateful to everyone who joined us and to those who helped make the evening possible.

03/13/2026

Fasting: Shared Practices, Sacred Meanings

Earlier this month, voices from the Jewish, Buddhist, Catholic, and Muslim traditions came together at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Poconos for an interfaith panel on fasting.

The panel explored how fasting is practiced in each tradition and what spiritual purposes it serves. Hearing these perspectives side by side offered a rare chance to see both the similarities and the differences in how communities approach discipline, reflection, and spiritual life.

After the conversation, the evening continued over dinner as Ramadan’s fast was broken and the discussion carried on around the table.

Address

Saylorsburg, PA

Telephone

+15709027676

Website

http://www.chestnutretreatcenter.org/

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