Ripping and Repair

All retreats are offered on a sliding scale, with scholarships available.

Camping – $315.00

Commuter – $265.00

Nelson Lodge Private Room – $525.00

Nelson Lodge Shared Room – $425.00

Date & Time Details: Check-in is between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. The opening gathering begins with dinner at 6:00 pm. The retreat concludes after lunch on Sunday, around 1:00 pm.

Location: Nelson Lodge

Address: 3501 Valley View Dr, Bangor, PA, USA

Contact: lacey

Email us about program

November 6 - 8, 2026

With Ashon Crawley

Japanese kintsugi is the art of repairing broken pottery in a way that honors the fracture, drawing attention to the seams where damage once appeared. In this workshop, Ashon Crawley extends that spirit of repair into art and writing, using torn-up earlier works, hymns, and scriptures to build new collages and new meaning. Through this process, he also turns to writing as a way to uncover untold histories and revisit familiar ones, breaking them open to reveal what still wants to be said.

In this immersive workshop, participants will enter a deep meditative, self-reflective process by creating from materials they first rip apart and then repair. Guests are invited to bring scriptures or other sacred texts that hold personal meaning, as well as photographs, images of comfort and care, and other meaningful ephemera to Kirkridge. Together, the group will tear these materials apart and reassemble them into something new. This is both a spiritual practice and a creative process.

Ashon Crawley is a professor of religious studies and African American studies at the University of Virginia. He is the author of three books, including From Infinite World: the Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tragedy of AIDS in the Black Church (2026). His artwork has been shown at the California African American Museum and on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Across his work, he explores the possibilities of otherwise.