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About Murray Grove Located near Barnegat Bay and close to the New Jersey coast, 90 minutes’ drive south of New York City and about the same distance east of Philadelphia, Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center, a private, non-profit organization, occupies twenty lovely partially-wooded acres. Adjoining it is 200 acres of the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Preserve, with nature trails leading through woods to the wetlands on Barnegat Bay, encompassing several ecosystems. We’re open all year. Our 20-acre partially wooded campus includes: • Lodge with Fireside Room and fireplace, dining room, kitchen, office • Screen House for outdoor meetings and events • Barbeque Grills • Cone House with meeting space and game room • Weakley House lodging (accommodates up to 22) • Friedrich House lodging (accommodates up to 20) • Courtyard • Fire Circle • Salt water (Outside) pool • 11-circuit labyrinth • Large athletic field with play structure • Walking trails in the wildlife preserve immediately adjacent • Universalist National Cemetery • access to the Potter Memorial Chapel sited in the old Good Luck Cemetery next door to Murray Grove • .. and a Universalist history of over 240 years. We are easy to get to – 15 minutes south of Toms River near Barnegat Bay at exit 74 or 77 off of the Garden State Parkway. Murray Grove is a peaceful place that allows guests to disconnect from the concerns of their everyday lives and concentrate fully on what brings them here. We’re open to all, year-round, and we invite you to contact us with your questions and requests for information. Murray Grove Retreat and Renewal Center is owned and operated by the Murray Grove Association, a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.  [ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ]* * * * * Vision and Impact The Murray Grove Association exists as a living memorial to the lives and the Universalist faith of John Murray and Thomas Potter. Unitarian Universalists and friends and neighbors who seek to give to the world hope and courage enliven the legacy of Universalism by promoting the union of faith, love, and action as inspired foundations of building beloved communities. Therefore the policies, resources and actions of the Murray Grove Association’s Retreat and Renewal Center will result in:
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* * * * * Values We Live By Universal Love - honoring the inherent divinity and interdependent unity of all life.
Lifelong learning, spiritual deepening and prophetic transformation - cultivating transformation and spiritual development, thus inspiring and encouraging people to work throughout their lives with courage and love to make the world a better place. Reverence for life and the natural world - respecting and caring for the natural world and affirming the inspiration humans derive from it. Unitarian Universalist Principles - standing as the foundation of all our work. [ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ]* * * * * Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association We covenant to affirm and promote:
Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life; Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love; Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves; Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit; Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. [ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ]* * * * * Universalist History and Heritage Murray Grove’s story is a story of a farmer whose faith sustained him through ridicule and time, a story of a man so lost to the world that he sailed thousands of miles to lose himself in the wilderness, a story of what happens when passion is reignited, a story of pilgrimages and hope, and of sadness and rebirth. Murray Grove is a sacred place to many, a historic site to others and a place where people gather to get in touch with their roots, themselves and one another. THOMAS POTTER Click Here to read the Thomas Potter story, written by Rev. Dr. John C. Morgan, a writer whose book on pietist Universalism, The Devotional Heart, was published by Skinner House Books. The article begins…“It could be argued that nowhere in Universalist history are we given such a story of faith as that of Thomas Potter, an illiterate farmer who built a chapel in 1760 in the New Jersey woods for a Universalist preacher. Although we say we don't believe in miracles, the meeting of Rev. John Murray, fleeing England to lose himself in the new world, and Potter, sure that God had sent this preacher of Universalism to give a sermon in his chapel, is about as close to a "miracle" as any in the Bible. I might use the word "synchronicity" to describe this meeting.” See Thomas Potter re-enacted live on YouTube! Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcbKMS-09MI Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udUtbv-ObNk [ BACK TO TOP OF PAGE ]JOHN MURRAY Click here to read the John Murray story. |
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