Greenfield Group
Since 1927
A Unitarian Universalist Ministers Study Group
Brief History of Retreat Houses
The group met first in 1927 at Unity House in Park, Square Boston, Massachusetts, a building owned by the Unitarian Laymen's League. The meetings were afternoon affairs with the presentation of a paper and discuaaion.
The group grew and it was decided to have a three day meeting to adequately consider the papers dielived at each meeting. The meetings rotated through the churches of the members, with lay people offering hospitality and meals for the length of the meeting.
By 1930 the group had grown strong enough to hold its meeting for a week at Starr Island, off the Coast of New Hampshire.
In 1934 the group started having three day meetings at Senexet House in Woodstock, Connecticut, a retreat house owned at that time by the Unitarians. From 1941 till 1946 there is break in the formal records of Greenfield Group as it met infrequently and irregularly during the years of World War II.
The group met at Senexet house until some time in the early 1980's at ehich time they moved to The Commons in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
The group tried several other sites, eventually settling in at Our Lady of Peace in Naragansett, Rhode Island. The property was sold some time after 2000.
Greenfield Group used several locations, finally settling on a site which best met their needs, La Salette Retreat Center in Attleboro, Massachusetts. In the Spring of 2008 they met at The Sacred Hearts Retreat in Wareham, Massachusetts, because of a scheduling oversight at La Salette, and returned to La Salette in the fall of 2008.
In the spring of 2009 the group searched for a site which met ADA standards, settling in on the Barbara Harris Camp and Conference Center in, of all places, Greenfield, New Hampshire. It is a site owned by the Episcopal Diosces of Massachusetts built in 2003 speciically as a camp and conference center. Situated on about 350 acres of spruce forestes land, the center shares frontage on a large lake with a State park. There are no cottages on the lake at all. The property has lots of trails and a fine beach.
E-Mail to every member of The Greenfield Group