We arrived at the Kirkridge Retreat Center a couple of hours later.  What a beautiful and serene setting, located in the heart of the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania.  The retreat center is situated on a mountain top surrounded by lush green trees and sweeping vistas of the valleys below.

Fifty-five people attended the Eastern Connection (from New York, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, and California) and I think I knew almost half of them from prior visits to New York on business trips when I used to visit Dr. Ralph Blair's Friday night Bible Study.  It was wonderful to reconnect!  I also ran into a couple of longtime friends who used to live in Seattle.  Dr. Ralph Brair, dressed in his usual safari outfit, was happy to see me and quickly introduced me to the people I hadn't met before.

Dinner on Friday evening was with our family groups ( 7 groups ), then Ptah Brown presented her keynote gospel concert.  (She performed at the Western Connection last year.)  She has a beautiful spirit and her voice is rich and pure.  I thoroughly enjoyed her performance. 

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Dr. Blair presented his keynote address titled "From Whence Comes Our Help?"  His talk centered on the 25 years of Evangelicals Concerned (EC) past, present and future.  I think you'll find it very interesting when he presents this talk at Western Connection this year.

A tradition of the Eastern Connection is that family groups meet immediately after each keynote address to discuss the content of that particular address.  Then everyone gathers together again for a question and answer session with that particular keynoter.  I found it to be very worthwhile and this provided the opportunity to ask the keynoter questions for clarity, and for additional information.

After lunch on Saturday there is a huge block of free time (six hours) that allows people to fellowship and to get to know each other.  Some people went shopping at a nearby outlet mall, some stayed in the dining area talking or playing games, others went for walks through the forest while others simply retired to their rooms to read or nap.  I walked with a handful of people for a while and then spent time in the dining area drinking coffee and having some wonderful conversations.

Saturday evening after dinner, Emmy award winner Columbia Professor Randall Balmer, Editor-at-Large, Christianity Today , presented his keynote address titled "Protestantism in America at the Turn of the 21st Century."  He spoke about the beginnings of Protestantism, what it has evolved into, and where he believes it is headed into the future.  He had each of us totally involved with his address.  The Q & A session, after family group discussions, could have gone on for hours!

Beginning around 10:45 p.m. everyone gathered in the dining hall for the 25th Annual Saturday Night Connection Party.  Lots of silver decorations, snacks, sodas, fun contests, and sharing.  (A very late night!)

Sunday morning, following breakfast, is meditation and worship, styled along the lines of a Quaker service where anyone can read a scripture from the Bible.  This would be interspersed with an occasional song.  The session ends with everyone singing "Amazing Grace."  Following the service there is a sharing time with one another very similar to what we do following communion at the Western Connection.  This was very emotional. After lunch, everyone headed back home.

My experience with the people at the Eastern Connection will never be forgotten.  I would highly recommend it to anyone!  The Spirit of the Lord was obviously present and I personally came away with a renewed sense of what EC does and can do.  I saw lives changed that weekend, and I felt strengthened within my own faith.

I've only touched on the highlights in this email.  It doesn't begin to convey the deep spirituality and feelings that I experienced.

Michael Darling