LOUISVILLE — Former General Assembly Moderator Rick Ufford Chase and his wife, Kitty, have been named transitional co-directors of financially-troubled Stony Point Center, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-owned conference center in New York.
They will share the full-time director’s position beginning August 1, succeeding William Pindar, who recently resigned.
“Kitty and Rick are uniquely qualified to lead Stony Point Center into its vision for the future,” said Gary Batty, president of the Stony Point governing board. “Not only do they have extensive backgrounds in peace and justice work that is deeply grounded in the practice of their faith, they also bring a passion for modeling an intentional community at Stony Point Center — both strong components of the vision.”
“We have caught a sense of the spiritual hunger that exists across the United States right now — hunger described as a desire to see the church become more ‘missional’ and expressed by young adults as being ‘spiritual but not religious,'” the Ufford-Chases said. “There is a deep longing for a new experience of following Jesus faithfully in the heart of empire, and Stony Point is the ideal place to galvanize that energy.”
Stony Point Center is located about an hour north of New York City.
Rick Ufford Chase founded BorderLinks in the 1980s to engage U.S. Christians with U.S.-Mexico border issues and served as its director until 2006, when he became executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. He was elected GA moderator in 2004. He will continue part-time with the Peace Fellowship.
Kitty Ufford-Chase, a life-long Quaker with a commitment to spiritual nurture and justice, most recently has been working as the faith community coordinator for the Community Food Security Center of Tucson’s Community Food Bank.
Rick and Kitty are the parents of three children, Teo (12), Troy (10) and Leana (9).
