New Skete's Holy Wisdom Temple
New Entrance & Meditation Gardens Project
In celebration of New Skete's 40th anniversary as a monastic community, we have embarked on a special project
that enhances our core monastic value of hospitality.
Creating a sense of sacred space between our two churches, our new Welcome Entrance and Meditation Garden
of Holy Wisdom Temple will feature a gently sloping pathway for improved access (replacing two sets of stairs),
new landscaping, and a series of meditation gardens with cascading pools.
With carefully placed benches and pathways, set amidst boulders harvested from our mountain, we aspire to
make New Skete a more welcoming destination for our many guests.
To enable this project to move forward, we at New Skete have been quietly improving our efforts in
"development"- a new experience for most of us! With the strategic needs of the monastery growing,
we have decided to accept the offers of assistance - guidance and support of generous friends of New Skete --
to help improve our aging buildings and infrastructure.
While the Holy Wisdom Entrance and Meditation Gardens is our pilot project, a $150,000 fundraising goal
is very ambitious for us! A steering committee, comprised of friends and members of the communities, is
forming to involve donors and volunteers and guide the fundraising process. We welcome your interest and
invite you to visit and participate in the Garden's progress thus far.
If you'd like to get involved, please contact Br. Stavros Winner at 518-677-3928, stavroswinner@hotmail.com
or monks@newskete.com. And be sure to follow the Holy Wisdom Meditation Garden's continuing progress,
in photos and words, at the Meditation Garden page.
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| Spring 2006: we begin!
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No more stairs to shovel in winter!
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| Positioning stones for the walls.
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Outlining the access ramp and gardens.
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| Starting to take shape.
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Boulders from our property in place.
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| The waterfall -- home to koi and frogs.
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Another view of the waterfall.
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| One of our new residents.
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