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- Woodfired Makigami Kiln
We partner with The Union Project, a community arts collaborative in Pittsburgh, to host several ceramics firings in a makigami kiln that was built on our grounds in 2008. Artists load as many as 500 pieces of pottery into the kiln before firing; the entire process lasts several days as they stoke the fire until temperatures reach 2300° F. The finished pieces emerge with a brilliant red-orange glaze created by melting wood ash that settles on the clay.
- Prayer Labyrinth on Sunset Hill
The Laurelville prayer labyrinth was constructed in 2006 and sits atop Sunset Hill, a beautiful vista overlooking the valley outside Mt. Pleasant. It is a spiritual destination for overnight guests as well as our neighbors in Westmoreland and Fayette County.
- Summer Fun at Laurelville
There is no shortage of activity at Laurelville during the summer months. We host six weeks of summer camp for kids ages 6-17; our swimming pool is open 12-5 daily to overnight guests as well as community members (daily admission is $2.50/person); family reunions, church retreats and weddings take place throughout the months of June, July and August; etc.
- Music & Worship Leaders Retreat
The Laurelville Music & Worship Leaders Retreat takes place on the first full weekend of January each year. The event gathers more than 200 worship leaders and musicians across Mennonite Church USA for a weekend filled with resources, fellowship, celebration and vibrant worship. MWLR often brings in a keynote speaker from outside the Mennonite tradition; past special guests include renowned individuals such as Brian McLaren and Ysaye Maria Barnwell in addition to notable professors, pastors and theologians.
- Values-based Leadership Program
Run in collaboration with a handful of other Mennonite organizations and institutions, the Values-based Leadership Program offers individuals in a variety of vocational settings the opportunity to develop their leadership practice that is grounded in Anabaptist values and theology. More than 300 leaders have graduated from this in-depth leadership training since its inception in 2001.
- Pittsburgh Kids Foundation Mud Weekends
Pittsburgh Kids Foundation (formerly Pittsburgh Youth Network) brings together Sr. and Jr. High youth from churches in the greater Pittsburgh area for a series of weekends in November and December. These "Laurelville Mud Weekends" are highlighted by games and activities held in a flooded dirt field on Saturday afternoons. Weekends also feature Bible teaching, worship and discipleship activities.