Center of Renewal Retreat & Conference Center
Stella Niagara, New York
Stella Niagara, New York
Come Enjoy Our Interfaith Hospitality
Only 10 miles north of majestic Niagara Falls, New York, the Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara is a community of service. In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, we provide hospitality, promote spiritual growth, and foster the development of people. Individuals and groups are welcome to this environment of peace and beauty.
The Center of Renewal Retreat & Conference Center at Stella Niagara (COR) is a welcoming interfaith retreat center sponsored by Sisters of St. Francis of Penance & Christian Charity, Holy Name Province.
Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara operates as a 93-bed day/overnight faith-based facility located on the grounds of Stella Niagara, two miles north of the Village of Lewiston, New York and only ten miles north of majestic Niagara Falls. Looking forward to celebrating its 45th year of retreat hospitality in 2019, COR officially opened in July 1974 and has operated year-round since then.
The retreat center offers sponsored retreats, values-based programs, faith-based workshops, plus hospitality for retreats and meetings of varying types of organized groups and not-for-profit organizations.
Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara provides a wide variety of spiritual enrichment and learning opportunities for adults seeking growth, relaxation, reflection, study, and healing.
A quiet, peaceful site, Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara offers:
- Outdoor labyrinth
- Nature trails
- Peace Garden
- Riverside chapel
- Healing massage
- Arts and crafts
- Music
- Spiritual direction
- Retreats (single days/evenings and overnights)
- Reflective times
- Various sponsored and group programs
- Individual or group sessions are available with spiritual directors on an appointment basis
- Events include private or group retreats, workshops, spiritual and wellness events, and more.
As an option to further enhance your group day and overnight retreats and meetings, an on-staff certified trainer and strategic planning facilitator is available for programs for your group
About Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara
Center of Renewal (COR) Retreat & Conference Center at Stella Niagara is a sponsored ministry of Sisters of Saint Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, Holy Name Province. Stella Niagara was founded in 1908, and the Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara began as a retreat center in 1974.
Currently, Center of Renewal provides a peaceful and beautiful environment for many people and organizations opportunities for spiritual, educational, and physical renewal. Through hospitality and sponsored events in this 70-room, 93-person capacity overnight retreat and meeting facility, COR continues to carry out its mission and that of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Penance and Christian.
Center of Renewal Retreat & Conference Center is located on the grounds of Stella Niagara, only two miles north of the Village of Lewiston, New York. This tranquil, 100+–acre scenic site offers a sense of peacefulness with nature trails, a Peace Garden, an outdoor labyrinth, athletic fields, and nearby nature preserve along the Lower Niagara River.
Groups, churches, and organizations are welcome to reserve reasonably-priced meeting and sleeping rooms for day and overnight events, plus meals, beverage service, snacks, A-V equipment, and more. All meeting rooms, sleeping rooms, and meals are within the same building for ease of use.
Retreats and workshops are offered on various topics throughout the year including preached, sponsored, directed, group, and/or private retreats. Authors, spiritual directors, and other notable retreat presenters are periodically scheduled for COR-sponsored retreat events.
Overnight sleeping rooms are currently available for up to 93 people, and multiple meeting rooms can accommodate groups up to 100 people at one time. The facility has Wi-Fi, elevators for easy access to all floors, snack machines, and scheduled meals, beverages, and snacks by advance reservation.
Our staff is available to assist your group in planning your meeting; we also have an on-staff professional trainer & facilitator to present retreat/workshops here or at your location. Advance appointments can be made with spiritual directors and healing massage therapists.
Enjoy opportunities for pensive reflection, insightful self-expression, and meaningful rest and relaxation.
Ongoing Program Schedule
In addition to providing hospitality to both groups and individuals seeking quality meeting and overnight accommodation facilities in an environment of peace and tranquility, the Center of Renewal designs and offers its own sponsored retreats and programs with featured retreat presenters for spiritual growth and lifelong learning.
Examples of the ongoing schedule of sponsored retreats and programs include partial or full single retreat days on a special topics. Retreats in recent years have been scheduled to commemorate special church days such as Ash Wednesday and the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Papal Encyclical topics and themes, wellness and spirituality, peace and justice, and Biblical topics.
Weekly or monthly retreat programs have included a women’s spiritual reading group, a six-week study group on “Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home” Encyclical by Pope Francis, and the Guided & Meditation Prayer Group currently meeting on the first Tuesday evening of each month. Overnight retreats have typically been scheduled from one to six nights in length, affording the retreatants to focus more intently on a specific themes during the entire retreat. Retreat presenters are garnered from among visiting scholars, theologians, priests, sisters, and brothers, all knowledgeable specialists in their respective fields and ministries. Current retreat themes have included embracing change, benefits of the 12-step program for everyone, thoughts, and behaviors, fruits of the Spirit and Pauline mysticism, and understanding self and others through Biblical comparisons. Annual Directed Retreat weeks are also scheduled each August, along with individualized Directed Retreats on request throughout the year.
One key example of specialized group programs throughout the year which consider the Center of Renewal their “retreat center of choice” include the Women’s Respite Program under the direction of its founder Sr. Diane Gianadda, OSF. For many years, this meaningful program has benefitted single moms and grandmothers of low income, mothers of autistic children, and women with cancer, with each event serving 20 to 30 women. The Center of Renewal is proud to serve as the retreat ministry location for these meaningful outreach programs.
