Men, treat yourselves to an amazing get-away at Blue Mountain Christian Retreat! Relax, enjoy sports, hiking, worship and grow closer to God with inspiring worship and Bible teaching with Rev. Peter DeArruda. Enjoy a weekend that will restore your soul!

Rev. Peter DeArruda is an ordained minister in New York City, where he and his wife, Darleen, have served as urban missionaries for the past 37 years with the New York School of Urban Ministry.  Rev. DeArruda became Elim Fellowships’ first Home Missionaries in 1987 and serves on the Council of Elders Board for Elim Fellowship, Lima, NY.  He became the Executive Vice President of NYSUM in 1994 and was elected as NYSUM’S President in 2017. He studied at Zion Bible Institute, graduated from Elim Bible Institute in 1980, and earned his B.A. degree in religion & philosophy from Houghton College in 1981.  He has served the body of Christ for over 43 years in diverse ministry capacities, including youth pastor, pastor, evangelist, and urban missionary. 

Since 1987, he has been actively spearheading and leading urban outreaches and evangelism training with the New York School of Urban Ministry.  He has been instrumental in bringing vision and challenge to city churches in mobilizing the body of Christ for urban ministry.  He is a Bible teacher in several ethnic NYC churches and an instructor at NYSUM. 

Rev. DeArruda provides leadership for those coming to New York City to be trained in ministry from other mega-cities throughout the U.S. and Canada—to motivate and equip churches to reclaim their own city for Christ!  He also serves as a mentor in urban ministry for many local churches in New York City, providing support, resources, and guidance to urban pastors and churches through years of relationship and experience. 

He has traveled and spoken in several foreign countries for pastors’ conferences, crusades, and church meetings.  As a missionary to New York City, he is a speaker for mission conferences, men’s retreats, crusades in the United States, and urban centers worldwide.  

Peter is happily married to his wife, Darleen, of 43 years, and has two beautiful daughters.

Kurtis Parks is the Worship Pastor at Destination Church in Hopewell, VA. He leads the worship and songwriting team with Destination Worship.

Kurtis is a church planter, music producer, a two time author, and has written over 1200 songs.

From 2010-2017, he was the worship director at National Community Church, a multi-site church led by Pastor and NY Times best-selling author Mark Batterson in the Washington DC area.

He founded NCC Worship, the music team made up of nearly 150 singers and musicians, signed with Integrity Music.  Some may recognize him as a top 50 finalist on American Idol’s fourth season.

Kurtis has also appeared on the Fox Morning Show, BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel Hour, and his song “Forever Changed”, written for his beloved Virginia Tech community after the April 2007 tragedy was featured on NBC News and CNN. He was also a VH1 “Song of the Year” finalist with his song “Everything That You Are.” His song “Burn it All Down” hit Billboard’s Hot Gospel top 20, written with Joel Buckner, fellow worship leader.  Parks was one of the featured worship leaders and writers on “ONE a Worship Collective”, which hit #1 on Soundscan in its first week.

Many of his worship choruses are being sung around the world in churches every weekend. Kurtis is the author of two books for worship teams and leaders – “Sound Check” (released with David C Cook) and most recently “Worshipology” (released with Core Media).

He is also the host of the weekly podcast Worshipology, featuring interviews with pastors, songwriters and worship leaders. His heart is to equip worship leaders and pastors everywhere.

Kurtis is married to Sarah, and they live in the DC area with their two kids, Norah and Moses, and their three-legged dog Lilah.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY IS AVAILABLE DURING SERVICES UP TO AGE 12

SCHEDULE:

F R I D A Y:
2:00pm: Check in
7:00pm: Service
9:30pm: Free time (Grill & Chill snack shop open)
11:00pm: Curfew

S A T U R D A Y:
8:00am: Breakfast
10:00am: Service
12:00pm: Lunch
1:00pm-5:00pm: Free time
5:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Service
9:30pm: Free time (Grill & Chill snack shop open)
11:00pm: Curfew

S U N D A Y:
8:00am: Breakfast
10:00am: Service
12:00pm: Lunch