I just found this New York Times article and could not resist sharing it. To help set the tone for upcoming information about the factory these people want to build and operate on Mt St Alphonsus in Esopus.
From the New York Times, 1996:
Sometimes A Luxury Jet Serves God
By EVELYN NIEVES
Published: October 13, 1996
Published: October 13, 1996
THE Woodcrest Bruderhof have lived here for more than 40 years, and people still think of them as the Amish With Cars. Not so. Why, just the other day, members of this Christian pacifist sect were talking up big plans for their Gulfstream III executive charter jet.
Johann Christoph Arnold, the church elder, held up a two-page brochure with flattering glossies of the 11-passenger luxury plane. ''How'd you like to fly in one of these?'' he said teasingly, pointing out seats that looked like Barcaloungers.
Sipping strong coffee and nibbling dark chocolates, the Bruderhof were positively ecstatic over their new deal with the State Department of Transportation to lease an old hangar at Stewart airport in Newburgh. The deal will give their international air charter business, Rifton Enterprises, a home base a half-hour from home. In a few months, once they renovate the hangar, the Bruderhof plan to offer a gamut of services, from training to aircraft maintenance to plane rentals and sales. They're especially excited at the prospect of selling fuel, breaking a monopoly at Stewart by an American Airlines subsidiary.
WHICH sounds like a pretty deep dive into the waters of free enterprise for a spiritual movement whose 2,500 members in the United States and England pledge to live lives of hard work, community service and poverty.
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