{"id":24924,"date":"2015-07-20T11:02:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T15:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=24924"},"modified":"2016-01-06T09:37:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-06T14:37:29","slug":"ripple-church-pastors-find-spiritual-nourishment-at-seminarys-summer-institute-for-spiritual-formation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/ripple-church-pastors-find-spiritual-nourishment-at-seminarys-summer-institute-for-spiritual-formation\/","title":{"rendered":"Ripple Church pastors find spiritual nourishment at seminary’s Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine hearing the call to urban ministry, selling your lovingly renovated suburban farmhouse where you\u2019ve lived for 25 years, and moving into an inner city apartment.<\/p>\n

Imagine your congregation shape-shifting into and out of spaces as it grows \u2013 a good problem \u2013 but one with its own stressors.<\/p>\n

Imagine one of your most fervent members being a man who lives under a bridge and struggles with addiction, whom you affectionately call \u201cTony the Evangelist,\u201d because he hands out the church\u2019s business cards among his homeless friends. \u201cYou gotta come and see,\u201d he said, of Ripple Church. And they do.<\/p>\n

Think about how it would feel to get a phone call in March from the police, who found one of those business cards in Tony\u2019s pocket. He had been sleeping in a garbage dumpster and was crushed by a compactor early one morning, later dying from his injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree hundred people turned out for his funeral, and we\u2019re still grieving,\u201d says Tom Albright, an Eastern Mennonite Seminary graduate who founded Allentown\u2019s Ripple Church<\/a>, a congregation in the Franconia Conference<\/a> of Mennonite Church USA<\/a>, with his wife Carolyn.<\/p>\n

Imagine the uncertainty, the conviction, the joy, the challenge of such work.<\/p>\n

\"Ripple<\/a>
“Ripple kids” join in celebrations during worship at Ripple Church in Allentown. The congregation, a member of the Franconia Conference of Mennonite Church USA, worships in space provided by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in downtown Allentown. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reviving Spirits and Hearts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oasis. The name implies a place where thirsts are quenched and spirits revived. Each summer for two weeks, Eastern Mennonite Seminary<\/a> opens its doors and classrooms to pastors and church leaders seeking respite and soul care. The program is part of the Summer Institute of Spiritual Formation<\/a> (SISF), which provides training and optional certification for spiritual directors.<\/p>\n

Director Linda Alley<\/a> calls both programs \u201ca spiritual camp for adults, a truly life-giving program for many pastors who need space and support in processing their work and their own spiritual direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Tom and Carolyn Albright, Oasis was a welcome opportunity to worship, to meet with spiritual directors, to enjoy the stimulation and engagement of classes without the obligation to meet credit requirements. The week at EMS was, in some way, an anniversary celebration of their past milestones: the Albrights both earned certificates of spiritual formation by attending SISF every summer from 2007 to 2009; additionally, Tom and Carolyn both earned certificates of ministry studies in 2013 and 2015 respectively.<\/p>\n

Ripple Church: an \u2018experiment\u2019 in urban ministry<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Ripple<\/a>
Community events hosted by Ripple Church in Allentown emphasize the growth and sustenance of caring relationships among residents. The city is Pennsylvania’s third-largest and only majority-Hispanic city, and two of Ripple’s pastors are bilingual.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those years at the seminary, beginning in 2007, also mark a time of transformation, uprooting and calling when the SISF environment of openness and questioning helped the Albrights discern their future.<\/p>\n

The couple started Ripple Church in 2006 in their home community of Whitehall and after three years, moved with the church into the heart of Allentown \u2013 with more than 118,000 residents and a 42 percent Hispanic population, Pennsylvania\u2019s third-largest and first Hispanic-majority city.<\/p>\n

One reason the couple decided to live in urban ministry was a question posed by a regular attendee: \u201cWhy,\u201d she asked, \u201care churches leaving the city? Why don\u2019t you bring Ripple into the city?\u201d<\/p>\n

When they did, hosting weekday meetings at a community center in Allentown called The Caring Place<\/a>, \u201cI felt the call,\u201d Tom said, \u201cand Carolyn did too.\u201d In 2009, with the blessing of their adult children, they embarked on what was at first a conference-related ministry of the Franconia Conference. After multiple moves, Ripple lives comfortably at St. Paul\u2019s Lutheran Church in the downtown area.<\/p>\n

Five pastors, all of whom are bi-vocational, work with Ripple\u2019s congregation of more than 100: Carolyn, a bilingual fourth-grade teacher; Tom, a career counselor for special needs youth at Freedom High School; Angela Moyer, MDiv \u201912, an occupational therapist; Danilo Sanchez, MDiv \u201913, who also works for Mennonite Central Committee<\/a>; and Ben Walter, a Biblical Theological Institute graduate who also is a house painter.<\/p>\n

Worship in circles joins hearts, community<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Ripple<\/a>
Ripple meets in three smaller groups every Sunday, with pastors rotating among groups to present a short sermon and facilitate discussion in circles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tom calls Ripple a \u201crestorative church,\u201d a concept that he fine-tuned while earning a second master\u2019s degree at Bethlehem\u2019s International Institute for Restorative Practices<\/a>. Speaking at the IIRP World Conference in 2013, Tom explained<\/a> that traditional churches measure success by how many people attend and how much money is being brought in. \u201cIn a restorative church, though, we measure by relationships and ripples. How are relationships forming and how is that spreading out into the community? It\u2019s a whole different way of living, working and worshiping in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church meets in three smaller groups, with pastors sharing leadership in a rotation pattern \u2013 an innovative idea that developed because of lack of space, but eventually has become the congregation\u2019s much-beloved format. The Church of the Tables, the Church of the Circles, and the Church of the Sidewalk each have their own unique feel. Worship services begin with a simple and short message, and then move into discussion.<\/p>\n

The Church of the Sidewalk, held on the steps in a semi-covered porch, was immediately popular with smokers and people who wanted to bring their dogs. Hosting worship here provided a welcoming symbolic place, because, as Tom says, \u201cthe doors of church are incredibly hard to get people through.\u201d Those who worshiped at this church were a hardy and loyal bunch. When winter came to Allentown, the group turned down offers to come inside. Ripple Church bought pole heaters and blankets and carpet squares to sit on, and the Church of the Sidewalk missed only one Sunday through the winter because of snow.<\/p>\n

During their week of Oasis, the Albrights enjoyed bike rides in the country, daily worship at Martin Chapel, visits and dinner with friends, and mentoring by spiritual directors. Carolyn took a class in sustaining practices in congregational worship, \u201cgood because we are meeting so many different needs,\u201d she said, adding that the church ministers to many on \u201cthe margins,\u201d such as the homeless, non-native speakers, people struggling with addiction, and single parents.<\/p>\n

The Albrights returned to Allentown refreshed and thankful. \u201cThe spiritual direction feeds my soul,\u201d Tom said. \u201cSometimes you just need someone to listen to what you\u2019re thinking and what you\u2019re going through. We know that self-care and discernment are important parts of pastoring and this place has been formative for us in so many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine hearing the call to urban ministry, selling your lovingly renovated suburban farmhouse where you\u2019ve lived for 25 years, and moving into an inner city apartment. 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