While many in a congregation may take refuge in Sunday morning worship service, or in the council of their pastor, where do pastors go to take refuge?
Tom and Carolyn Albright, two of the pastors at Ripple, have been through many ups and downs since founding Ripple in 2006. What started as a conference related ministry has now grown into a congregation of over 100 people in downtown Allentown. They went from farmhouse suburban living, to a downtown city apartment, and have been pastoring Ripple through much growth and many moves from space to space over the years. For them refuge was found this summer at the two week Oasis program, part of Eastern Mennonite Seminary‘s Summer Institute of Spiritual Formation (SISF), which provides training and optional certification for spiritual directors.
The Albright’s felt the call to move to urban ministry at Oasis and returned this year for a time of refuge and spiritual direction. Read more about Ripple and the Albright’s time at Oasis here.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.