by Gary Alloway
Editor’s Note: Redemption Church of Bristol was approved by Mosaic Conference’s board as a member congregation and will be welcomed at Mosaic’s 2025 Fall Delegate Assembly.
Redemption Church of Bristol (PA) was founded in 2009 with a mission to breathe new life into Bristol Borough. Bristol is a historic riverfront community with a history beginning in 1681. By 2009, Bristol had emptied out, with chronic poverty issues and a main street that was 50% vacant. Redemption was founded not only to create a new church community, but also to be the presence of Christ in the neighborhood and help all of Bristol to flourish again.
After 16 years, God has done amazing things in Bristol! We have been able to help start a coffee shop and a street festival. We have rebuilt houses and helped church communities come back to life. We have walked with neighbors through trials and celebrated over Little League victories.
We call ourselves a community of sinners and skeptics and have always tried to make spaces for those on the margins, both economically and spiritually. We have created everything from a tea shop philosophy group (PhilosTea) to a bakery bible study (Donuts & Devotions). Our goal is to build a Jesus-shaped community, where all people can rest and grow in the love of God.
Redemption began moving towards Mosaic in 2021. While we had always had relational connections to other churches, during the pandemic, we began to long for something more formal to belong to. We have always structured ourselves as an Anabaptist community, but during those tumultuous years, the historic foundations of the Mennonite church seemed all the more valuable.
We also wanted to have relationships with churches and leaders that were different from us. We have learned so much from both the historic congregations of Mosaic and the younger immigrant communities. We appreciate the history, vibrancy, and relational depth of Mosaic Conference. We have loved having a community that is bigger than ourselves.
We covet your prayers as we formally enter into the Conference as a member. Redemption has never been a community that is afraid of risk-taking or missional adventures, and we hope we can share the fruits of these endeavors with the larger Mosaic community.
We also pray for stability and long-term growth that can help Redemption be grounded for the future. And we hope these two goals never crush each other. What does it mean to follow the Spirit out in new ways, but also build something that can last? We would love your prayers in this tension.
We long to always uphold the core Anabaptist value of keeping Jesus at the center of all things. We aim to be the aroma of Christ, or as we like to say, “We aim to stink like Jesus together!” Please pray that we can keep Jesus at the center of all that we do. And pray we can live out our mission to build a Jesus-shaped community, where all people can rest and grow in the love of God.
Gary Alloway
Gary Alloway is a pastor and church planter of Redemption Church of Bristol (PA), and also serves as a Leadership Minister with Mosaic Conference.
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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.