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2014 03 07

Random Rippling

Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v11n05)

Radiate Church - One Year Anniversary - by Matthew VanTryon

posted: Mar. 07, 2014

Matthew VanTryon

Photo booths and the electric slide are not ordinary happenings at Radiate Church in Broad Ripple.

Make no mistake, this was no ordinary Sunday.

Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, marked the one-year anniversary for Radiate Church, which meets in Broad Ripple Magnet High School. The church has grown substantially since its beginning, and has close to 150 attendees on a weekly basis. They moved to Broad Ripple in June.

One of the first families to attend Radiate was the Horsfall family. JT and Beth moved from Cincinnati to Indianapolis with lead pastor Justin Bender. They had the not-so-small dream of starting a church.

Beth said that despite extensive planning, there was still some doubt about whether or not people would come. That concern was alleviated quickly.

"The people we invited soon invited more people," Horsfall said. "It multiplied organically."

Radiate has embraced Broad Ripple as its home, and is making strides in the community.

This spring, the congregation raised over $11,000 for the Julian Center in Indianapolis, who "provides shelter and counseling to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and survivors of child sexual abuse," according to its website.

Radiate serves because Jesus served, according to lead pastor Justin Bender.

"He came to serve. As followers, we serve," Bender said. "We love to serve because that's who we are and that's who Jesus was."

Bender believes in the power of practicing what is preached on Sunday every day of the week.

"I don't want to tell you what I believe, I want to show you what I believe," Bender said.

The effects of the mission have been wide-reaching. Young people are taking notice. One college student attended Radiate when services began a year ago. Now, 30-40 college students from a variety of campuses call Radiate home on a weekly basis.

One of those students is Jeremy Kauffman, a second-year pharmacy student at Butler University. Kauffman has been attending the church since September after hearing about it through a campus Bible study.

Radiate feels like home for Kauffman, regardless of what has happened during the course of the week.

"[The congregation] truly does care about you," Kauffman said. "You walk in and you feel at home, regardless of the week you've had or the burdens you're carrying."

Kauffman described Radiate as authentic, echoing Bender's sentiment that the church takes the message out the doors and into the community.

"They're fulfilling what their goal is," said Kauffman. "Not only are they teaching and preaching, they're actually doing it."

It comes down to love, according to Horsfall.

"People need love," Horsfall said. "It's important as a church to not only love emotionally love but to love practically. It's an obedience thing."

Each week at the end of the service, the congregation stands and recites the same phrase: "Let what we do in here fill the streets out there."

A year in, Radiate is making an impact inside and outside of the walls of the church. Time will only tell how that impact will continue to grow.

Matthew VanTryon is a journalism student at Butler University.

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