Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v14n06)
Random Rippling - Pastor Brent Wright retires from BRUMC
posted: Mar. 17, 2017
Pastor Brent Wright was at Broad Ripple United Methodist Church from 2010 to 2017. Here is a message from him about his departure:
"I mentioned then that I would be looking for work outside the local church in this next phase of my ministry. In the months of discernment since, I have found clarity about the shape of my future pastoral leadership: I am being called to explore new forms of Christian community outside the walls of church. In this era when the form that we call 'church' is finding less and less purchase in the cultural life of our broader civic community, there is a growing movement exploring different ways of sharing life and ministry as disciples of Jesus. My 14 years of experience leading local church ministry have prepared me to join that movement. And for me, this is about more than just finding innovative ways to 'do church.' This is flowing from my own development as a person.
"As time has progressed, I've found myself less and less at home leading church as we've all known it. For a long time, I thought that doing things differently could address that discomfort, but in the past year or two, I've seen that my calling is to venture further afield. God has been inviting me out of the structure of church to build a community from scratch, in the process exploring different pastor-layperson roles, different expectations about worship and public visibility, different assumptions about evangelism, different approaches to mission & ministry, etc."