How a life in crisis led to rediscovering God

Not many people change their philosophy of God in midlife.  

But Ralph Patrick says he made that change in large part due to a personal spiritual pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona, Scotland.

Patrick, 64, is the pastor at the Allenspark Community Church, where he says all are welcome, and no judgments are made.

That’s a far cry from the pastor he used to be.

“I was raised in the Lutheran faith,” he said in a recent interview at his church office. The Lutheran church he belonged to had a very conservative view of the Bible and its teachings.

He grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from Concordia University, St. Paul, in Minnesota. He later earned a Master of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology from Glasgow University, Scotland.

He was steeped in tradition and ready to follow wherever that narrow road might lead.

He married, had four daughters, and accepted the trajectory he was on as an up-and-coming minister in the Lutheran Church. He was very successful, moving from one position to another. He even served as a missionary, with his family in tow, in Papua New Guinea.

But eventually, the metrics that boosted his clerical career stopped being important to him.

Patrick says his transformation from a closed, rule-bound, black-and-white thinker changed as his life journey underwent catastrophic upheavals.

His professional life as a pastor became fraught with difficulties. His congregation was divisive, fractured by power struggles. His personal life was falling apart as he faced a divorce, the death of his mother from Alzheimer’s, and the prospect of his last child leaving home.

“I tried to find support in the church, and it wasn’t there,” he said.

His search began.

“By the grace of God, I went on a retreat and read ‘Invitation to Love’ by Thomas Keating,” Patrick said. This book, by the late monk Keating, serves both as a spiritual guide and a theological reflection, aimed at helping Christians transition from a rule-based faith to a deeper, interior transformation rooted in love and relationship with God.

This was the change Patrick was looking for.

“I saw the difference between my false self (in the church) and my true self. I realized my false self was driven by ego,” he said.

And a years-long process of rediscovering God began. This was helped by several pilgrimages to the island of Iona in Scotland. And by quitting his career as a Lutheran pastor.

“My pilgrimage marked the end of one life and the beginning of another,” he wrote in his 2024 memoir, “Losing Faith, Leaving Ministry, Loving God.”

Warning: If you read this memoir, you will want to go to Iona, too. The remote, car-less island, home to monks and mystics, has been weaving its magic for 15 centuries.

“At Iona, everyone is warmly welcomed into the community,” he wrote. Everyone is accepted; no one is judged. This is church as a community.

While home to many sects and ancient religions over the years, the Iona community that Patrick joined was founded in 1938 as an international, ecumenical Christian movement working for justice and peace, the rebuilding of community, and the renewal of worship.

“I experienced at Iona what I couldn’t get at church — acceptance, a community that embraced everyone,” he said.

At Iona, Patrick saw the kind of church he wanted to be part of. So, in 2015, he resigned from the Lutheran Church.

“I could not stand the internal hypocrisy,” he said. “I stayed on the clergy roster for a while and then began working for The Alzheimer’s Association in Colorado as regional director.”

Patrick was giving talks and workshops about Alzheimer’s when he met a couple in Longmont associated with the Allenspark Community Church.

“They asked if I would fill in for a month at the church,” he said.

One month led to another and then another, as he became the backup pastor and finally the full-time pastor.

“I’ve been here almost five years now,” he said. “I like the congregation, and I like the quirky community. I was not sure what to expect … but there really is a spirit of unity, kindness, and love here.”

Patrick says he was soured on the traditional church that he followed for many years. But he is still a Christian, just a kinder, more caring one, without the burdens of judgment and rules.

“If you’re looking for someone to follow,” he says, “the best we’ve seen is Jesus.”

Therefore, he welcomes everyone to the Allenspark Community Church, where a service is held Sundays at 10 a.m. Come to the mountains.

For more information on Patrick and his work, visit TheCelticCompass.com, where you will find that he is also a motivational speaker, a dementia counselor, a spiritual director, and a man who can address the problems and solutions in cases of pastoral burnout, addiction, and divorce.

He is a man who changed his philosophy from one of exclusion to one of inclusion.

Elisabeth Sherwin is a seasoned journalist who teaches memoir writing at the Estes Valley Rec Center. She holds a master’s in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, worked as a copy editor at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the San Francisco Examiner, and was a reporter, editor, book reviewer, and copy editor at the Davis (Calif.) Enterprise. She also taught journalism at UC Davis Extension. She lives in Allenspark. Her book reviews and other writings can be found on her website, Printed Matter, or click here to see her reviews published on the Estes Valley Voice.