Thomas Reppart, Spiritual Life Coordinator
Thomas Reppart was born in 1943 and was raised the oldest of five children on a dairy farm in Ohio. After graduating from high school, he attended Harding University where he achieved a BA in English and Speech in 1965. Reppart earned his MA in Speech Communication and Dramatic Arts in 1966 from Central Michigan University. He has also done some post-graduate work at the University of Missouri, Abilene Christian University and the Harding Graduate School of Bible and Religion.
In 2001, Reppart joined the Epworth Village, Inc. family as a Life Skills Trainer. This year, he was transferred to his current position as Spiritual Life Coordinator at the non-profit, family-centered residential treatment agency. Reppart’s experiences are wide in scope. The following are a few examples of his extensive national and international work. He served as the University Theatre Director in Jonesboro, Ark. and Columbia, Mo. from 1968 to 1978. He spent nearly ten years teaching English and study skills at a West African Baptist secondary school and helped African teachers write and publish their own textbooks in Muyuka, Cameroon. Reppart helped create the initial curriculum at the Nairobi Great Commission School (NGCS) where he taught cross cultural communication and worship (with an emphasis on indigenization of liturgy). He has been back to Nairobi, Kenya a couple of times for four to six months to teach at NGCS and help develop support groups at the Rainbow Church of Christ for alcohol and substance abusers as wells as PLWA (Persons Living with AIDS). Reppart has lived in York since 1994 and taught speech communication at York College.
During the 1970s, Reppart’s father was Dean of Students and mother was Dean of Women at York College.
“My parents held Epworth Village in high esteem. Eventually, the people I came to know who worked here or were on the Board of Directors also helped shape further my already positive attitudes towards the institution. When I was unable to return to Africa long-term, I needed employment that would satisfy my sense of ‘mission,’” he said. “I quickly became a believer in Epworth’s principles of individual crisis intervention and management. I also was impressed with their family-centered approach to therapy, both in the family dynamics of the residential treatment facilities and in the attempts to re-unite biological families or find placement in appropriate foster families.”
Reppart’s goals for his new position as Spiritual Life Coordinator include helping individual clients recognize their own spiritual experiences and use them as a foundation for building a healthy relationship with God as opposed to an adversarial, lackadaisical or absential relationship. Part of his outline for achieving this goal is to provide weekly opportunities in each of Epworth’s residential units for group participation in scripture reading, prayer and meditation as well as a chance to share spiritual growth experiences. He also is working to provide opportunities for eligible clients to attend local worship services and/or participate in youth activities at the church of their choice. In addition, he is making himself available for one-on-one interaction with clients concerning their spiritual formation.
Reppart believes, “The problems inherent in our hyper-materialistic/individualistic/consumerist culture cry out loudly for some sense of community as the beginning of restoration of self-worth and spiritual connection. Epworth’s principles and practice provide ample opportunities for developing a sense of community among its residents and its therapeutic program aims at restoring a sense of communal responsibilities.”