Rich Villodas knows what it feels like to be an outlier. Starting a personal relationship with Jesus in his late teens, he was drawn to the diverse tapestry of Christian traditions—both past and present. This curiosity became a necessary foundation for his faith, and, in fact, it’s that passion that continues to define and shape his ministry.
Guest Bio
Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church in Elmhurst, Queens, with over seventy-five countries represented. Rich holds a master of divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching, and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching.
He’s been married to Rosie since 2006, and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His books, The Deeply Formed Life and Good and Beautiful and Kind, are available wherever books are sold.
Notes & Quotes
- “I came to Jesus not because I believe that he rose from the dead. I came to Jesus because [the preacher] said to me that there is hope. There is life if you put your trust in him. In that moment, all he said was ‘God can put you back together,’ and that’s all I needed to hear.”
- “We have global historic theology and expressions of faith within Christianity, and lots of folks just want their tradition. There’s a feast before us, but there’s something missing here.”
- “I think I learned a lot from my failures in 2016 and 2017 with how I alienated a group of people in our church unwittingly, that I changed course in 2020. I was able to be faithful to what I believe are gospel values, but in a way, do my best pastorally to remain emotionally connected to people.”
Links Mentioned
- FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
- Check out Rich’s books, The Deeply Formed Life, Good and Beautiful and Kind, and The Narrow Path.
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Verses Mentioned
- Ezekiel 37
- Matthew 17:1–13
- Malachai 4:5–6
- Micah 6:8
- Luke 4:1–28
- Isaiah 61:1–3
The Where Ya From? Podcast is presented by the Voices Collection, a part of Our Daily Bread Ministries, in partnership with Christianity Today.
