861: Politics, Pandemics, Race, and Pastoring Multi-Ethnic Churches: Rich Villodas

Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. 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 first book, The Deeply Formed Life , is now available wherever books are sold. In this conversation, we talk about what it was like pastoring a church that is located at the epicenter of the pandemic in Queens, NY. We also discuss the beauties and challenges of pastoring a church where 75 different nations are represented, especially when they are all over the map on political and racial issues. We conclude by talking about Rich’s first book, The Deeply Formed Life , which focuses on the personal and public practices that contribute to our spiritual formation. Read more about Rich Villodas here: https://www.richvillodas.com Purchase Rich’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Deeply-Formed-Life-Transformative-Values/dp/0525654380/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+deeply+formed+life&qid=1618348231&sr=8-1 Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Connect with Preston Twitter | @PrestonSprinkle Instagram | @preston.sprinkle Youtube | Preston Sprinkle Check out his website prestonsprinkle.com If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .