Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch (press the arrow below)

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I am a Presbyterian Church (USA) pastor with forty years of experience in congregational and community ministry.  I am presently a church consultant, community organizer, intentional interim pastor, and author.  I am available to consult with congregations or groups on goal setting, relationship building, strategic planning, crisis management, and discovering their God-given power to build better congregations and communities. I also teach leaders to understand power dynamics and use community organizing skills to strengthen their congregation or interfaith group.  I am the author of Reclaiming Power in Congregational and Community Ministry, published by Wipf & Stock. 

I am passionate about helping individual congregations thrive and the importance of interfaith community engagement. I have spent decades in congregational ministry, where I have helped churches adapt and grow after years of decline, led strategic planning, managed crises, and built congregational leadership. 

My years of interfaith community engagement and leadership, as well as extensive experience in political and community organizing, have given me tools to help interfaith groups build the moral and political ability to achieve their goals. 

I received my D. Min. from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond in 1985. Since then I have served as pastor or associate pastor at churches of various sizes in Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland, culminating my full-time career as pastor/head of staff of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, TX.. 

I received extensive training in family and systems therapy at the PENN Center for Relationships. I have certification in Clergy Executive Leadership from McCormick Seminary, consulting and intentional interim certifications from the Center for Congregational Health, and coaching certification from Columbia Theological Seminary. 

I also have extensive experience in faith-based community organizing. I was a founding member and co-chair of Action in Montgomery (Maryland) and was involved with Allied Communities of Tarrant (Texas), both affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation. 

A huge part of my ministry has been interfaith and inter-agency community leadership. I have served on or chaired several non-profit boards related to homelessness, where I have been involved in strategic planning and reorganization, community service and political action. 

Whether consulting with congregations or groups, My goal is to build cooperation and effectiveness through developing shared power, understanding power dynamics, leadership training, and developing leaders' ability to reframe

I have just published Reclaiming Power in Congregational and Community Ministry, which analyzes power dynamics in church and community ministry and promotes the concept of shared power. Shared power is the ability, through partnership and mutual respect, to effect positive change in congregations and communities.