Mitchell Reitz : My Leadership Pathway

I’m a Resident at Rocky Mountain Christian Church in CO, where I get to focus specifically on Groups and Care ministries.

My interest in ministry was sparked early on in high school when my youth minister started a leadership/discipleship group with 4 or 5 hand-picked students he recognized having ministry potential in our youth group.

I’ve always had a very laid back personality which helps people feel welcome and at ease. I suppose that’s why I am very passionate about fostering hospitality, in every sense of the word. Sitting and engaging with people around a cup of coffee and truly listening to their joys and sorrows is what I love to do. I didn’t excel at any one area of church ministry like preaching or worship or working with students and kids.  For me, walking with people in their lives is how God has gifted me.

Leaving the community I had at college, where I was deeply connected, was a challenge when I first began my residency. Though, it’s not always easy to find friends my age, I cherish the connections I have that much more. And what was important when I started was for me to learn people’s names and fun facts about them. This gave way to building relationships and sharing common ground with people. Those things still remain important, but having more relational equity now allows other people to speak life into me as I’m also speaking life into them and sharing the task of doing ministry together.

For any young person considering ministry, I’d recommend getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. So much of ministry is getting over our comfort and diving into the hurts and pains in other people’s lives and even in our own hearts. The more we start to get over ourselves, the more we can let Jesus do His thing through us. I would also say get used to having your hands smell like feet. Okay, maybe not literally, but washing people’s feet like Jesus did in John 13, serving and loving them in their messy lives is what Jesus’ life and love is all about. Be familiar with the towel and the basin, because you’ll actually find that the more you wash other people’s feet, the more you start to find joy doing it, and the more room there is for the Kingdom to be furthered.

Residency is a great place to start in ministry; it provides future leaders of the church the real and raw ministry experience they need. Biblical knowledge is good, but information does not always equal transformation. Journeying with people and meeting them in the messy parts of their life is exactly what Jesus did. And doing a residency allows us to get reps in so many different areas, collaborating with others in ministry already happening in the places we go.

I’m Mitchell Reitz, and this is my leadership pathway.