Pastor Rich has been Senior Pastor of Grace since November of 1993. He is married to Susie (originally from Kankakee, Illinois), and they have four children: Stephanie, Stuart, Stanton and Steven. He founded Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Alabama and served there from 1979 to 1993. Pastor Rich is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Valparaiso University, Indiana in 1975 and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri in 1979. He loves being a pastor and especially teaching the Adult Inquiry Class and seeing people become Christians for the first time or recommitting themselves to Jesus Christ.