Pastor of the Month: Rich Villodas of New Life Fellowship

Rich Villodas is not the kind of pastor who seems interested in building ministry around noise. His leadership is marked by something quieter and, in many ways, harder to sustain: depth. As the lead pastor of New Life Fellowship in Elmhurst, Queens, Villodas leads a large multiracial congregation representing more than 75 countries, a church community shaped by New York City's diversity and by a long commitment to spiritual formation, reconciliation and emotionally healthy discipleship.

Villodas became lead pastor of New Life in 2013 after serving as lead associate pastor during a four-year succession process initiated by founding pastor Pete Scazzero and the church's elders. That transition is notable on its own because pastoral succession often becomes chaotic, rushed or deeply personal. New Life approached it intentionally, and under Villodas the church has continued building on its historic emphasis on emotional health while expanding its focus on deep formation, racial reconciliation and developing disciples who can live faithfully beyond Sunday services.

What makes Villodas especially compelling is the way he connects interior spiritual formation with public Christian witness. His teaching does not treat prayer, emotional health, justice, relationships and discipleship as separate ministries competing for space on the calendar. Instead, they are presented as parts of the same life with Jesus. New Life's School of Formation reflects that approach, emphasizing that spiritual formation happens in community and that following Christ involves allowing Him to shape every part of life rather than simply improving religious behavior.

That same vision has made Villodas an influential author well beyond Queens. His award-winning book The Deeply Formed Life explores a Christianity shaped by contemplative rhythms, racial reconciliation, interior examination, sexuality and mission. He followed it with Good and Beautiful and Kind, a book focused on recovering wholeness in a fractured world, and then The Narrow Path, which returns readers to the challenging wisdom of Jesus in an era marked by anxiety, political polarization and online hostility. His newest devotional work, Waiting for Jesus, continues that emphasis on slowing down long enough to actually be formed by Christ rather than simply staying busy around Christian things.

There is something particularly timely about Villodas' voice in modern church leadership. Ministry culture can reward speed, growth, visibility and constant production, but those values can quietly become destructive when they are disconnected from the inner life of the leader. Villodas consistently pushes in the opposite direction. His work suggests that pastors do not become healthier by simply getting better at managing the pressure. They become healthier by examining what the pressure is exposing, by creating space for prayer and reflection, and by allowing discipleship to reach the parts of themselves that a platform can easily hide.

New Life Fellowship is also a reminder that depth does not require withdrawing from cultural complexity. Elmhurst is one of the most diverse communities in the country, and New Life has intentionally developed a church culture where people from dozens of nations, racial backgrounds and life experiences worship together. Under Villodas' leadership, the church has continued emphasizing racial reconciliation alongside spiritual formation, while its community development work serves thousands of residents in Elmhurst and Corona through youth and adult programs.

That combination is part of why Rich Villodas is Christianpreneur Magazine's Pastor of the Month. He represents a form of pastoral leadership that refuses to choose between spiritual depth and public engagement, between emotional health and biblical conviction, or between formation and mission. At a time when church leaders are constantly being told to do more, move faster and reach farther, Villodas is helping remind the church that lasting ministry still begins with becoming the kind of people who can faithfully carry what God has called them to build.

The broader church does not need every pastor to sound like Rich Villodas or every congregation to become New Life Fellowship. What it can learn from him is the value of leading from a formed life rather than simply a productive one. Churches can build platforms quickly. Developing people who are emotionally healthy, spiritually grounded, reconciled across differences and prepared to live on mission takes longer. Villodas has made that slower work central to his ministry, and that is exactly why his leadership is worth watching.

For more on leadership shaped by emotional health, read The Church Cant Be Healthier Than Its Leaders

For a related look at building without leaving faith outside the room, read Your Church Already Has a Culture