Rich Hurst serves as Chief of Staff for Leighton Ford Ministries, where he helps shape strategy, leadership development, mentoring initiatives, and organizational clarity for gospel-centered leaders around the world. A ministry architect with a storyteller’s soul, Rich is known for helping churches, nonprofits, and leadership teams reconnect with their truest calling and build structures that last.
Before joining Leighton Ford Ministries in 2019, Rich spent more than three decades serving in influential pastoral and leadership roles across the church, parachurch, nonprofit, and corporate worlds. He served for 15 years as Pastor of Leadership and Staff Development at McLean Bible Church outside Washington, D.C., helping to guide leadership systems during a season of extraordinary growth, from several hundred attendees to more than 20,000 each weekend.
His leadership journey also includes serving as Pastor of Congregational Life at The Crystal Cathedral, Director of Singles and Young Adults at University Presbyterian Church, Pastor of Singles at Calvin Presbyterian Church, and later stepping into the unique role of “company pastor” for Tempered Networks in Seattle, bringing pastoral wisdom into the corporate leadership space.
In addition to pastoral ministry, Rich has served as an editor, author, and ministry strategist with David C. Cook Publishing, where he directed Strategic Adult Ministry initiatives and led two of the nation’s largest training conferences for single adult and young adult ministry leaders.
Rich is the author of several leadership books, including Giving the Ministry Away: Empowering Single Adults for Effective Leadership, which received Leadership Book of the Year honors in its field. His writing has also appeared in Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, Discipleship Journal, and other ministry publications.
A trusted coach and consultant, Rich has worked with organizations including the Air Force Chaplain Corps, Federal Aviation Administration, Georgetown University, denominational leaders, and churches across a broad range of traditions. He holds a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. Books include https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/191402.Rich_Hurst.
Rich and his wife, Kim, an author, have two daughters and live on a horse farm in Virginia.