Rev. Dr. Richard W. Rouse, DMin., MDiv.

Rev. Dr. Richard W. Rouse is a parish consultant working with congregations in the areas of strategic planning, spiritual discernment, and leadership.  A certified Spiritual Director and ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), he has served congregations in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington.  Rouse is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley and Vice President for the Association of Leaders in Lifelong Learning for Ministry (ALLLM).    

Rouse was the Executive Director for Church Relations and Continuing Education at Pacific Lutheran University. He served as adjunct faculty at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and at the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest (LSPS) in Austin, TX.  Rouse was the Founder and Director of the Missional Leadership Academy for the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA.  

Rouse is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA) with a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary (Dubuque, IA).  His doctoral thesis was “Equipping the Laity for Ministry: A Lay Training Center Model for the Local Parish” (1985) through Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (Berkeley, CA).   

He is the author of numerous publications, including Beyond Church Walls: Cultivating a Culture of Care; A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation; Go Make Disciples: An Introduction to Baptismal Living; and Fire of Grace: The Healing Power of Forgiveness.  In 2020 Chalice Press released The World is About to Turn: Mending a Nation’s Broken Faith a new book he co-authored with Paul Ingram. He and his wife, Beth Lewis, reside in Mukilteo, WA.