Reverend Rich Gelson's Story

My Story of Addiction & Grace

In this episode the Reverend Rich Gelson shares his personal life journey with co-dependency and how the grace of God led him to discover a new way to understand his life and some new ways to relate to those he loves.

Pastor Rich is an ordained Presbyterian serving as the pastor of Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, since 2015.

He is a 1997 M. Div graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and focuses on leading worship, adaptive church leadership development and discipleship, and building partner bridges of support across the Phillipsburg/Lehigh Valley area. He also has trained as a Spiritual Director through Oasis Ministries.

He is married to Rev. Stefanie Muntzel of First Presbyterian Church of Easton, and is the father of college student Rebecca, recent college graduate Anna, and the step-father of High School student Crosby.

Pastor Rich reboots his energy through singing/songwriting (visit www.revupmusic.com), digital photography, kayaking, reading historical fiction novels and rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies and Eagles.

Addiction takes many forms and knows no boundaries. Anyone is susceptible to this cunning baffling and powerful disease, even clergy. In fact, clergy are more susceptible than average because of the nature of their work. In this podcast you will hear the personal testimonies of clergy who were caught in the hell of addiction and by the grace of God found a way out. Listen to their powerful stories of what it was like while they were addiction, what happened that caused them to get free, and what it’s like now for them living in recovery.

My Story of Addiction & Grace is a podcast production of The Center of Addiction & Faith, which can be found online at addictionandfaith.com.

If you'd like to ask Pastor Ed Treat, or one of our past or upcoming guests, a question that will be aired on a future show, simply call [phone] and leave a message. Please know that when you leave a message it may be used, in whole or in part, on a future podcast episode. Again, that phone number is [phone].Please hit subscribe on whatever podcast source you found us on and rate and review our show. We love to hear feedback.

My Story of Addiction & Grace is recorded at the studios of Minnesota Podcasting located in St Paul, MN. Find them online at mnpodcasting.com.

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast or those of the individual participants alone and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or policies of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Center of Addiction and Faith, Minnesota Podcasting, or any other religious or business organization.