I believe that preaching the good news of Jesus Christ is the most vital task in the entire world.

 

Ryan+Tinetti

About me

My fancy name is the Rev. Dr. Ryan P. Tinetti, but you can call me Ryan.

I love preaching. You’ve heard of the concept of “flow”? It’s like when basketball players say that they’re “in the zone”: where you’re in that state of being totally immersed in the task at hand and find deep satisfaction in the work. For me, that’s what happens in the pulpit.

And I love talking about preaching, teaching it, and helping other pastors improve their craft. Preaching is the heart of ministry; shoot, sometimes pastors are simply known as “preachers.” What could be more important pastorally than doing it well?

And so, much of my journey has been seeking to preach more memorably and to help other pastors to do the same. To that end, I completed my doctorate at Duke Divinity School under the supervision of Richard Lischer—in my biased opinion, the dean of American homiletics. A revised version of my dissertation, entitled (wait for it) Preaching by Heart, will be published by Cascade Press in late 2020.

This site is an outlet for me to help you preach more memorably. I write a regular column, linked here, called The Preacher’s Toolbox. Additionally, you can engage with me as a preaching coach, to lead preaching workshops, or to serve as a guest preacher. An online course is also in the works. You can contact me directly at pastortinetti@gmail.com, or follow me on Facebook @RyanTinetti.

“ What could be more full of meaning?—for the pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favourable winds. Yes, the world ’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.”
— Herman Melville, "Moby Dick"

Bullet-points about me

  • Husband to Anne and father to Sam, Louis, Beatrice, & Elisabeth

  • Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in beautiful Arcadia, Michigan, and live next door in the parsonage

  • Graduate of Michigan State University (B.A.), Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (M.Div.), and Duke Divinity School (D.Min.)

  • Regular guest preacher on The Lutheran Hour

  • Member of the Academy of Homiletics

  • Previously served parishes in coastal California and the inland empire of Washington state

  • Led a new mission start in Tucson, AZ

  • Served as a longterm missionary in Bangkok, Thailand, with LCMS World Mission

  • Favorite books: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, Open Secrets by Richard Lischer, The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb